RealGM

The Charlotte Hornets have made a number of front-office promotions, moves intended to keep the business side of the franchise humming even as the performance on the basketball side has been inconsistent.

The team is promoting Fred Whitfield to president and vice chairman; Pete Guelli to executive vice president and chief operating officer and James Jordan to executive vice president and chief administrative officer, the Hornets will announce Wednesday morning. Vice Chairman Curtis Polk, a longtime key adviser to team owner Michael Jordan, has been promoted to managing partner of the team.

After Jordan bought the team in 2010, the Hornets have improved on nearly every marketing metric, including ticket sales, sponsorships and merchandise sales.

Growth in season-ticket sales, experts say, is the most important step in improving a franchise’s health. When Jordan bought the Hornets, the team was selling about 5,000 season tickets. Today, the team is selling around 11,000 season tickets.