| | NEW ORLEANS -- Now that Houston voters have rejected a
proposal for a new arena for the Rockets, Louisiana officials are
opening lines of communication with the NBA in hopes of landing a
team.
New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial voiced his willingness to talk to
owners of the Rockets or the San Antonio Spurs during a ribbon cutting for the city's new arena last week.
He said he would watch Tuesday's elections closely.
Voters in San Antonio passed their measure for a new arena.
Houston voters did not. Harris County residents rejected a proposal
to build a $160 million downtown home for basketball and hockey.
"It behooves us to entertain any overtures the Rockets
organization may take towards being in New Orleans," Morial said
in a news release Wednesday. "The fact is, we have a
state-of-the-art arena and a very profound interest in having an
NBA team here."
The statement also said that Morial would speak with NBA
Commissioner David Stern and Gov. Mike Foster.
Morial said he was mindful that no NBA team has relocated in 15
years. The last NBA team to move from one city to another was the
Kansas City Kings who moved to Sacramento for the 1985 season.
New Orleans was the original home of the Jazz, but at the end of
the 1978-79 season, team owners announced they would move the team
to Salt Lake City.
A statement from the governor's press office said Louisiana is
very interested in attracting an NBA team to New Orleans, but such
matters must be handled through appropriate channels. The statement
referred further questions to the managers of the new arena.
Doug Thornton, the general manager of the Superdome and the New Orleans Arena, said the city could provide the venue for the
Rockets, but that might not happen until 2003, when the Rockets'
lease ends at the Compaq Center.
Forty-four luxury boxes could be expanded to 65 if need be, and
1,400 club seats could be expanded by 1,400 if the demand arises,
he said.
The new arena is being paid for with hotel-motel tax money,
which means no overhead from ticket sales, Thornton said.
"There's a long way to go but certainly we have an attractive
facility if given the opportunity and appropriate clearances,"
Thornton said "And if we got the clearance from the NBA, we would
move aggressively to seek a team whether it would be Houston or
anyone."
Thornton would not name other teams that the arena might be
interested in bringing to New Orleans.
Dwayne Harrison, an NBA spokesman in New York, reiterated
comments made by Commissioner David Stern about the Rockets on
Tuesday during the opening of the basketball season in San Antonio.
Stern told reporters he would like to see the Rockets stay in
Houston. However, once Houston fulfilled its obligation to the
Compaq Center, Stern said, he would not block Rockets' owner Les
Alexander from moving the team.
Though no expansion talks are planned any time soon by the NBA,
New Orleans and Las Vegas have shown interest in getting a team,
Harrison said. That's a scenario that has not been ruled out
indefinitely, he said.
New Orleans investors remain interested in buying an NBA
franchise, current or future, Thornton said. He would not name
them. | |
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