Hornets need savin!!

[greenbeans]

not sure if this has been posted yet but i couldnt find it.

Hornets apparently need to average 15k per game at home through 09 to keep lease intact.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... tics_blog/

The Boston Globe has learned that the New Orleans Hornets are expected to announce today that if they don't average close to 15,000 fans in home games starting with tonight's contest against the Los Angeles Lakers through all home games until February of 2009, the franchise will be allowed out of their lease

[2poor]

If Shinn decides to opt-out, it would cost him over $100M in penalties. Attendance will pick up, TV deal should be taken care of within the next 3 weeks....this team isn't going anywhere.

[NetsForce]

Basically they're doomed.

[Blame Rasho]

I don't want the Hornets to move but I just can't see them getting that attendance up. How many people actually have the disposable income to continuously attend basketball games in that area? Oh and honestly Shinn might be the worst owner in the NBA.

[2poor]

I don't want the Hornets to move but I just can't see them getting that attendance up. How many people actually have the disposable income to continuously attend basketball games in that area? Oh and honestly Shinn might be the worst owner in the NBA.

Years ago Shinn was the devil, but he and the organization are doing everything "the right way" now. This is on the fans now, and there are plenty of affordable seats. At least 2 of their next 3 home games will be sell-outs (if not all 3).

N.O. City Council has put the hammer down and a TV deal will be in place so the areas surrounding NO will finally be able to watch the Hornets on TV, which will obviously give attendance a boost.

Please don't say they're "doomed" if you have little-to-no knowledge of how things have been going down since their return.

[brown_kids]

Basically they're doomed.

Nice sig as usual

[greenbeans]

If Shinn decides to opt-out, it would cost him over $100M in penalties. Attendance will pick up, TV deal should be taken care of within the next 3 weeks....this team isn't going anywhere.

that seems like a pretty solid opt-out to me. i hope they stay, its a tough situation though.

[2poor]

It seems a lot "tougher" than it really is. They have more corporate support than the organization has ever had (since Charlotte days even), pretty much every one of the luxury suites has been leased, lower bowl season tickets are pretty much all spoken for, and the TV deal (and the end of LSU's season) will reinvigorate the area.

The attendance problems they're having are with the $10-25 upper bowl seats that your "casual fan" would normally occupy...if said casual fan was able to watch them on TV from time-to-time (which most of the area hasn't been able to do).

[Blame Rasho]

-= original quote snipped =-



Years ago, Shinn and the organization are doing everything "the right way" now. This is on the fans now, and there are plenty of affordable seats. At least 2 of their next 3 home games will be sell-outs (if not all 3).

N.O. City Council has put the hammer down and a TV deal will be in place so the areas surrounding NO will finally be able to watch the Hornets on TV, which will obviously give attendance a boost.

Please don't say they're "doomed" if you have little-to-no knowledge of how things have been going down since their return.

Do you want to make a bold prediction that they avg more than 15,000 ppl for the rest of the year?

Hey... lets call a spade a spade... Shinn is first and foremost a business man. He could care less about the fans given his history of with the Hornets. He wanted to move the team and file for relocation to OKC but Seattle beat them to it. He is just trying not lose more money and make a buck

Link

Code: Select all

                      SEASON
 GAME    ATTENDANCE        TOTAL      AVERAGE
    1        15,188       15,188       15,188
    2         9,817       25,005       12,503
    3        15,297       40,302       13,434
    4         8,302       48,604       12,151
    5        11,741       60,345       12,069
    6        11,609       71,954       11,992
    7         8,393       80,347       11,478
    8        12,223       92,570       11,571
    9        10,312      102,882       11,431
   10        10,386      113,268       11,327
   11        10,773      124,041       11,276
   12        13,705      137,746       11,479
   13        11,257      149,003       11,462
   14        17,623      166,626       11,902
   15        11,444      178,070       11,871

Only three* times they had over 15K attendance and once was their home opener.

Try and rationalize the situation from unbiased eyes.

[2poor]

I'm not being biased, I just have a full understanding of all the factors holding the team back. Factors I figure few people on this site besides me are aware of.

That said, if the team can't average 14,700, then they probably don't need the team. But that being said, if they can't do that and Shinn wants to opt-out, he's not going to have the $100+ million to fork over to do so. The franchise itself is only worth $250M, 25% of which is owned by a local investor.

It isn't easy to attract new fans when new fans aren't able to watch the Hornets on TV. This will change within the next 3 weeks.

[greenbeans]

That said, if the team can't average 14,700, then they probably don't need the team. But that being said, if they can't do that and Shinn wants to opt-out, he's not going to have the $100+ million to fork over to do so. The franchise itself is only worth $250M, 25% of which is owned by a local investor.

you realize that if they cant avg the 15k then there will be NO opt-out fee, and hell be free to do as he pleases after 09??

