http://www.nba.com/news/nolaokc_050921.html NEW YORK, Sept. 21 – NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that Oklahoma City will be home to the New Orleans Hornets for the 2005-06 season, playing host to 35 regular season games. The team will also play six regular season games in Louisiana. "The devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region has made it necessary for the Hornets to move to a temporary location for the upcoming season," Stern said. "Fortunately, the Hornets have received a gracious invitation from Mayor Mick Cornett and the business leaders and citizens of Oklahoma City to play their home games in the Ford Center, a first-class facility that we hope to fill with new Hornets fans this season." The team will also play six home games at the Pete Maravich Center on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. "It was important to the Hornets and the NBA that we maintain a presence in Louisiana in anticipation of a return to New Orleans next season," Stern said. E-mail photo | Buy photos Hornets owner George Shinn, here handing out relief supplies in Houston, also wanted the Hornets to keep a Louisiana presence. Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images "Few American cities have experienced the level of tragedy as Oklahoma City," Mayor Cornett said. "I think for that reason our community has a heightened sensitivity for those impacted by Hurricane Katrina. We accept that we are the best solution to solve one of the many problems and pledge our best efforts to support the Hornets." "Like so many businesses and families uprooted by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets were forced to leave New Orleans while the city recovers from this tragedy," Hornets owner George Shinn said. "Fortunately, Oklahoma City is an ideal home for this season and we greatly appreciate the good will shown by Mayor Cornett and the local business community. "We will play a majority of our games in Oklahoma City this season with great pride and gratitude, but remain devoted to our home and have set our sights on returning to a rebuilt and vibrant New Orleans for the 2006-07 season." Fans in Oklahoma can now put down a deposit to reserve Hornets' season tickets in Oklahoma City's Ford Center. Ford Center, built in 2002, is Oklahoma City’s state-of-the-art sports and entertainment showcase. The center is home to the Central Hockey League’s (CHL) Oklahoma City Blazers and the Arena Football League’s (AF2) Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, and is designed to host major concerts, sporting events, family shows, ice shows and numerous other world-class entertainment experiences. The 586,000 square-foot facility seats 19,674 on four seating levels and features 3,380 club seats, seven party suites and 49 private suites. Ford Center is owned by the City of Oklahoma City, a city that has already welcomed thousands of evacuees from the Gulf region. The facility is the premier project of Oklahoma City’s visionary capital improvement program (MAPS) to finance new and upgraded sports, entertainment, cultural and convention facilities with a one-cent sales tax. Ford Center is an SMG-managed facility. Headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG is the world’s leading private facility management company. With 168 Facilities, SMG controls over 1.4 million entertainment seats worldwide, and over nine million square feet of exhibit space.
I've taken a rooting interest in the team moving to St. Louis, mainly because it's good for the league and the team's future, but this is a solid move. At the end of the day, you just can't turn down 10 million bucks and a 19-seater; and StL just couldn't finagle enough open dates to make it work this season.
Oklahoma should spend money on repairing its roads and bridges before giving $10 million to a millionaire. OKC is desperate for a team. In the long run if NO isn't viable, I think OKC is lining themselves up.
oklahoma roads DO suck. they are horrible. However, technically, OKC only pays them the 10 mil if the ticket sales dont live up to some pre-set specifications. now, will they actually sell enough tickets? doubt it. Theres a reason OKC hasnt ever had a pro sports franchise, and the hornets moving here for a year will probably back up that reason.
As pitiful as the entire Hornet organization is, after corporate giveaways and free ducats are included, I bet they top the 14,000 average NO had last season in OK City.
I think the Hornets could end up in OKC forever. The city is hungry for a professional sports team. They have a great arena, a decent sized population, and they support the sports teams they already have. They have what many people consider to be the most successful minor league sports franchise ever in their hockey team. I don't know how they are doing nowadays, but the minor league hockey team has averaged over 10,000 fans per game over the course of an entire season multiple times.
There's a rule from the ABA/NBA merger that state's that a basketball team can't be located in St. Louis. The city already gets a nice chunk of the NBA's profits by doing that. EDIT: Apparently, I'm wrong. The profits are there for folding their original team. I'm surprised St. Louis hasn't been at the forefront with getting an NBA team. Not big enough, perhaps? http://www.remembertheaba.com/Spirits-of-St-Louis.html
Alright, back on topic: Roll Call! Who's getting season tickets? Mark me down for tix and a Chris Andersen jersey.
The most boring city in the USA gets an NBA team for one year. WOW . That should be long enough to prove they shouldn't get one permanently.
Anyone from OKC know how to get one of those promotion jobs with the Hornets? I hear they are hiring 50 people locally for that purpose and I would love to nab one of those slots.... but definitely sign me up for some tickets! I have dreamed of this day since I was a young boy. NBA in OKC? Are you f'ing kidding me??? I was already excited about going to the Rockets-Sonics exhibition game... now I get to see them in TWO regular season games in my own backyard!! Way to go Mick Cornett! --Rocketman
well i called about season tickets today and the dude told me that the cheapest they are offering is somehwere over 800 bucks. I kind of figured it would be cheaper than that since its on such short term notice........looks like ill just be buying a small package or a few individual game tickets. either way, im still pretty excited about it. I definitely cannot see them staying here for more than a year.....Oklahomans are too infatuated with OU and OSU to notice professional sports.
I called yesterday and you have to pay a $200 non refundable deposit just to get the chance at getting season tickets. They said early next week you could go to the Ford Center and pick your seat. The guy also said you could get down on the lower level for a $1000 per seat for all the games, but he wasn't 100% certain, and that they'd know more in a few days. I have only been in OKC for about 6 months, but it's not that bad. The roads do suck horribly but Bricktown is up and coming, and in a few years it will be a pretty cool town, but it's not Austin or Houston, and I miss both badly. I will get to see 2 Rockets game this year though, not too bad.
They're in Oklahoma City as opposed to Baton Rouge because they need to still make money. The players aren't giving up their salaries, and the team is already in debt. It's why I don't expect to see the Hornets ever return to Louisiana. ....and season tickets are always pricey. Take $23 seats and multiply that by OKC's 35 games. Go in with one or two buddies or like you said, grab a package. Evan
