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Charlotte Bobcats Arena


utcltjay

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I don't have a source to back up this tidbit, but I recall reading an article that said that the Checkers are currently trying to get out of their contract with Cricket Arena for the 2006 season so that they can move into the Uptown arena immediately. There is a chance they're stuck there until 2007 (when the contract expires) though. But yes, eventually the Checkers will be playing Uptown.

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  • 2 months later...

For all you hockey pucks out there, looks like the Checkers are continuing to make progress toward moving to the new Uptown arena.

Erik Spanberg

Senior Staff Writer

Charlotte's minor-league hockey franchise has taken another step toward moving to the new uptown arena, gaining tentative approval to end its lease at Cricket Arena two years early.

Under terms of the deal, the Charlotte Checkers would pay an increased rent fee for all home games played during the current season to make up the revenue lost by the arena from the early departure. The agreement calls for the club to pay $3,000 per game instead of the contractual rate of $750.

In addition, team owner Felix Sabates will take a leadership position in the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority's recruitment of a NASCAR Hall of Fame. The CRVA manages Cricket Arena.

Since Sabates re-acquired the team three years ago, the Checkers have struggled to attract fans. CRVA executives say the team hasn't generated the revenue anticipated when the Checkers signed their five-year lease. The team accounts for 36 of the arena's 100 annual bookings.

"The net result has been significant operating losses (at Cricket Arena and Ovens Auditorium)," CRVA executive Mike Crum says. "We're not financially successful (with the current arrangement)."

The CRVA board approved the deal Wednesday evening, contingent on the Checkers reaching terms at the uptown arena, which will be publicly owned but operated and managed by the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. If a lease between the Checkers and Bobcats is reached, the CRVA would then give final approval on terminating the Cricket Arena lease.

Any such deal would exclude an ongoing dispute between the CRVA and the Checkers over responsibility for $44,000 in design fees for a planned group suite the team intended to build at Cricket Arena but later scrapped.

Some committee members expressed reservation over ending the lease before that fee dispute is resolved.

"Felix and I are strong advocates in the city of Charlotte," Checkers executive Carl Scheer told the CRVA board. "We're not going anywhere, and we think we can resolve it in good faith."

Board member Anthony Fox smiled as Scheer made his remarks and then told the Checkers executive, "I'm a lawyer by training. I always want to get it in writing."

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I don't think hockey is a hard sell...if you go out to Eastland or the Icehouse in the evenings you will see the kids playing Ice Hockey. Its obviously not as popular as it is up North.

I have been to the Checkers games and they are always fun and not to mention cheap....bringing them uptown will be cheaper for me as I won't have to pay for parking.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

the arena is awesome. should really open up uptown, obviously that has already started.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not being a big basketball fan, I thought the arena might not be my kind of thing.

But, as I learn more details about the several dining venues, including basic to fine dining options, the views and all the other lights, signage and entertainment they're going to pump in there, it is starting to sound like just being at the building will be a cool experience.

Maybe I'll go and even learn to like basketball.

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Speaking of new basketball fans..... Yeah, I just went to my first Charlotte 49ers game last night vs. Memphis. It was sold out, and the intensity and energy of the game, including the fans, was amazing. It was all-in-all a good show as well, as the cheerleaders, dance team, pep band, mascot, and technical crew all made sure there were no dead moments.

After experiencing that and hearing about the inside of the new arena, I can't wait to see a game there.

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Question: Why were so many Charlotteans against the new uptown arena being built (aside from taxes)? As one who lives in the Charlotte metropolitan area (I live in Rock Hill, work in Charlotte), I can see nothing but good things happening for the city as a result of the new arena.

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I'm not against the arena, but I think the deal the city made with the NBA was horrible. Paying for the entire arenas construction and handing over total control. I've also heard that the city has to pay the bobcats for the rights to sell concessions. The NBA made out like bandits with the arena deal, the deal New Orleans made them, 200 mil relocation fee, and 300 mil expansion fee. I'm sure their having a good laugh just because some people didn't like shinn. (He couldn't have owned the team forever)

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I agree. Not to mention the voters turned this down and the City Council went against these wishes and handed over the money to the NBA anyway. Just think what the $300M could be used for instead.

Despite what the arena boosters have to say, arenas do not add to the development and streetlife in town, instead they take away from it. This has been proven time and time again when cities build these monsters yet the prevailing attitude, "Well the one in our city will be different" Somehow I don't think it will be any different in Charlotte. A huge structure taking up blocks of land that sits empty for most of the hours of the day, day after day is going to hurt not help.

And of course you won't find negative headline news in the Observer and local TV news as they are major boosters of the arena so you have to look elsewhere for that.

From our friends in Raleigh:

Bobcats bucking bad buzz

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I think it's about development in general. The typical person in this area is opposed to anything that resembles "big city" IMO. They want the sprawly fast food chains and wal-marts, not high density developments in our DT. Quite honestly, I doubt 1% of our population regularly go to DT for anything, except a higher percentage that goes for work and hates it because it's DT.

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I'm not against the arena, but I think the deal the city made with the NBA was horrible. Paying for the entire arenas construction and handing over total control. I've also heard that the city has to pay the bobcats for the rights to sell concessions. The NBA made out like bandits with the arena deal, the deal New Orleans made them, 200 mil relocation fee, and 300 mil expansion fee. I'm sure their having a good laugh just because some people didn't like shinn. (He couldn't have owned the team forever)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You got it backwords. The Bobcats will be paying the city for the rights to sell concessions.

If Charlotte had kept it's current colisiem it would have been a financial liability as it would have never turned an operating profit...so it would be sucking money down the drain just to stay open. Now with the new arena the taxpayers of Charlotte don't have to worry about covering operating losses....thats up to the Bobcats to do. Yes it would have been nice to have hotel/motel tax left over to cover all the new cultural facilities too...maybe if the State and County had chipped in on this project like they did in Raleigh we would have the money left over to do those.

This new arena is projected to bring well over 2 million people downtown each year... a large percentage of which would not have been here otherwise. The streets around this arena will hardly ever be dead since it will have ground level retail opened up to the public...not to mention it is right next to the Transit Center which stays busy well into the night.

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Also, I'd like to point out that a large reason that Courtside was developed is because of the arena (the site was planned to be around 5 stories). High-rise condos had little support here. The Arlington was only half-sold, The Park had failed to attract an investor, Holton Square was determined to be too ambitious.

With the risk and resounding success of Courtside, 2 new condo towers will be breaking ground in Charlotte within the next 2 months adding a total of 660 units to the market. These units will have a combined tax value of more than $170,000,000, contributing more than $2,000,000 a year just in property taxes. This doesn't include the convention center redo which if it happens will be valued at another $150,000,000......plus the buildout of the "pork chop" parcels in a few years. Don't forget the sale of the old coliseum which wasn't generating property taxes into about another $200,000,000 of office space for Crescent Resources.

This doesn't even consider the sales taxes generated by people coming uptown.....increased ridership of LRT on event nights, more retail vendors, and providing hundreds of unskilled jobs adjacent to the CTC for easy access to those who needs jobs all over the county.

Now consider the higher average hotel room rate in downtown as compared to the airport area, so out of town fans will be paying more to visit (and city returns on hotel taxes are a much greater percent that sales tax). COnsider these people will now be eating at more expensive restaurants (again, leading to higher tax revenues).

These are just the economic impacts of having the arena uptown....even for people who wish to ignore the social benefits, it's hard to argue with the financial facts.

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