HP - That story makes my stomach knot up... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
I am a college student and I cannot afford to go to a Rockets game. I wish the Rockets would put together some promos like the Mavericks. Those $10 seats if not sold out become hella of a lot expensive when you count parking, convenience charges, handling fee, taxes, concessions, souvenirs...etc. The Mavs have this thing called the family 4 pack. Basically its 4 tickets, 4 drinks, 4 hot dogs, and no fees. The total comes out to $49...unbelievable! Mavs fans can thank Mark Cuban. I do not live in Houston so its hard for me to buy directly from the Compaq Center box office. One night with friends at a Rockets game is equivalent to student season tickets to UT football. I would like to go to a Rockets game. Maybe over Spring Break...Pacers, Nets, or Spurs? I'd like to go to all three but I don't got the $$$. Probably end up watching them at home on TV. [This message has been edited by Smokey (edited February 27, 2001).]
heypartner: You got most of it. The land was donated by Schnitzer but the arena was built and paid for by the city with tax dollars. They then leased the building to Schnitzer. That lease runs out in 2003 and is currently owned by Chuck Watson. Ironically, Ric Campo who is the finance chair of the Sports Authority, was the chief negotiator of that deal (he worked for Schnitzer) and was offered the finance job for the Rockets. He made the right choice to turn it down considering how much money he made. Anyway, thanks to Eric Berger for responding to me so quickly. ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
I'm still not following you or Berger. The Summit was paid for by a municipal bond issue. Bonds are not tax dollars. Schnitzer financed the Summit by raising capital to buy all the bonds. Bonds are a tax free investment, so he wins big even though he wasn't allowed to own the Summit. I know for sure Schnitzer spent years buying up land in that area in secret. The whole deal was to convince the city to choose his area over downtown, so he financed the whole thing. The bonds are just a way for him to allow the city to officially own it. He didn't need help building the Summit; the city insisted on owning it. Another interesting story is that the city this go round was very much insistent on being owners of the new arena, one reason is because they had to in order to keep getting naming rights. Compaq was very insistent on the city getting at least partial ownership of the building, since they lose their rights if there was a complete change of ownership. Another story is that Staples was paid by private investors and they got back ALL their money before one game was played through scores of licensing rights (naming, pepsi vs coke, beer, concessions, etc). It amounted to over $250m in licensing sales alone. The city wanted to build the stadium, but had no chance since it is obvious LA voters just hate that sort of thing.
jeff, I'm not following you. Schnitzer financed and built the Summit, including the entire Greenway Plaza. The City did a bond issue, but make no mistake, Schnitzer paid for it. The bonds just are a way of guaranteeing pay back at little risk. The City was donated land by Schnitzer for the Summit, and he promised free parking. He did not give away parking for the rest of the businesses in the Greenway Plaza. The profitability of the Summit was essentially guaranteed by Schnitzer and that was how bonds issue were bought. Schnitzer did this in a manuever to win out over the downtown developers who wanted the Summit there. He gave the city a better package deal, that was all part of his master plan to develop his Greenway Plaza. Saying tax payers built the Summit is misleading. Schnitzer's story is a classic example of why private funding will build stadiums all by itself, but battles are waged between private funders and the cities always have a way of getting there hands into it, hence the misleading referendum debates.
Hmmmm. I'll have to ask Eric Berger about that one. The Chronicle reported that the city purchased the land for the Compaq Center and used bonds to pay for the building of the Summit. The city now owns that building, which was partly what went into city council arguments about what to do with it when the Rockets leave it. Interesting stuff. mrpaige, you got any ideas on this one??? ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