[Patterns]

They'll probably get 15,000 with Kobe in town tonight.

[2poor]

you realize that if they cant avg the 15k then there will be NO opt-out fee, and hell be free to do as he pleases after 09??

uh, no. They will only be able to opt-out IF the benchmarks aren't met. At which point, there would be severe financial penalties.

The new deal includes an option for the team to terminate the lease after the 2008-09 season if certain attendance benchmarks are not met. The Hornets can opt out of the agreement if the team fails to draw an average attendance of 14,735 for the final five months of this season and next season.

Opting out, though, would be costly for the Hornets. Owner George Shinn would would be on the line for up to $100 million.

Roughly $30 million of that would be penalties, reimbursements of past inducements from the state and relocation fees to move.

Shinn said one of the terms to the deal he struck with minority partner Gary Chouest, a Galliano businessman, when Chouest agreed to buy 25 percent interest in the team last July was that Shinn would be forced to pay back Chouest's investment, an estimated $62 million, if the Hornets moved.

It is really quite simple, sink, swim, or sell, and Shinn has never been to keen on the idea of selling. Hell, getting him to surrender 25% of the team to Chouest was pretty surprising in itself.

btw, the attendance figure is their average attendance number from before Katrina, so what they're asking for really isn't outrageous. They're simply asking for the same level of support they had before they left.

[Blame Rasho]

you realize that if they cant avg the 15k then there will be NO opt-out fee, and hell be free to do as he pleases after 09??

It also allows the Hornets to opt out after next season, albeit with penalties ranging from $50 million to $100 million. The precise cost would depend on inducement reimbursements by the team to the state and a relocation fee imposed by the NBA.

The lease says the Hornets may leave only if average attendance is worse than 14,735 for the final five months of this season and next season. The benchmark is close to the team's average attendance for the three seasons before Hurricane Katrina. Such an average still would leave the Hornets in the bottom third of NBA attendance, league officials said.

It isn't as easy as packing and leaving. They need to file for relocation and get thru all the red tape with another city before even considering leaving NO. It is in Shinn's best interest to stay in New Orleans and hope that the fans pick up attendance. He doesn't want the Hornets to be a sunk cost...

Oh and the only city that has an NBA ready Arena is OKC but the Sonics beat them to that bid.

Las Vegas isn't going to get a team, they don't have a NBA level arena. The Thomas and Mac Center is a freaking college basketball team arena and boxing venue.

[2poor]

Like I said, this is really a matter of being rational;

the team's estimated worth is $250M. this value will increase or decrease based on how successful they are (attendance). if they are so unsucessful that the opt-out clause is triggered, do you really think Shinn is going to have the $100M to piss away? Probably not, he'd have to sell, which he has never wanted to do.

This is a win-win deal for both sides, now they just need to keep drawing in the fans. Expect at least 2 sell-outs, possibly 3, over this next homestand (LA/CLE/MIA).

[greenbeans]

they should move back to CHA, sign Mugsey as the HC, and bring ZO and LJ off the bench. maybe THEN ill start giving a damn about that franchise again. (just sick of that owner, make up yo mind, FOOOOOL)

[Carl_Monday]

I'd really hate to see the Hornets leave New Orleans, and hopefully the fans do start to come around like you say 2poor, but the past attendance figures in New Orleans don't look so good.

Year Avg. Att. % Capacity NBA Rank W/L Record
2002-03 15,650 91.0 19/29 47-35
2003-04 14,332 83.3 28/29 41-41
2004-05 14,221 82.7 30/30 18-64
2005-06 18,168 N/A 11/30 38-44
2006-07 17,830 N/A 15/30 39-43
2007-08 11,871 69.0 30/30 ??-??


Note that the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons had 37 and 35 games played in Oklahoma, which lead to a huge bump in attendance. Again, I really do hope that the fans down there realize what a great team they have and a special player in CP3 that they can watch on a nightly basis, instead of only coming out for the Kobes and LeBrons.

[hermes]

man from looking at the figures its going to be tough to avgergae 15000

[Blame Rasho]

I really do hope that the fans down there realize what a great team they have and a special player in CP3 that they can watch on a nightly basis, instead of only coming out for the Kobes and LeBrons.

I share this opinion...

[LLcoleJ]

Like I said, this is really a matter of being rational;

the team's estimated worth is $250M. this value will increase or decrease based on how successful they are (attendance). if they are so unsucessful that the opt-out clause is triggered, do you really think Shinn is going to have the $100M to piss away? Probably not, he'd have to sell, which he has never wanted to do.

This is a win-win deal for both sides, now they just need to keep drawing in the fans. Expect at least 2 sell-outs, possibly 3, over this next homestand (LA/CLE/MIA).

couldnt he subsidize the penalites he could face by getting that covered by a new city/ investor that wants the Hornets in their city?

This is general terms and not a specific city I am talking about.