March 21, 2012
AEG’s Leiweke makes $58.75-million bet on Sacramento NBA arena
The Los Angeles Times
The man behind the planned NFL stadium in Los Angeles said he is making a $58.75-million bet on Sacramento with his investment in the construction of an NBA arena for the Kings.
Anschutz Entertainment Group President and Chief Executive Tim Leiweke spoke publicly Tuesday about the agreement to help finance the NBA arena to be built near downtown rail yards.
Leiweke also said he chose to make the investment in Sacramento in part because of his loyalty to California.
He was in Sacramento this week to meet with Mayor Kevin Johnson, the Maloofs, who own the Kings, and the group building the project. The arena could open as early as 2015.
AEG is planning to build a $1.3-billion, 72,000-seat NFL stadium next to the L.A. Live entertainment complex.
Video: Sacramento Arena: AEG and City Press Conference
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Sacramento deal doesn’t put an end to Seattle’s NBA hopes
By Dilemma X
With all the deals taking place in Sacramento the obvious answer for Seattle now is New Orleans. The New Orleans Hornets are currently owned by the NBA and struggling with wins and attendance.
New Orleans Hornets currently rank as the 26 lowest in attendance out of 30 teams. Only Sacramento, Detroit, Indiana and NJ Nets rank lower. The average attendance at Hornets games is 14,702 as of 25 home games this season. New Orleans Arena has a basketball capacity 18,500.
That might not sound too bad but, the top team in the NBA in attendance is the Chicago Bulls with an average of 22,065 per home game.
The Charlotte Bobcats, in the former home city of the Hornets, ranks 20th in attendance and average 15,783 per home game this season. Charlotte’s TimeWarner Cable Arena seats 19,077 for NBA games and 20,200 for NCAA basketball. Yet, Charlotte ranks higher in attendance than Phoenix, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Houston, New Orleans, Sacramento, Detroit, Indiana and NJ Nets.
The Charlotte Bobcats currently have a season record of 7-37 and the New Orleans Hornets season record is 12-35. This could be the main reasons for lower attendance. Who would really want to see these teams play with their current records?
David Stern, commissioner of the of the NBA, really wants to keep the Hornets in New Orleans. Stern said at the All-Star Game there are two groups of buyers lined up that will keep the team in New Orleans, though nothing is official yet in terms of a sale.
Oddly, the team Seattle might look at is the Atlanta Hawks with a season record of 27-20 and an average season attendance of 15,029 ranking the 23 lowest out of 30 NBA teams in an arena seating 18,371 for NBA games. Atlanta has a history of quickly not having support for its pro sporting teams. This could be because the metropolitan area of nearly 6 million has so many transplants from regions that have pro sporting teams.
The Altanta Hawks have made the NBA Playoffs the last 4 years and made it into the Conference Semifinals the last 3 years. Yet, their home attendance doesn’t reflect such accomplishments.
2010-11 season in the Eastern Conference in 5th place with a record of 44-38
2009-10 season in the Eastern Conference in 3rd place with a record of 53-29
2008-09 season in the Eastern Conference in 4th place with a record of 47-35
2007-08 season in the Eastern Conference in 8th place with a record of 37-47
Dilemma X 
March 23, 2012
Athletics