NBA for OKC- Hornets Relocating

[JOHNINSOKC]

Does anyone remember that when the Hornets were relocating from Charlotte, they were supposed to visit OKC on September 11, 2001?? Because of the cancellation of air traffic that day, George Shinn and Company never set foot in OKC and instead chose New Orleans. As for the ability of OKC to support a team, if New Orleans could do it, so can this city. Their income situation wasn't much different than our city. I also believe that OKC is in the best position facility-wise to immediately take the franchise. This city has been underrated for too long, it's time to prove the naysayers wrong.

[TStheThird]

What do you think the average attendance would be if the Hornets played OKC this season? The average for the 41 home games this past season in New Orleans was 14,221.

[PUGalicious]

Initially=capacity

By season's end = less than 10,000

[TStheThird]

Are you saying that the season average will be less than 10,000 or just the last part of the season?

[TStheThird]

The Hornets largest crowd was 17,623. They only broke the 17,000 mark for the first game. It claims that Arena capacity is 18,000. That still smacks the attendance numbers from the last few years of operation in Charlotte.

[PUGalicious]

Both

[Patrick]

I think some of you guys may be jumping the gun a little. This would just be a temporary situation, until order is restored in New Orleans. It would be similar to the current deal the New Orleans Saints have with San Antonio at the Alamo Dome. They're only playing in San Antonio for a year, and then will return to New Orleans when the city returns to normacy.

We would only be getting the team for a year. Regardless of how well they did here, they WILL return to New Orleans once the city returns to normacy.

Although there is NOT a chance of stealing the Hornets from New Orleans, this still gives OKC a good opportunnity to see if it can support an NBA team. If we support it well, there might be a chance that the NBA could give some seriuos consideration to granting us an NBA franchise. Plus if one does well here, Funk may see the incentive to invest in an NBA team for the city.

[BDP]

Like anything it depends on the quality of the team. You can be in New York, have a crappy team, and you're not going to draw well. There are only a few perputual losers than can draw well and those are usually in baseball.

I would think a good idea in OKC would be to more evenly distribute the ticket prices and bring the high and low ticket closer together. I don't know if we'd sell all of the $100 tickets every game, but we could probabaly always sell $15 tickets. So maybe take the top tier down a bit and bring the bottom tier up a bit to compensate.

[Patrick]

Guy's, Utah's prices might not be good to compare to.

San Antonio's ticket prices range from $9.50 to $120. We could afford that.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/tickets/arena.html

[mranderson]

The offer by the city of Oklahoma City is now all over the networks and the internet. So, even if we do not get the team, we have gained an enormous amout of very positive publicity from this.

By the way. We are one of the closest major cities with no NBA team to New Orleans and have one of the largest arenas in the nation. So, that makes it an attractive offer.

[Patrick]

Let's look at some other nearby teams.

Dallas Maverick's: Range from $10 to $240

http://www.nba.com/mavericks/arena/arena_pricing.html


Houston Rockets: Range from $9 to $185

http://www.nba.com/media/rockets/0506FSmap.pdf

[BDP]

Guy's, Utah's prices might not be good to compare to.

San Antonio's ticket prices range from $9.50 to $120. We could afford that.

Why is Utah a bad comparison????

At $10 to $95, Utah's are cheaper (you can get $5 season tickets, too), so we're going t afford that before San Antonio prices. I picked them simply because they're a small market (granted, with a much higher median income) and we had mentioned them before.

[flyingcowz]

Last time I checked, NBA Commisioner David Stern said that the NBA will not be expanding. The only way for us to get a team ANYWHERE..is if another team is to relocate.

[BDP]

The only way for us to get a team ANYWHERE..is if another team is to relocate.

That's what we're talking about.

[Pete]

Whereever they play their games, attendence is likely to suffer after the initial newness wears off.

Typically, these teams have thousands that renew their season tickets and sell many more well in advance.


I hope OKC gets at least some of the games.

If I owened the Hornets, I'd give several non-NBA cities a bunch of games in order to get the best attendance and revenues.

Then, they can decide where they want to go permanently.

[Patrick]

Looks at an illustrastion of the SBC Center in Houston, I really don't see much difference between the Ford Center and the SBC Center.

http://www.eventseats.com/houstonrockets/

[floater]

I would think a good idea in OKC would be to more evenly distribute the ticket prices and bring the high and low ticket closer together. I don't know if we'd sell all of the $100 tickets every game, but we could probabaly always sell $15 tickets. So maybe take the top tier down a bit and bring the bottom tier up a bit to compensate.

Good suggestion, BDP. There are some creative ways to generate suite and ticket sales -- how about making it easier for groups and/or businesses to co-lease a suite? How about making lease terms shorter? How about offering 10, 20, 30, or 40-game packages? How about targeting smaller businesses, churches, and neighborhoods with more block ticket options? Or farther-away communities like Blanchard, Guthrie, and Shawnee with weekend ticket packages? For a major league team to be successful, they would have to work hard to attract multiple-ticket buyers, because it will be more expensive than most any other entertainment option in OKC.

[Patrick]

Why is Utah a bad comparison????

At $10 to $95, Utah's are cheaper (you can get $5 season tickets, too), so we're going t afford that before San Antonio prices. I picked them simply because they're a small market (granted, with a much higher median income) and we had mentioned them before.

