NBA Commissioner David Stern says he expects the Rockets to
resolve their arena issue soon "before the team follows the lead
of the Oilers and Astros and threatens to leave town," according
to Eddie Sefko of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Stern stated "several
times" that no NBA franchise has relocated since '85 and that "if
we just sort of let this play out, I think it will work out
fine." Though he "painted a rosy picture," Stern did not reveal
how the problem will be settled. The issue is the Rockets'
seven-year lease with the Leisure Management-owned Summit which
has few sky boxes and no club seats. The Rockets have received
proposals on how to renovate the Summit, but team owner Leslie
Alexander would rather play in a new downtown arena (HOUSTON
CHRONICLE, 3/29).
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN: Central Houston Inc., a business group
pushing a new downtown arena, told Houston Mayor Bob Lanier "the
business community can support an 18,000-to 20,000-seat arena"
and recommended building a facility near the George R. Brown
Convention Center on Houston's east side. A market study prepared
for Central Houston by Coopers & Lybrand showed that out of 25%
of the 1,239 area execs who responded, 12% said they are
"definitely interested" or "very interested" in buying a suite at
a new arena, while 29% said they are at least "very interested"
in buying a club seat. Central Houston concludes that 80 to 100
private suites and 2,000 club seats could be sold at a new venue.
The George R. Brown site is the same local where stadium
opponents killed Oilers Owner Bud Adams's proposal for a new
stadium two years ago (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/28).
