NBA Finals Run Boosts Interest In Magic In Orlando Market
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More Than 4,000 New Season Tickets Have
Been Ordered In Orlando Since Playoffs Began |
There had been "much disagreement and debate about the Magic's value to the community" when deciding whether or not to build a new arena for the club, but in the team's run to the NBA Finals those doubts have been "washed away in a wave of incredible excitement and international exposure," according to Mike Bianchi of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Magic COO Alex Martins: "You can't buy this sort of exposure." More than 4,000 new season tickets "have been ordered since the playoffs began," and "every time you open the newspaper or turn on the TV, it's Magic mania" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/14). In N.Y., Jonathan Abrams wrote the Magic are "somewhat of an anomaly as a sports franchise." Since Owner Rich DeVos bought the team in '91, "little has changed," and in a sports landscape "dominated by corporations, Orlando is a mom-and-pop store." DeVos' goal is to have the Magic be a "legacy and heritage team." Abrams noted Magic President & CEO Bob Vander Weide, DeVos' son-in-law, "has been groomed to be the next patriarch of the organization," and Vander Weide "already handles most of its day-to-day affairs." DeVos, who "had a heart transplant 12 years ago," said, "There just aren't many family teams left anymore. My years are few remaining. The plans are being made financially that we can do that. The grandchildren are being told this is not something you buy and sell. This is something you respect and take care of." DeVos added, "An NBA team in a small town doesn't make money. You have to be able to hold a team without it returning money to you in your ownership. The only way a small-town team makes money is when you sell it" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/14).
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