Whoops, I was looking at VIP Prices for Utah.

[Patrick]

It's nice to see this headline on the home page of Yahoo...in their News Section:

"Okla. City Mayor Offers to Host Hornets "

[BDP]

For a major league team to be successful, they would have to work hard to attract multiple-ticket buyers, because it will be more expensive than any other entertainment option in OKC.

That's definately key. Say you went with $35 medicore season tickets for your family of four. That'd be $5740, net of Nacho Costs. Now, many families might drop that over the course of entertianing their family for 5 months, but that's a big bill all at once. Selling those season tickets and boxes is integral to the success of an organization.

BTW, Hornets tickets were selling for $20 to $350.

http://www.nba.com/hornets/tickets/seasontix_0405.html

[Patrick]

Hmmmm...it may end up being a permanent move. If that's true, both the Saints and Hornets may want out of the state of Louisiana completely, which helps our chances at landing the Hornets.
Check this out.
-----------
"New Orleans market no longer viable
Saints, Hornets may have to find other permanent home in near future

The last thing that should be on anyone's mind in New Orleans is the future of the city's NFL franchise. But at some point, National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, along with his owners, Louisiana elected officials and Saints owner Tom Benson will have to decide what to do with the team.

Understand this, Louisiana was already paying to keep Benson and the Saints in town. Benson cut a nine-year deal with then-Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster that required the state to pay $186.5 million between 2002 and 2010 to keep the Saints playing in the Superdome.

Louisiana was able to cobble together enough money in 2002 and 2003; those payments were $12 and $13 million, but struggled to meet 2004 and 2005 commitments. Gov. Foster and the two state houses agreed to pay Benson from a tourist tax fund. But, New Orleans saw tourism drop after the 9-11 terrorist attacks and Louisiana officials have borrowed from other sources to make payments.

Benson is owed more than $130 million under the terms of the agreement.

Benson's team is committed to playing in New Orleans through the 2006 season as state officials found enough money to give him his $15 million stipend in July. Had the state defaulted, Benson could have started looking for a new city in September and be in a new city in 2006.

At this point, the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana has to secure the city, provide essential services and protect its population. The health and welfare of the population is paramount.

That is what government is supposed to do.

But this recovery is going to be a long, long process. It will be years before New Orleans and southern Louisiana along with Gulf Coast Mississippi will be economically viable.

That's also Benson's market.

It also happens to be George Shinn's market for his NBA Hornets. The Hornets were not selling many tickets last year and get state handouts. The Milwaukee Brewers' Triple A Zephyrs also wanted tax breaks and handouts.

Benson was having trouble selling tickets for the 2005 season; he didn't like the Superdome and with all the problems that structure is having, and it's unlikely the facility is in any shape to events in the near future.

Benson wanted a new stadium. Its not going to happen.


But there is far more to a franchise than a stadium. A franchise needs corporate support and government support. There is absolutely no way to judge whether New Orleans will even have an economy. Will people stay in New Orleans and rebuild or will they move away and start new lives? And even if people stay, will there be jobs for them? Virtually everything in New Orleans will have to be rebuilt starting with infrastructure.

The city has lived off tourism dollars. Tourists are not going to be going to New Orleans for a long time.

Benson once looked into building a stadium in Mississippi. That won't happen because Biloxi and Gulfport need to be rebuilt.

Benson's customers simply don't have the money for football at this point.

Benson in the past has said he wanted to stay in New Orleans. Benson has his car dealerships in the city, but he also has car dealerships in San Antonio where the empty Alamodome sits. The NFL wants to put a team in Los Angeles by 2009 and Birmingham, Ala., officials have made noises about building a football facility.

At some point, the NFL will have to make a decision on the future of its New Orleans franchise. Now is not that time. But at this junction, it appears the New Orleans market is no longer a viable NFL or and NBA market.

[Patrick]

Should we go after the Saints instead? He He!

Na. With OU football strong here, I don't think we could support NFL. Plus we don't have a stadium for it. But, they could play at Memorial Stadium for awhile while we pass a MAPS program to pay for a new domed stadium.

[mranderson]

Should we go after the Saints instead? He He!

Na. With OU football strong here, I don't think we could support NFL. Plus we don't have a stadium for it. But, they could play at Memorial Stadium for awhile while we pass a MAPS program to pay for a new domed stadium.

Although many here, Patrick included know, part of my platform is for a domed NFL stadium as part of MAPS III. We could have it up and running in two years after passage and regulatory approvals. Yes. Play in Tulsa for a couple of years.

[JOHNINSOKC]

When communities get an expansion or relocation, there has to be a period of time to effectively market the team and have ticket sales. That is really the only concern for OKC is the time to show this is a good market. It's a bit of a rush with regards to the Hornets showing up all of a sudden with virtually no time to get ticket sales where they need to be or being able to formulate a good marketing strategy. However, since it will be for an entire season, we will probably have a clearer picture halfway through the season provided the team relocates here.

[flyingcowz]

Although many here, Patrick included know, part of my platform is for a domed NFL stadium as part of MAPS III. We could have it up and running in two years after passage and regulatory approvals. Yes. Play in Tulsa for a couple of years.