Grizzlies : Memphis or Louisville? Tomorrow's the day

Stores in Vancouver should be stocking up on tomatoes. The NBA better approve this move soon cause its gonna get ugly if the Grizzlies play in Vancouver in the 01-02 season.

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Fans, not corporations, will be the judge of move

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By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com


Vancouver Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley will tell David Stern on Monday that he wants to move his team to Memphis, Tenn. While the NBA Board of Governors will have 120 days to grant the move by a majority vote, call the deal as done as it can be.

Sure, it's 2,025 miles, but this is a relatively short trip considering how long Heisley's road to get out has taken him.

Vancouver was a mistake from the beginning, and Heisley -- who is obviously an astute, successful businessman -- had to know that the city's team wasn't going to work when he bought it from John McCaw. He must have known when the team officially transferred hands in April of last year.

Although moguls in the business world often forget about business principles once they get their hands on their new toy (in other words, a sports franchise), it's hard to believe that Heisley never saw the very few positives that the troubled Vancouver franchise had to offer.

And while his projected $46 million loss on the season might be a little far-fetched, it's not impossible, given the deflated Canadian dollar -- Heisley brings in revenue in Canadian dollars and has to pay his players in American dollars -- and the lack of support for the team. That's why, no matter where Heisley moved, it would always be better than Vancouver.

A third team in the Staples Center would be better than Vancouver. A team anywhere in the country with a great arena lease deal and naming rights revenue promised -- you name it, Idaho or Iowa -- would be better than Vancouver. Hawaii and Alaska -- with the help of Hawaiian Punch and Alaska Airlines -- perhaps could have made it with the same type of corporate support that was pledged to Heisley in Louisville and Memphis.

Over the five weeks, we've had a chance to take a look at a host of cities that each had their strengths and weaknesses. Las Vegas and Chicago (Dixmoor) were never taken seriously -- despite the local media in those cities that would argue otherwise. The problem with Las Vegas was the sports books and the problem with Chicago was that the team would likely at least have to temporarily play in the UIC Pavilion, which was definitely the worst temporary facility of all the cities that offered one to Heisley.

Anaheim had a facility, but the revenues promised weren't good enough. New Orleans had a facility, but in the end was hurt by the fact that it's only Fortune 500 company had moved to Florida and the city couldn't offer Heisley additional loot.

So in the final week it came down to KFC vs. Autozone and Federal Express. We heard these big boys offering $100 million-plus.

A reported $100 million or more were ponied up by Autozone (perhaps for a minority share of the team) and Federal Express for facility naming rights and maybe even team naming rights, which were first put on the table by Kentucky Fried Chicken in Louisville and then reportedly by Federal Express (as in the Memphis Express) in Memphis. And in the end, the bottom line for Heisley was probably that the two corporations have more money to give him than the one.

The funny thing is that we've heard so much talk of money and very little talk of overall fan interest. And in a couple years it won't matter what the corporations do, it will matter how many fannies are showing up by the time the new arena is built.

The first question to ask is what went wrong last time? The ABA's New Orleans Buccaneers moved to Memphis and became the Pros in 1970. Attendance was never a strong point and the teams in Memphis, which somehow miraculously lasted for five seasons under three different nicknames, were always among the most cash-strapped teams in the league. Some might say the lack of talent didn't help the fans come out to the Mid-South Coliseum. From 1971-75, the Memphis teams didn't win more than 30 games in the 84-game schedule.


But have things changed in the 21st century? Perhaps not.

A Harris Interactive poll, taken in Dec. 1999, revealed that only 38 percent of Memphis residents considered themselves NBA fans -- that's less than Louisville (71 percent), New Orleans (64 percent) and Las Vegas (40 percent). Memphis placed last in residents who were avid fans of the NBA among six of the cities that were being considered for the move. New Orleans, with 27 percent fan avidity, Louisville (18 percent) and St. Louis (10 percent) easily outpaced Memphis at 5 percent.

But there is a flip side. Memphis clearly does have some big-time basketball fans that support the University of Memphis and the surrounding area does have some rabid Southeast Conference basketball fans as well. The 20,000-seat Pyramid is also hands-down a more viable temporary facility than having the team in Louisville split time between Rupp Arena and Freedom Hall.

Sure, Anaheim area has more people, but can three NBA teams make it within a couple miles of each other? St. Louis is attractive, but four sports teams don't belong in television market No. 21 before one team is rewarded to television market No. 40, which Memphis is. And forget about the anemic per capita city of New Orleans, where the average family could afford a couple NBA games a year, assuming they don't eat the food and don't buy any souvenirs at the game.

So, only time will tell. The only for sure thing we know is that Michael Heisley will be much better off in Memphis than Vancouver. Is it the best choice out of all the cities that have been mentioned over the past month?

We'll just have to wait and see which city the Raptors choose in 2004.

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Houston Sports Board
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