ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 2, 1996 TAG: 9612020081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: SONJA BARISIC Associated Press
George Shinn knows what it's like to try to bring a major league sports team to a place without a major league reputation.
He did it a decade ago in Charlotte, N.C., when he brought the National Basketball Association's Hornets to town. Now he is confident he can persuade the National Hockey League to put an expansion team in Hampton Roads.
Hampton Roads? Few people outside Virginia know where that is, or what it is - a region with 1.6 million residents in the southeastern part of the state.
That lack of name recognition doesn't daunt Shinn.
``I heard the same thing with Charlotte,'' the Hornets owners said. ``The other owners asked, 'Where is Charlotte? Is that in Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina?'
``Now everybody knows where it is.''
Shinn wants to bring hockey to Hampton Roads because he's convinced it will play big there. Living in the country's largest region without a major league team, Hampton Roads residents are starved for professional sports, he said.
Hampton Roads is competing with eight cities for probably no more than four NHL expansion teams.
Shinn gave the NHL a $100,000 deposit Nov. 2 and has offered to pay $80 million for a team if area residents agree to build an arena.
``Getting a George Shinn is a coup'' for the area, said Curtis Cole Jr., chairman of the Norfolk division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. One of the things the NHL is looking for is a strong owner, he said.
Shinn concedes that cities that already have big arenas will probably get expansion franchises first. Nashville, Tenn., for example, has a new 20,000-seat arena set to open next month.
But Hampton Roads also is a good candidate for a team, if an arena can be built, he said.
Shinn said he wants the arena built in Norfolk, which has available land and is centrally located among the area's seven major cities.
An 18,000-seat arena will range in cost from $110 million to $140 million, Cole said.
Shinn is trying to sell at least 10,000 season tickets before the NHL's final decision on expansion in late December or January. He said sales are doing well, but he declined to release exact figures. He said he didn't want competitors to know.
Here are the prime contenders
NORFOLK - Cities vying for National Hockey League expansion franchises:
* Hampton Roads: Owner of NBA Charlotte Hornets sees profit potential on Virginia Coast, wants to sell 10,000 season ticket pledges and 40 luxury box commitments.
* Nashville, Tenn.: Music City already has a major-league indoor arena and is offering $20 million in inducements.
* Atlanta: Cable TV mogul Ted Turner wants an NHL team, and the Olympic city is willing to spring for an arena.
* Columbus, Ohio: Huge, hockey-hungry state lacks NHL franchise; capital offers young, affluent market.
* Houston: NHL likes Houston, but squabbling among three ownership groups is a negative.
* Raleigh, N.C.: Great demographics and solid prospective ownership.
* St. Paul, Minn.: Having an NHL team go belly-up in neighboring Minneapolis does not bode well for another franchise.
* Hamilton, Ontario: Hockey rules here, but a franchise would have to compete with NHL teams in Toronto and Buffalo.
* Oklahoma City: Brings little to the table demographically that might entice the NHL.
- Newport News Daily Press
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB