NBA to Take Over Hornets?

[Mings]

I think part of the reason the Hornets aren't pulling enough here right now is that there are quite of bit of people in this town that were affected by the oil spill, plus the recession finally caught up to the city as well (It didn't really hit here until early 2010 due to all of the Katrina projects).

I would say that the population of the city is still 40% less than it was pre-Katrina and it may never reach that lever ever again.

Yeah but that 40% less is selling out the Superdome, which never happened before Katrina. I think it is just people aren't going to as many games as they used to. I haven't been to a game yet this season, and I went several times last season.

[omnivore]

So if a team ended up in Seattle, what should they do about the name/history?

[GMW79]

Make it two!!!!!!!!

Two times the NBA has failed in Nawlins?

[aci]

Make it two!!!!!!!!

Two times the NBA has failed in Nawlins?

A hockey reference, if I'm not mistaken. Two teams in Canada.

[illwauk]

I think part of the reason the Hornets aren't pulling enough here right now is that there are quite of bit of people in this town that were affected by the oil spill, plus the recession finally caught up to the city as well (It didn't really hit here until early 2010 due to all of the Katrina projects).

I would say that the population of the city is still 40% less than it was pre-Katrina and it may never reach that lever ever again.

Yeah but that 40% less is selling out the Superdome, which never happened before Katrina. I think it is just people aren't going to as many games as they used to. I haven't been to a game yet this season, and I went several times last season.

The Saints also play 95% of their games on weekends when people are willing make a 2 or 3 hour drive to the Superdome, so they're able to draw fans from much further away. That's not the case for the Hornets since NBA teams play most of their games during the week and have to depend on a more centralized population base. No one is gonna drive for more than an hour after a game (if even that) on a regular basis when they have work the next morning.

[The_Admiral]

I think part of the reason the Hornets aren't pulling enough here right now is that there are quite of bit of people in this town that were affected by the oil spill, plus the recession finally caught up to the city as well (It didn't really hit here until early 2010 due to all of the Katrina projects).

I would say that the population of the city is still 40% less than it was pre-Katrina and it may never reach that lever ever again.

Yeah but that 40% less is selling out the Superdome, which never happened before Katrina. I think it is just people aren't going to as many games as they used to. I haven't been to a game yet this season, and I went several times last season.

Tough to compare the Saints and Hornets here. The Saints are much more established than the Hornets are, having been there for over forty years. The Hornets carpetbagged their way in, were mediocre to bad for three years, then were washed away for two seasons. I get the impression that the Saints are much more of a regional draw than the Hornets are, and it's easier to get 70,000 people from all around the extended Gulf Coast into town for eight major (usually Sunday) events than it is to get 18,000 people into town for 41 basketball games, most of which are on work/school nights. (EDIT: beaten to the punch)

The Saints are basically the Packers now, a small town in a big-city league, getting by on being an anomalously popular institution. This model works for football, where everyone's in it together and every gameday's a holiday, but I don't think they have the right base for the rigors of a 41-date schedule and the accompanying local revenue. Antediluvian New Orleans wasn't particularly impressive as an NBA town, and there's even less there now.

I know Stern didn't want to give up on New Orleans in the wake of Katrina because of what a public relations disaster it would be, but the p.r. defense doesn't hold water (if you'll pardon the expression) when you consider how gleefully Stern stepped in what the dog left with the whole Seattle fiasco. Betcha Hornetsgate wouldn't have turned a host of fans against one of sports' historically great commissioners, if anyone had even made it in the first place. The way to carefully step backward out of New Orleans would've been to say that the league would not only stop gobbling up the Hornets' subsidies but match them in a Katrina relief effort (so basically a buyout with a smiley face), which looks very magnanimous on the part of the NBA. Give 'em the All-Star Game permanently so that it becomes a big event to have NBA basketball in what's basically Neworleansland The Theme Park.Then you buy Shinn out of the league and flip the team to Crewcut Clay so he can write emails about what a brilliant and handsome man David Stern is.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If the Hornets move to Seattle, this city will gladly and enthusiastically support them. And without any sense of irony, either.

[TalktoChuck]

So if a team ended up in Seattle, what should they do about the name/history?

My guess is that they would do what the NFL did when the Browns came back.

"What? The Browns never left Cleveland! You must be mistaken."

[Mac the Knife]

Step 1: NBA buys the Hornets.

Step 2: NBA sells Hornets to Seattle interests upon city's promise to build new arena.

Step 3: Profit.

[Mings]

I think part of the reason the Hornets aren't pulling enough here right now is that there are quite of bit of people in this town that were affected by the oil spill, plus the recession finally caught up to the city as well (It didn't really hit here until early 2010 due to all of the Katrina projects).

I would say that the population of the city is still 40% less than it was pre-Katrina and it may never reach that lever ever again.

Yeah but that 40% less is selling out the Superdome, which never happened before Katrina. I think it is just people aren't going to as many games as they used to. I haven't been to a game yet this season, and I went several times last season.

