New Arena

In class this week we have talked about stadium finance and how important it is to a sports franchise.  It just so happens that three teams in the NBA have arena issues.

The Seattle Sonics were recently purchased by Clay Bennett who isn’t happy with the current state of Key Arena.  The arena was built in 1983 and the renovated  in 1995.  Mr. Bennett has met with city officials to discuss building a new world class facility while the mayor of Seattle has proposed new renovations to Key Arena.  Mr. Bennett wants to keep the team in Seattle but  isn’t opposed to moving out of the downtown area and into a different region of the area if a deal can’t be reached with the city.

In Sacramento, the Maloof family has proposed a 1/4 cent sales tax to help fund a development in Sacramento that would house a new stadium for them.  The development would also include shops and resturants. They are currently searching for a sight for the development in which the Maloofs would invest $122 million of their own money over the life of the deal.

Last is the New Orleans/ OK City Hornets.  They will actually open training camp in october in New Orleans practicing at the New Orleans Arena and Tulane University.  They are slated to play 6 games in New Orleans this coming season.  Building a new Arena  in New Orleans has to be a priority if they want to get their team back.  The NBA is toying with going into new markets, Oklahoma City was a suprisingly good host to the Hornets last year and with the All-star game being in Vegas, New Orleans needs to come up with a plan for a facility or they could see the team say Bye-Bye.