Hornets Sold To Saints Owner Tom Benson, Will Remain In New Orleans

The NBA is expected to announce on Monday that New Orleans will be the host of the 2014 All-Star Game, according to a report by Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A 2 p.m. CDT “major announcement” is scheduled to introduce new team owner Tom Benson, and that announcement will also include the news of the All-Star Game, Smith reports.

This is the second time in seven years that the city will host an All-Star Game. The city last hosted the event in 2008, which, at the time, was the first major sporting event besides home games to be held New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. With a new owner and a new lease on the New Orleans Arena, the NBA has evidently decided to bring the event back to the city.

The NBA, which owned the Hornets for some 16 months, has been working with the city and state governments to put together funding for a renovation of New Orleans Arena to bring it up to speed with the league’s other facilities. Stern has often mentioned the need for the governments to help out with funding and favorable terms. Given that Benson, who also owns the New Orleans Saints and has been a leading force in the post-Katrina resuscitation of The Big Easy, will keep the Hornets in southern Louisiana, a quick update on the arena makes perfect sense.

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Benson was one of two potential buyers for the Hornets, beating out a group led by Los Angeles businessman Raj Bhathal. NFL rules prohibit one person from owning an NFL team and a non-NFL team in a different NFL market, but this arrangement is OK because both teams are in the same market. Benson will be the sole owner of the franchise assuming the NBA approves the sale, according to Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

For more on the Hornets, visit At The Hive.

The new agreement includes funding for upgrades to the New Orleans Arena and has no exit clauses until 2024, the press release announced. The city has also been guaranteed to host at least one all-star game between now and 2024.

“We appreciate the strong support the Hornets enjoy in New Orleans and throughout the State of Louisiana,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in the release. “Today’s announcement is an important and necessary step toward reaching an agreement with a new owner.”

For more on the Hornets, visit At The Hive.

“We’re moving on dual tracks on a buyer, and with the state’s contribution under a new lease that will likely be complete, both of those, by March 1 or on or about March 1. The deal itself can’t close until the legislature confirms the role of the state, and the legislature convenes in March,” Stern said.

Stern said that the state of Louisiana will contribute to the lease, and there will not be an out clause in it. He did not mention the name of the potential buyer, only saying that one was “in the lead” and a second possibility was “awaiting future events.”

But don’t expect a sale of the team soon: Stern tells Reid the league will wait on resolution of the ongoing NBA lockout before offloading the franchise.

“We have four or possibly five buyers that engaged us about the purchase of the franchise to remain in Louisiana,” said Stern, who declined to identify them. “We have said that we’re happy to continue conversations, but we need to complete all of the things we’re working on and have a better idea on where the collective bargaining agreement is going to land.”

When asked about the team’s economic state, Stern responded:

When asked a follow up question about the similarities between New Orleans and the NBA’s relocation of the Seattle Supersonics franchise, Stern answered:

The New Orleans Hornets, taken over by the NBA just six weeks ago and seemingly on the verge of relocation in the ensuing weeks, are on the verge hitting attendance standards that will keep the franchise in the Crescent City through 2014. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that by drawing 11,758 fans for Monday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder will allow the Hornets to clear a standard preventing an opt-out of the team’s lease with the New Orleans Arena at the end of the season. The Hornets drew more than 18,000 fans for Saturday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs, and have hit 15,000 fans in each of the team’s last three home games.

In the immediate aftermath of the NBA’s purchase and takeover of the Hornets in December, it appeared the attendance benchmark would be in danger, leaving open the option that the NBA or a buyer for the team could move the franchise to another city in advance of next season. But a concerted effort by New Orleans’ business leaders and much improved play on the court has filled the arena to greater capacity than usual.

David Filo, a billionaire southern Louisiana native who co-founded Yahoo!, is not purchasing the New Orleans Hornets from the NBA, according to Yahoo!.

Reports surfaced Wednesday that suggested Filo, who grew up outside of Lake Charles in southeastern Louisiana and attended Tulane University in New Orleans, had emerged as a potential local buyer for the Hornets. The NBA announced this week that it will purchase and run the franchise.

