Post by mikecubs on Apr 17, 2012 5:36:32 GMT -6
Grizzlies long gone but Vancouver’s viability as NBA city sits very high, according to U.S. sources
By Howard Tsumura
The Province
(Howard Tsumura talks on Monday about the potential relocation of the Sacramento Kings and Vancouver Grizzlies history on 710 AM ESPN Seattle’s The Kevin Calabro Show. Click here to listen)
Vancouver may yet experience re-birth as an NBA city, but despite a recent report stateside that the city is the leading candidate as a potential relocation home for the revenue-challenged Sacramento Kings, there is no formal movement afoot to bring the league back to B.C.
Responding to questions that have arisen following comments Friday on ESPN Seattle radio that Vancouver is the “most viable” destination should the ownership group of the Kings exhaust their attempts to remain in Sacramento following a failed deal to construct a new arena, Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena owner Francesco Aquilini said he is not actively in pursuit of bringing the league back to city the Grizzlies called home from 1995-96 through 2000-01.
While preferring not to address the Sacramento situation directly, Aquilini told The Province on Monday: “I can tell you we don’t have any plans to bring an NBA team to Vancouver.”
Yet Aquilini was quick to add that an NBA future for Vancouver isn’t far fetched, as long as key questions regarding the ability of the market to support a franchise could be answered.
“I think if there was enough support, enough of a fan base, definitely the arena is ready to go,” Aquilini said. “There was a basketball team here before, the building is really plug-and-play. We could start tomorrow if we wanted to. But the question is always about market size. That really is the issue. The (Grizzlies) did leave Vancouver for a reason, because there just wasn’t enough market support. If there was, they wouldn’t have left in the first place. We’re continually doing work on that, to assess whether there is enough of a market for an NBA team in Vancouver.”
The Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings, appeared to have reached a non-binding agreement on a new arena deal back in late February which would have kept the team in the California state capital. But after it was voted on and approved by the city in early March, it began to unravel over the issue of pre-development costs.
Although the team is slated to remain in Sacramento next season, it’s anyone’s guess where they could be after that.
On Friday, ESPN senior NBA writer Ric Bucher told a radio audience on ESPN Seattle that he believes Vancouver is now the “most viable” destination should the Kings’ ownership group find itself unable to resolves its arena issues in Sacramento. Seattle, which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008, has been considered the front-runner as a possible home for the Kings, especially with a proposal on the table for an arena complex that would be home to both NBA and NHL franchises. However that deal is contingent on having commitments from franchises in both sports to relocate.
“If the Kings leave Sacramento, Vancouver is a very viable spot,” Bucher told The Kevin Calabro Show, “maybe, quite honestly, the most viable spot right now among the places that gets the next NBA franchise that is on the move.
“They have the corporate infrastructure, they have a building that they can readily move in to,” continued Bucher of Rogers Arena. “Believe me, when I first heard, it was like ‘Really, they’re (thinking of) going back to Vancouver? Didn’t they already try that?’ (But) the feeling was that the franchise was not handled correctly there. They also have a very hot hockey team there currently, and that it’s a place that the (NBA) do not want to give up on.”
In the decade-plus since the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis, Vancouver has remained on the front burner of hot stove talk whenever the discussion turns to franchise relocation. Most recently, a New Orleans Hornets team which had been purchased by the league, was the franchise du jour. The Hornets, however, were purchased last week by Saints owner Tom Benson with the sole intent of keeping them in the Louisiana city.
Still, NBA commissioner David Stern said a few years back that the greatest disappointment of his long tenure has been the league’s failure in Vancouver. In 1999, billionaire Bill Laurie was unsuccessful in his attempts to purchase the team and relocate it to St. Louis. Soon after, Chicago-based industrialist Michael Heisley purchased the team and moved it to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season.
In the decade since, Vancouver’s population and the NBA’s player base has grown substantially more international, and the Canadian dollar has risen from 65 cents to near par with the US dollar, both factors which would more easily sell and sustain the franchise in the city a second time around.
Bucher reiterated that he has heard the Vancouver talk more than once.
“I have heard it several times from several places,” he continued. “It was like ‘Why are you going back there?’ and it is one of those things on the NBA coconut telegraph that will not go away, as far Vancouver being far more attractive than Anaheim and even having the ability to elbow Seattle out of the way.”
Yet one factor to consider in the big picture is the fact that Maloofs have steadfastly refused to sell their team, meaning that a possible relocation to Vancouver would make them tenants in Rogers Arena, and thus have them competing for a share of the market’s dollars with the Canucks.
Bucher added that his information regarding Vancouver is based on what he is hearing from his many contacts around the league.
“I can’t say that I have this from the Maloofs or I have it from a direct source, directly involved in this,” Bucher told the radio show. “I am giving you what has been the buzz from various people who keep track of where the ownership pieces are going, and have had people that have been invovevd in putting groups together trying to purchase franchises. They have made it a point of staying on top of where these teams might be going (and) what the most viable markets might be.
