Hornets near new deal with New Orleans

BATON ROUGE, La. -- State officials and the owners of the Charlotte Hornets were on the verge of completing a deal to bring the NBA team to New Orleans.

"We are a perfect fit. We love New Orleans. We're bringing a very good team here," Ray Wooldridge, co-owner of the team with George Shinn, said after a Wednesday afternoon meeting with Gov. Mike Foster.

Wooldridge and Foster said a deal could be announced Thursday or Friday. However, Foster also urged reporters to listen to his Thursday afternoon radio show for a possible announcement, and officials at the New Orleans Arena called a news conference for Thursday.

Wooldridge said discussions included improvements to the 18,500-seat arena, which is already close to NBA standards, and state help in the sale of luxury box suites and season tickets.

Jack Capella, a lawyer for the commission that runs the Superdome and the neighboring arena, said he believes the state and the owners are working on a memorandum of understanding that would be converted to a lease prior to April 1.

Part of the deal, he said, would include using state construction money to expand the number of arena suites from 44 to 60, and expand with locker rooms and a club area.

Earlier Wednesday, a state advisory committee proposed using the New Orleans hotel tax to pay for inducements to keep the New Orleans Saints from moving -- and to lure other professional sports teams.

New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, another meeting participant, was cautious: "We've been down this path before."

The NBA blocked an attempt to bring the Minnesota Timberwolves to New Orleans in 1994, and the city made a major effort last year to land the Vancouver Grizzlies, who moved to Memphis instead.

In Charlotte, Mayor Pat McCrory acknowledged that the Hornets, who also tried to relocate to Memphis, want to move to New Orleans.

McCrory said he was told by Mike Crum, director of operations management at the Charlotte Coliseum, that the team plans to apply to the NBA for permission to move. A majority of the 29 NBA owners would have to approve the move.

Crum could not be reached and NBA officials declined comment.

Hornets players said Shinn told them a deal with Charlotte looks unlikely, but mentioned nothing about applying to move.

Shinn told the players the Hornets "lost a lot of money. Something has to happen. He didn't say one way or the other," forward P.J. Brown said.

Coach Paul Silas said he and the players were trying to ignore the issue.

"We would like to have some sort of closure, but who knows when that's going to be," Silas said. "I'm kind of tired of the whole thing. And I have no concern about that. We've got to win ballgames. That's what I want my players to concentrate on."

When the team applied last spring to relocate to Memphis, it then went on a strong playoff run that temporarily brought sellout crowds back to Charlotte Coliseum. So the Hornets withdrew the request.

Shinn and Wooldridge resumed their search for a new home in June after Charlotte voters rejected a package that included a $200 million publicly financed downtown arena.

The Hornets' owners have said they cannot survive economically in the Coliseum, which has 23,698 seats, but only 12 lucrative suites. The New Orleans Arena has 44 suites and room to add another 20.

Chief executives of three of Charlotte's largest corporations last week pledged $100 million to help fund a $190 million downtown arena. Wooldridge said the proposal hasn't been presented to team officials.

McCrory said the city won't significantly change its proposal to keep the Hornets in Charlotte.

"We have a very sound proposal and we won't get into a bidding war," he said.

New Orleans has a smaller metropolitan population than Charlotte and a median household income of $38,800 a year, below the national average and Charlotte's median income of $51,000.

New Orleans' TV market, ranked 43rd nationally, would be the smallest in the NBA. Charlotte's TV market ranks 27th.

The Grizzlies' move last year was the league's first relocation in 15 years. New Orleans lost the Jazz to Salt Lake City in 1979.

Also on Wednesday, the NBA said it wants to keep the Orlando Magic in central Florida.

"We love having a team in Orlando," NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. "It's been a great market for us and it's supported the Magic well. It's a little surprising that there's discussion about the team moving. I don't think that's in anybody's head right now."

The Magic's owners said Monday the franchise is for sale, prompting speculation that any buyers would have to move the team to succeed. Magic officials claim they are losing about $10 million annually because their home court, T.D. Waterhouse Center, lacks luxury suites and club seating. There are no plans to build a new arena in Orlando.