Tough to compare the Saints and Hornets here. The Saints are much more established than the Hornets are, having been there for over forty years. The Hornets carpetbagged their way in, were mediocre to bad for three years, then were washed away for two seasons. I get the impression that the Saints are much more of a regional draw than the Hornets are, and it's easier to get 70,000 people from all around the extended Gulf Coast into town for eight major (usually Sunday) events than it is to get 18,000 people into town for 41 basketball games, most of which are on work/school nights. (EDIT: beaten to the punch)

The Saints are basically the Packers now, a small town in a big-city league, getting by on being an anomalously popular institution. This model works for football, where everyone's in it together and every gameday's a holiday, but I don't think they have the right base for the rigors of a 41-date schedule and the accompanying local revenue. Antediluvian New Orleans wasn't particularly impressive as an NBA town, and there's even less there now.

I know Stern didn't want to give up on New Orleans in the wake of Katrina because of what a public relations disaster it would be, but the p.r. defense doesn't hold water (if you'll pardon the expression) when you consider how gleefully Stern stepped in what the dog left with the whole Seattle fiasco. Betcha Hornetsgate wouldn't have turned a host of fans against one of sports' historically great commissioners, if anyone had even made it in the first place. The way to carefully step backward out of New Orleans would've been to say that the league would not only stop gobbling up the Hornets' subsidies but match them in a Katrina relief effort (so basically a buyout with a smiley face), which looks very magnanimous on the part of the NBA. Give 'em the All-Star Game permanently so that it becomes a big event to have NBA basketball in what's basically Neworleansland The Theme Park.Then you buy Shinn out of the league and flip the team to Crewcut Clay so he can write emails about what a brilliant and handsome man David Stern is.

True. I'm pretty sure half the season ticket owners live on the Northshore.

Also a lot of people were pissed when Byron Scott was fired. Perhaps another reason people are staying home.

Mine, even though I'm from Indiana, I just really don't care all that much about basketball.

[Eye]

If the Hornets move to Seattle, this city will gladly and enthusiastically support them. And without any sense of irony, either.

But wouldn't that make them hypocrites, seeing as how they were pissed when the Sonics left?

[Cujo]

If the Hornets move to Seattle, this city will gladly and enthusiastically support them. And without any sense of irony, either.

But wouldn't that make them hypocrites, seeing as how they were pissed when the Sonics left?

No different than football fans in Baltimore.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If the Hornets move to Seattle, this city will gladly and enthusiastically support them. And without any sense of irony, either.

But wouldn't that make them hypocrites, seeing as how they were pissed when the Sonics left?

Yeah, but I thought I already got there.

Anyway, Seattle was a market that supported its team -- it just wouldn't pay for a new arena after it had thought it assured itself the publicly funded Key Arena renovations a decade previous would keep the Sonics in town.

New Orleans is a market that doesn't support its team.

[The_Admiral]

Sherman Alexie mentioned that in Sonicsgate, which we all should watch. He said that it was hard to look forward to a new team, since it wouldn't be an expansion team. It would be taken from a failing city like New Orleans, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Memphis, or Minnesota, and the cycle would repeat. I liked his part in the film a lot. I want to read his writing solely based on his use of the phrase "pitiful cries to a disinterested god."

The worst part of the film is at the very end, when they talk about how if Seattle had only dug in its heels and held up the relocation in court another year while the economy tanked and Aubrey McClendon lost his fortune in the crash, the Okies probably would've sold the team to Ballmer's group to get their ROI and wash their hands of the pesky Seattle folks. Instead, the city caved in and didn't even bother to maximize the penalty they could've gotten out of Bennett's group. Head-shaking.

[BigMac12]

Can't wait for the "Move the team to Winnipeg or Quebec" posts soon...

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The worst part of the film is at the very end, when they talk about how if Seattle had only dug in its heels and held up the relocation in court another year while the economy tanked and Aubrey McClendon lost his fortune in the crash, the Okies probably would've sold the team to Ballmer's group to get their ROI and wash their hands of the pesky Seattle folks. Instead, the city caved in and didn't even bother to maximize the penalty they could've gotten out of Bennett's group. Head-shaking.

It's a local politics thing. Seattle, despite being the economic engine of the state, has a pretty anemic presence in the state legislature (this big city vs. yokel-controlled state legislature scenario is likely not unique to Washington). It's burned us on more than just $30 million gimme penalties from Clay Bennett.

That tears it -- I need to see Sonicsgate.

[GMW79]

Make it two!!!!!!!!

Two times the NBA has failed in Nawlins?

A hockey reference, if I'm not mistaken. Two teams in Canada.

Thank you. I'm well aware of the hockey reference. I was trying to make a joke, but apparently it didn't work.

[Mac the Knife]

If the Hornets move to Seattle, this city will gladly and enthusiastically support them. And without any sense of irony, either.

But wouldn't that make them hypocrites, seeing as how they were pissed when the Sonics left?

No different than football fans in Baltimore.

As a lifelong fan of the original Cleveland Browns before they were relocated, I for one never blamed Baltimore for the team moving. Nor do I blame OKC for the Seattle SuperSonic relocation. The owners are to blame. A city supporting a relocated team doesn't make the people of that city hypocrites, IMHO.

[Viper]

So if a team ended up in Seattle, what should they do about the name/history?

The Seattle Super Hornets. Not only is it a combo of the Hornets and SuperSonics nicknames, it has a built-in local (Boeing) reference.

[Lee.]

Can't wait for the "Move the team to Winnipeg or Quebec" posts soon...

I'll sure be glad when Winnipeg gets the Cyclone back.

Big reader, huh?