Hornets co-Owner Ray Wooldridge spoke before the
Charlotte City Council last night and presented his proposal
for a new downtown arena that "would have the franchise pay
about" 25% of the cost of the city-owned facility, according
to Markoe & Bonnell in a front-page report in the CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER. The plan calls for the public to pay about 75% of
the $250M arena, "though Wooldridge provided a skeptical
City Council no breakdown of what he expects from the city,
county and state." Council members said that the Hornets'
contribution in the latest proposal, which would be about
$62.5M, "is obviously an improvement over the one"
Wooldridge "floated" in March that called for an arena to be
financed entirely with public funds, but they "think he can
do better." But Wooldridge noted that a new arena "would
benefit" the city, not just the Hornets, and "compared the
team to a business that rents space in a shopping mall."
Wooldridge: "Why should I pay for a facility where I don't
own it?" Wooldridge said that the team should pay about 25%
of the cost of a new arena because Hornets and Sting games
would make up about 25% of the arena's events. The team
would like to "settle the details of a plan with the city"
by July 14 and break ground on the arena by August 1,
although City Council called this timetable "unrealistic."
When asked about how $187.5M in public funds would be
raised, Wooldridge "advocated" using the city's hotel/motel
tax and increasing the county's car rental tax. Council
member Lynn Wheeler called Wooldridge's latest proposal a
"good start," but voiced concern over the county's and
state's willingness to contribute to the project. City
officials "will spend the next few weeks analyzing the
proposal," and the Economic Development Committee will make
a recommendation to City Council in June (CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER, 5/23). Wooldridge, who claims that the team is
losing $1M each month: "There's no way to disregard the
amount of money the Hornets are losing and not consider it
an investment in the process" (GASTON GAZETTE, 5/23). In
Charlotte, WSOC-TV's Steve Litz said last night that City
Council was "less than enamored" with Wooldridge's proposal.
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory: "Right now, it does not meet my
expectations, but I'm not going to negotiate at this point
in time" (WSOC, 5/23). McCrory told Wooldridge: "I am
concerned about the long-term viability of the NBA. Even
though NBC refuses to scan the stands, obviously there are a
lot of empty seats even in the playoffs. I wonder what the
NBA is doing to reverse that trend, and if (this) is in the
city's long-term interests." But Wooldridge said that the
Hornets are "committed" to staying in Charlotte (WINSTON-
SALEM JOURNAL, 5/23). Council member Wheeler added, "I
would say it's a proposal that's not very well fleshed out
and it leaves a lot of room for negotiation" (WBTV, 5/22).
Also in Charlotte, Tom Sorensen called the Hornets' proposed
level of contribution "unacceptable": "Unless the Hornets
make substantial changes, the [arena] will never get built.
... They need to prove [they're losing money]. They need to
open their books" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/23).
