NBA Purchasing Hornets From Shinn

[Apollo]

New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn has agreed to sell the club to the NBA

Current Hornets President Hugh Weber will continue overseeing day-to-day operations of what will be the first NBA team to be owned by the league

The league has lined up New Orleans-born sports attorney Jac Sperling, vice chairman of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, to be the NBA’s administrator of the team and oversee its sale to a more permanent owner

Source: Yahoo Sports

[Apollo]

Making the possibility of relocation even more likely is a recent report that the Hornets are not hitting the attendance benchmarks needed to lock itself into its arena lease in New Orleans. In other words, should an outside buyer emerge with an eye towards moving the team to his destination of choice, a la Clay Bennett and the Oklahoma City Thunder, a major, expensive hurdle that usually exists wouldn't be there to slow down the process.

Source: CBS Sports

If the Hornets were to move, possible new locations would include Kansas City, Anaheim and Chicago, which is the third-largest market in the country yet has only one NBA franchise.

Source: SI

I think Vegas would be a good spot and they're dieing for a franchise. All they need is a commitment to a new building and to take the NBA off the list of betting sports. Big hurdles but it would be worth it to them.

[drizz]

i dont understand why stern would want to move a team to vegas because when the raptors were first being born as a franchise he nixed the idea of nba games on pro-line in canada.

stern is such a shady bastard. if he moves a team to vegas its because his pockets are being lined with pure gold.

[Buddahfan]

Now that the NBA will own the Nornets is there a conflict of interest if Hornets players are allowed to stay in the Players Association union?

[Apollo]

I think this is an emergency temporary thing. They had to get Shinn out of there and this accommodates the move until they can find an owner they deem suitable.

i dont understand why stern would want to move a team to vegas because when the raptors were first being born as a franchise he nixed the idea of nba games on pro-line in canada.

stern is such a shady bastard. if he moves a team to vegas its because his pockets are being lined with pure gold.

All I know is when the All-Star game took place there a couple years back there was a lot of buzz about Vegas being one of the top candidates to get a franchise IF they jumped over a few hurdles and those two were a new building and stop gambling on league games. I think they could probably put a "stop" to NBA betting until the team is all moved in and settled away and after that what can Stern do? The owners of the team couldn't exactly shut the strip down or anything if bookies started taking wagers on NBA games again. I think Vegas was the first non-NBA city to win a bid for an NBA All-Star game. Ponder that for a moment, the leagues been around a long time now.

[heinz57]

if vegas gets a team, there's going to be a whole lot more herpes going around the league.

[Apollo]

according to a league source who told FanHouse of this news late Thursday, there is reason to believe the league is looking strongly at the possibility of moving the team to Kansas City and the Sprint Center that was built in 2007.

Source: Fanhouse

[MangoKid]

If they put a franchise in Vegas, they'd make a ton of money in walk-up sales. And the casinos would hold all the seasons in the lower bowls. However, they'd have to put that arena on the strip. Even if they played the first year or two at the Thomas and Mack Centre, it's a pain in the arse to get to, and it can get REALLY congested - see the All-Star Game from a few years ago. The big hurdle is obviously, the possibility of corruption and the easy access that such persons involved in corrupt schemes would have to players.

I think the NBA would try out Kansas City and their brand spankin new digs before they do Vegas.

[RaptorDan]

if vegas gets a team, there's going to be a whole lot more herpes going around the league.

Too funny, and true!

[RaptorDan]

Even though it won't happen I would like to see a team back in Seattle. I can't believe they relocated.

Ever since the all-star game in Las Vegas, I thought it would be just a matter of time before LV got a team.

[Hotshot]

Bring it back to Vancouver bitches!!

[Apollo]

The man picked by the NBA to oversee the Hornets after the league's impending takeover of the franchise said Tuesday that his assignment is to make the club more attractive to a buyer who would keep the team in New Orleans.

"I grew up here. [Stern] asked me to help," Sperling said. "Read into that what you want, but I think the commissioner, he's been very positive about this city going back to when the team was awarded in 2002, [then moving the team back from Oklahoma City] after Katrina ... and also the awarding of the 2008 All-Star game.

"We're in a difficult spot, yes, but I think his selection of me is a further indication of what is in his mind. He wants to try to make this asset more attractive so perhaps a local buyer will step up."

Sperling said there is no rush to sell the club and that one of his first orders of business will be to see whether revenue streams from ticket sales, sponsorships and the government inducements can be enhanced.

He said it would not be wise "to go try to find a buyer now when asset not performing at it's best."

Sperling said the NBA takeover should be seen as a positive development in terms of the team's ability to compete on the court.

"We have a well-funded owner who is going to be a collaborative partner with management who they have confidence in," Sperling said, referring to team president Hugh Weber and general manager Dell Demps.

Source: ESPN.com