That the Hornets lost money is not surprising; Deadspin released leaked audits earlier this week that showed losses even in the successful 2008-09 season. But $18 million is a huge sum of money, compounded by the fact the now-former majority George Shinn was not nearly as independently wealthy as other NBA owners like Mark Cuban, Paul Allen and Stan Kroenke. Those levels of losses are unsustainable for owners like Shinn in markets like New Orleans.

The Hornets are indeed better on the court this season, with Paul healthy and the roster clicking. But financial losses are still to be expected. The NBA knows what it has gotten into with the Hornets takeover, and while we as observers are just now getting a peek inside, the league understands what an uphill battle turning around the team in New Orleans will be.

Though it has appeared unlikely a local buyer for the New Orleans Hornets would be found in the wake of the NBA’s takeover of the team, Yahoo! co-founder David Filo has emerged as a potential owner for the team. Fletcher Mackel of New Orleans’ WDSU-TV reports that Filo’s name has been circulating as a local option in the Crescent City.

Filo made his fortune as Jerry Yang’s partner in the early stages of Yahoo!, and is believed to be worth nearly $3 billion. He grew up outside Lake Charles, in southwestern Louisiana, and attended New Orleans’ Tulane University.

Upon taking over the New Orleans Hornets, NBA commissioner David Stern emphasized that the team needed more help from the state of Louisiana than it had gotten in the past, and held up the Saints as the model the Hornets’ subsidies should emulate.

The Saints are scheduled to receive up to $6 million a year from the state through 2025, and in last year’s lease extension agreement also were guaranteed $85 million in renovations to the Superdome and tax breaks on a downtown high-rise Saints owner Tom Benson proposed.

The NBA has not yet determined whether special considerations toward keeping the Hornets in New Orleans will be a part of the league’s sale of the franchise after Monday’s announced takover of the team.

Commissioner David Stern said relocation would have been a “certainty” had the NBA not stepped in and bought the team for $300 million from longtime owner George Shinn. The NBA announced the purchase and takeover Monday, and expects the league’s other 29 owners to approve a purchase price in excess of $300 million within days.

The New Orleans Hornets have been bought and taken over by the NBA, the league announced Monday. The NBA’s other 29 teams purchased the team ouright from longtime owner George Shinn and his minority partner Gary Chouest.

In a release, the NBA said team president Hugh Weber, Shinn’s brother-in-law, will remain in control of the franchise. The league has, however, installed Jac Sperling, the former general manager and current vice chairman of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, to serve as the team’s go-between to the NBA.

The NBA has scheduled a 4:30 PM Eastern conference call to answer questions about and possibly announce a reported takeover of the New Orleans Hornets.

This weekend news broke that the league was close to negotiating a purchase of the Hornets franchise from longtime owner George Shinn. The NBA is expected to manage the team while looking for a permanent owner who would vow to keep the Hornets in New Orleans.

Under the plan, the NBA would buy the Hornets from Shinn, who has tried in vain to offload the team to minority owner Gary Chouest since last spring. The NBA would then look to sell the team to a permanent owner, with reports varying on whether that would be a New Orleans buyer or the top bidder in any market.

Understandably, with concerns about franchise stability and possible relocation swirling, Hornets players are worried about their futures. Smith reports Williams told the team he doesn’t know much more than they do.

Sperling is a New Orleans native who previously served as the general manager of the NHL’s Wild and also brokered the 2005 sale of the Anaheim Ducks. Thomsen reports an announcement of the Hornets takeover could come as soon as Monday.

Of specific concern is that, should the Hornets fail to reach attendance standards higher than current levels over the next month, Shinn could break his lease with New Orleans Arena and file for relocation. While the NBA could block any potential move at the league or Board of Governors level, that is not standard practice. Ever since Hurricane Katrina crushed New Orleans’ business community and significantly cut the city’s population, Shinn has been rumored to be looking for an escape from the market.