Hornets to Play in Oklahoma City
01.11.2009, 17:22
Shortly after the NBA announced that Oklahoma City will serve as the temporary home for the New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett explained that his city was an ideal location because it offers more than just a state-of-the-art facility and a community hungry for a major league sports franchise -- it offers people who can relate to Louisiana residents.
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"Few American cities have experienced the level of tragedy as Oklahoma City," said Cornett, whose city endured the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995 and a deadly tornado four years later. "And I think for that reason, we are especially sensitive to those who live in the Gulf Coast and have been so severely affected by Hurricane Katrina."ű
Now, under a relocation agreement approved yesterday, Oklahoma City -- which has already welcomed thousands of evacuees from the Gulf Coast region -- will aid the Hornets, who were left without a home when the New Orleans Arena was damaged more than three weeks ago.
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The Hornets will play 35 of their 41 home games this season at the 19,675-seat Ford Center in Oklahoma City whether or not New Orleans is able to welcome back the team before the season ends. The other six games are scheduled to be played at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. "It was important to the Hornets and the NBA that we maintain a presence in Louisiana in anticipation of a return to New Orleans next season," NBA Commissioner David Stern said.
All of the Hornets' games against Eastern Conference teams will be played in Oklahoma City, meaning that Oklahoma native Etan Thomas will have a chance to play at home when the Washington Wizards face the Hornets on Feb. 13. League attorney Joel Litvin said there is a possibility that three of the Baton Rouge games scheduled in March could be moved to the New Orleans Arena if repairs can be made.
The Hornets will also have the option to play in Oklahoma City next season. Hornets owner George Shinn visited New Orleans last week and said he couldn't predict when the Hornets could return. "It's not just about if the arena is in playing condition," Shinn said. "Will there be any fans? I don't know how many fans will come back, or how quickly they'll come back. I'm convinced New Orleans will rebuild. I can see maybe even being stronger. But how long it's going to take, I'm not going to touch that. This option was just a cushion, just to make sure if it got to this point."
When it became clear that it was impossible for the Hornets to play a full schedule of games in Louisiana, several cities -- including San Diego, Nashville, Tenn., and Kansas City, Mo. -- offered to host the team. But those locations have other major league franchises.
Oklahoma City has Class AAA baseball, an arena football team and a minor league hockey team, but it has never had a major league team. Although Oklahoma City is 700 miles from New Orleans, it is within close proximity of Southwest Division rivals San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Memphis.
Ford Center -- which is managed by SMG, the same company that manages the New Orleans Arena and the Pete Maravich Center -- will be the Hornets' third different home in the past five seasons. The team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans in 2002.
The Hornets finished last in attendance last season with an average of 14,221. To help draw fans, the Hornets plan to offer about 7,500 tickets for each game at $20 or less.
The Oklahoma City city council agreed to provide financial support for the Hornets in case of a revenue drop in the temporary venue. State and local businessmen are required to pay up to $10 million to the Hornets should the team fail to earn 5 percent more in local revenue than it made in New Orleans.
The city will also make provisions for the Hornets to have a practice facility, office space and housing for the upcoming season.
The Hornets have moved the date of their home opener against Sacramento to Nov. 1, the opening night of the season.