Jaded-Fan
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Article in KC about perhaps having to pay tens of millions for a practice facility to attract a team (can you hear the desperation):
Mayor Reveals City Could Shell Out for Practice Facility
The idea could cost millions and contradict promises that the city was done paying to lure a Sprint Center tenant.
By Eric Barton
Article Published Jan 11, 2007
http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2007-01-11/news/webexclusive.html
Quote from that article:
Over the last two years, Leiweke had promised on several occasions that the Sprint Center would have a pro hockey or NBA team by the time the doors open to the facility in October (“We’re Pucked,†September 7). But lately, Leiweke and Barnes have backed off that promise, saying that it’s more likely a team, if they’re able to find one, wouldn’t come until 2008.
Within that article was a link to one in September that is a great read and very telling. I quoted some passages but the whole article is worth reading:
We're Pucked
Seven big-league hockey and basketball teams have rejected Kansas City. When the Sprint Center opens, will anyone love us?
By Justin Kendall
Article Published Sep 7, 2006
With no arena tenant to dish about, Mayor Barnes announces a new restaurant instead.Millionaire sports-team owners treat Kansas City like a mistress. They flirt with Kansas City. They call Kansas City's new arena pretty. They even tell Kansas City that they'd consider leaving their home cities for her. But it's all pillow talk.
In the end, the owners get newer arenas, better leases and a bigger chunk of arena revenues from their current homes. Kansas City gets left with an empty arena.
.......................
In fact, none of the teams mentioned as possible Sprint Center tenants are still publicly discussing hanging their jerseys in Kansas City.
Several factors have worked against Kansas City in its bid to land a team.
· Experts say Kansas Citians don't have enough income to support another franchise.
· Neither the NHL nor the NBA appears interested in Kansas City.
· The competition is fierce, with cities such as Las Vegas and San Jose, California, likely to outbid any offer from Kansas City.
· Most damning, no local millionaire or ownership group has expressed an interest in buying a team, something crucial to landing a tenant in the Sprint Center.
....................
The team that seemed most likely to come to Kansas City appeared to be the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. The team went up for sale in January, and prospective buyer Sam Fingold suggested this May that he'd move the team here. Fingold, a 34-year-old Connecticut real estate developer, called Kansas City "one of the most under-served sports markets" in the country. Fingold told the Star: "I think Kansas City needs an NHL franchise, and I'd love to be the one to do it."
But Pittsburgh stepped up to keep the team. Isle of Capri has agreed to build a $290 million arena if the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awards the casino company a slots license. If that doesn't work, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has devised a plan to pay for the arena with bonds that could be paid off by the Penguins in modest annual installments.
With those two offers on the table, getting the Penguins to Kansas City for next year's opening of the Sprint Center would be virtually impossible. NHL rules forbid a team from moving if there's a plan to stabilize a team in its current city, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he favors keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
...........................
(Mayor Kay) Barnes apparently wasn't aware of Kansas City's ranking as the No. 5 most overextended sports market in the country.
American City Business Journals, the parent company of the Kansas City Business Journal, analyzed 179 markets earlier this year to see if residents had enough income to support pro sports teams. The study found that Kansas Citians can't even support the teams already here. To support a hockey or a basketball team, Kansas City would need another $100 billion in personal income. "There's a new arena going up in Kansas City, inspiring brave talk about pursuing a franchise in the NBA or NHL," according to the report. "But the hard truth is that the city has already lost teams in both of those leagues."
http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2006-09-07/news/feature_2.html
Mayor Reveals City Could Shell Out for Practice Facility
The idea could cost millions and contradict promises that the city was done paying to lure a Sprint Center tenant.
By Eric Barton
Article Published Jan 11, 2007
http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2007-01-11/news/webexclusive.html
Quote from that article:
Over the last two years, Leiweke had promised on several occasions that the Sprint Center would have a pro hockey or NBA team by the time the doors open to the facility in October (“We’re Pucked,†September 7). But lately, Leiweke and Barnes have backed off that promise, saying that it’s more likely a team, if they’re able to find one, wouldn’t come until 2008.
Within that article was a link to one in September that is a great read and very telling. I quoted some passages but the whole article is worth reading:
We're Pucked
Seven big-league hockey and basketball teams have rejected Kansas City. When the Sprint Center opens, will anyone love us?
By Justin Kendall
Article Published Sep 7, 2006
With no arena tenant to dish about, Mayor Barnes announces a new restaurant instead.Millionaire sports-team owners treat Kansas City like a mistress. They flirt with Kansas City. They call Kansas City's new arena pretty. They even tell Kansas City that they'd consider leaving their home cities for her. But it's all pillow talk.
In the end, the owners get newer arenas, better leases and a bigger chunk of arena revenues from their current homes. Kansas City gets left with an empty arena.
.......................
In fact, none of the teams mentioned as possible Sprint Center tenants are still publicly discussing hanging their jerseys in Kansas City.
Several factors have worked against Kansas City in its bid to land a team.
· Experts say Kansas Citians don't have enough income to support another franchise.
· Neither the NHL nor the NBA appears interested in Kansas City.
· The competition is fierce, with cities such as Las Vegas and San Jose, California, likely to outbid any offer from Kansas City.
· Most damning, no local millionaire or ownership group has expressed an interest in buying a team, something crucial to landing a tenant in the Sprint Center.
....................
The team that seemed most likely to come to Kansas City appeared to be the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. The team went up for sale in January, and prospective buyer Sam Fingold suggested this May that he'd move the team here. Fingold, a 34-year-old Connecticut real estate developer, called Kansas City "one of the most under-served sports markets" in the country. Fingold told the Star: "I think Kansas City needs an NHL franchise, and I'd love to be the one to do it."
But Pittsburgh stepped up to keep the team. Isle of Capri has agreed to build a $290 million arena if the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awards the casino company a slots license. If that doesn't work, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has devised a plan to pay for the arena with bonds that could be paid off by the Penguins in modest annual installments.
With those two offers on the table, getting the Penguins to Kansas City for next year's opening of the Sprint Center would be virtually impossible. NHL rules forbid a team from moving if there's a plan to stabilize a team in its current city, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he favors keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
...........................
(Mayor Kay) Barnes apparently wasn't aware of Kansas City's ranking as the No. 5 most overextended sports market in the country.
American City Business Journals, the parent company of the Kansas City Business Journal, analyzed 179 markets earlier this year to see if residents had enough income to support pro sports teams. The study found that Kansas Citians can't even support the teams already here. To support a hockey or a basketball team, Kansas City would need another $100 billion in personal income. "There's a new arena going up in Kansas City, inspiring brave talk about pursuing a franchise in the NBA or NHL," according to the report. "But the hard truth is that the city has already lost teams in both of those leagues."
http://www.pitch.com/Issues/2006-09-07/news/feature_2.html