New Orleans' new $110M arena held its formal grand
opening on Tuesday, and LA Gov. Mike Foster and city Mayor
Marc Morial said that they "wanted to pursue an NBA team to
play" at the facility, according to Peter Zachariadis of the
Biloxi SUN-HERALD. Morial asked Foster "to start
communicating" with the owners of the Spurs and Rockets "in
case they decide to flee their [current] homes." Morial, on
the upcoming arena referendums in Houston and San Antonio:
"If those voters say no ... we need to be on the phone to
the owners of the Spurs and the Rockets to tell them they
don't have five years of construction to wait [on]." Foster
added that he would "look into" bringing an expansion team
to the city (Biloxi SUN HERALD, 10/27).
LOUISVILLE EYES NBA TEAM: The Louisville (KY) Board of
Alderman has hired sports consultant J. Bruce Miller for
$50,000 to assist in trying to lure an NBA team to
Louisville, but set a deadline of June 1 "to ease concerns
that the search is a waste of money." Miller said that he
will begin contacting NBA officials and potential team
owners on behalf of the city. The Board "agreed that if an
NBA team agrees to move to Louisville, the city would then
talk about building a downtown arena." With "just under"
one million people, the Louisville metropolitan area "would
be the smallest in the NBA" (HERALD-LEADER/AP, 10/28).
