Brian Damage
01-05-2011, 09:12 PM
Oracle CEO and billionaire Larry Ellison was rebuffed in his bid to buy the Golden State Warriors when the NBA franchise was sold to a group led by Peter Guber and Joseph Lacob in July for $450 million.
But a source tells me that one reason why Golden State sold for a record NBA price is that the new owners of the Warriors could get from $100 million to $150 million from an owner who wants to bring a second NBA team to the San Francisco area.
That is where the New Orleans Hornets, who were bought by the league for $310 million last month, come in. The Hornets lease at New Orleans Arena expires in 2014 and the franchise, suffering big losses and low attendance, needs to move to a market with better demographics and more corporate sponsors.
It makes perfect sense that Ellison, who is worth $27 billion and badly wants an NBA franchise, would buy the Hornets and move the team to San Jose. For starters, he could immediately share a building with the NHL’s Sharks. Also, San Jose is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest city in the U.S., so sponsorship revenue would no longer be a problem. And the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose television market is the sixth-largest, which would provide a substantial increase in media revenue and make it possible to launch a regional sports network with other sports teams in the area.
My source says Ellison would be more than happy to pony up $450 million for the Hornets (including a relocation fee for the Warriors) given the improved economics for NBA teams that will be the result of the new collective bargaining agreement.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/01/05/larry-ellison-might-buy-new-orleans-hornets-and-move-them-to-san-jose/
http://www.zapapedia.com/wp-content/2008/09/charlotte-hornets.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OeHg8fxEJBc/Ryjo3l1BvVI/AAAAAAAAASU/0TEI_Agqe8E/S220/092707_FleurdeBee_story.jpg
But a source tells me that one reason why Golden State sold for a record NBA price is that the new owners of the Warriors could get from $100 million to $150 million from an owner who wants to bring a second NBA team to the San Francisco area.
That is where the New Orleans Hornets, who were bought by the league for $310 million last month, come in. The Hornets lease at New Orleans Arena expires in 2014 and the franchise, suffering big losses and low attendance, needs to move to a market with better demographics and more corporate sponsors.
It makes perfect sense that Ellison, who is worth $27 billion and badly wants an NBA franchise, would buy the Hornets and move the team to San Jose. For starters, he could immediately share a building with the NHL’s Sharks. Also, San Jose is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest city in the U.S., so sponsorship revenue would no longer be a problem. And the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose television market is the sixth-largest, which would provide a substantial increase in media revenue and make it possible to launch a regional sports network with other sports teams in the area.
My source says Ellison would be more than happy to pony up $450 million for the Hornets (including a relocation fee for the Warriors) given the improved economics for NBA teams that will be the result of the new collective bargaining agreement.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/01/05/larry-ellison-might-buy-new-orleans-hornets-and-move-them-to-san-jose/
http://www.zapapedia.com/wp-content/2008/09/charlotte-hornets.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OeHg8fxEJBc/Ryjo3l1BvVI/AAAAAAAAASU/0TEI_Agqe8E/S220/092707_FleurdeBee_story.jpg