“The interesting element with the Vancouver angle is the fact that if the Maloofs are keeping the team, and they seem to be adamant in not selling, is that I keep hearing that they want to be within an easy flight of Las Vegas, because they still have a base there. And that was the question with Seattle. Is that close enough? And I was told ‘Yes, that’s close enough.’ You go another 100 to 150 miles? At what point do we get out of range?”
blogs.theprovince.com/2012/04/16/grizzlies-long-gone-but-vancouvers-viability-as-nba-city-sits-very-high-according-to-u-s-sources/
By Howard Tsumura
The Province
(Howard Tsumura talks on Monday about the potential relocation of the Sacramento Kings and Vancouver Grizzlies history on 710 AM ESPN Seattle’s The Kevin Calabro Show. Click here to listen)
Vancouver may yet experience re-birth as an NBA city, but despite a recent report stateside that the city is the leading candidate as a potential relocation home for the revenue-challenged Sacramento Kings, there is no formal movement afoot to bring the league back to B.C.
Responding to questions that have arisen following comments Friday on ESPN Seattle radio that Vancouver is the “most viable” destination should the ownership group of the Kings exhaust their attempts to remain in Sacramento following a failed deal to construct a new arena, Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena owner Francesco Aquilini said he is not actively in pursuit of bringing the league back to city the Grizzlies called home from 1995-96 through 2000-01.
While preferring not to address the Sacramento situation directly, Aquilini told The Province on Monday: “I can tell you we don’t have any plans to bring an NBA team to Vancouver.”
Yet Aquilini was quick to add that an NBA future for Vancouver isn’t far fetched, as long as key questions regarding the ability of the market to support a franchise could be answered.
“I think if there was enough support, enough of a fan base, definitely the arena is ready to go,” Aquilini said. “There was a basketball team here before, the building is really plug-and-play. We could start tomorrow if we wanted to. But the question is always about market size. That really is the issue. The (Grizzlies) did leave Vancouver for a reason, because there just wasn’t enough market support. If there was, they wouldn’t have left in the first place. We’re continually doing work on that, to assess whether there is enough of a market for an NBA team in Vancouver.”
The Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings, appeared to have reached a non-binding agreement on a new arena deal back in late February which would have kept the team in the California state capital. But after it was voted on and approved by the city in early March, it began to unravel over the issue of pre-development costs.
Although the team is slated to remain in Sacramento next season, it’s anyone’s guess where they could be after that.
On Friday, ESPN senior NBA writer Ric Bucher told a radio audience on ESPN Seattle that he believes Vancouver is now the “most viable” destination should the Kings’ ownership group find itself unable to resolves its arena issues in Sacramento. Seattle, which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008, has been considered the front-runner as a possible home for the Kings, especially with a proposal on the table for an arena complex that would be home to both NBA and NHL franchises. However that deal is contingent on having commitments from franchises in both sports to relocate.
“If the Kings leave Sacramento, Vancouver is a very viable spot,” Bucher told The Kevin Calabro Show, “maybe, quite honestly, the most viable spot right now among the places that gets the next NBA franchise that is on the move.
“They have the corporate infrastructure, they have a building that they can readily move in to,” continued Bucher of Rogers Arena. “Believe me, when I first heard, it was like ‘Really, they’re (thinking of) going back to Vancouver? Didn’t they already try that?’ (But) the feeling was that the franchise was not handled correctly there. They also have a very hot hockey team there currently, and that it’s a place that the (NBA) do not want to give up on.”
In the decade-plus since the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis, Vancouver has remained on the front burner of hot stove talk whenever the discussion turns to franchise relocation. Most recently, a New Orleans Hornets team which had been purchased by the league, was the franchise du jour. The Hornets, however, were purchased last week by Saints owner Tom Benson with the sole intent of keeping them in the Louisiana city.
Still, NBA commissioner David Stern said a few years back that the greatest disappointment of his long tenure has been the league’s failure in Vancouver. In 1999, billionaire Bill Laurie was unsuccessful in his attempts to purchase the team and relocate it to St. Louis. Soon after, Chicago-based industrialist Michael Heisley purchased the team and moved it to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season.
In the decade since, Vancouver’s population and the NBA’s player base has grown substantially more international, and the Canadian dollar has risen from 65 cents to near par with the US dollar, both factors which would more easily sell and sustain the franchise in the city a second time around.
Bucher reiterated that he has heard the Vancouver talk more than once.
“I have heard it several times from several places,” he continued. “It was like ‘Why are you going back there?’ and it is one of those things on the NBA coconut telegraph that will not go away, as far Vancouver being far more attractive than Anaheim and even having the ability to elbow Seattle out of the way.”
Yet one factor to consider in the big picture is the fact that Maloofs have steadfastly refused to sell their team, meaning that a possible relocation to Vancouver would make them tenants in Rogers Arena, and thus have them competing for a share of the market’s dollars with the Canucks.
Bucher added that his information regarding Vancouver is based on what he is hearing from his many contacts around the league.
“I can’t say that I have this from the Maloofs or I have it from a direct source, directly involved in this,” Bucher told the radio show. “I am giving you what has been the buzz from various people who keep track of where the ownership pieces are going, and have had people that have been invovevd in putting groups together trying to purchase franchises. They have made it a point of staying on top of where these teams might be going (and) what the most viable markets might be.
“The interesting element with the Vancouver angle is the fact that if the Maloofs are keeping the team, and they seem to be adamant in not selling, is that I keep hearing that they want to be within an easy flight of Las Vegas, because they still have a base there. And that was the question with Seattle. Is that close enough? And I was told ‘Yes, that’s close enough.’ You go another 100 to 150 miles? At what point do we get out of range?”
blogs.theprovince.com/2012/04/16/grizzlies-long-gone-but-vancouvers-viability-as-nba-city-sits-very-high-according-to-u-s-sources/
