September 22, 2005
OK okays Hornets pay-to-play
The New Orleans Hornets have announced that with their home city uninhabitable, they'll play 35 home games in Oklahoma City this season (their other six will be played in Baton Rouge). Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett called the move, which the Hornets have an option to renew for the following season, "a validation" of the city's MAPS program, which instituted a 1% sales-tax hike to pay for an NBA-quality arena, convention center, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Actually, though, it's even more a validation of the principle of throwing good money after bad. To lure the city's first big-league franchise - the publicly funded Ford Center has been making do with the Blazers minor-league hockey team as its only tenant - the city council agreed to let the Hornets play there rent-free. On top of that, the city will pay all arena operations, housing, office, training-camp costs, and will reimburse the Hornets up to $10 million if team revenues fall short of their $40 million goal - which is five percent more than the team made last year, when it actually had a real home.
"I think it's real dangerous when we start guaranteeing revenues for the NBA," City Manager Jim Couch told the Oklahoman newspaper. "On the other hand, this is a unique deal" because Oklahoma City "hasn't proven itself at all." ("Did I mention that we suck?" Couch didn't go on to add. "I mean, fer chrissakes, we're Oklahoma City - who would want to play here?") Mayor Cornett, meanwhile, indicated that he agreed to subsidize the Hornets' revenues because, in the words of the Oklahoman, "the Hornets are missing out on income the team normally would get from a permanent host city." In other words, not only did OKC officials feel they needed to outbid other prospective temporary host cities like Louisville and Las Vegas, they wanted to make sure they outbid a city that doesn't exist anymore.
