THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994 TAG: 9406240662
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940624 LENGTH: Long
The result of the $100,000 project was that Hampton Roads immediately should hire a marketing group to begin recruiting an NFL franchise and plan for a $150 million stadium.
{REST} The study by ZHA Inc. of Annapolis, Md., stated that based on population and strength of economy, Hampton Roads was an ideal candidate as a future site for an NFL team.
Hampton Roads political leaders found the report amusing - especially some of the locations recommended for the proposed stadium, such as Portsmouth and Williamsburg. And no one seemed to take it seriously.
Bob Smithwick, chairman of Norfolk's department of economic development, doesn't remember any movement to woo an NFL franchise resulting from the report.
``I don't think we were able to produce because we weren't prepared,'' Smithwick concedes. ``We didn't come together as a region to try to make that happen.''
At about the same time the consulting firm was urging Hampton Roads to form a marketing group to recruit an NFL franchise, similar movements were budding in Charlotte and Jacksonville. Those efforts bore fruit when both cities were awarded NFL expansion teams.
``We should have been able to compete with either one of those areas,'' says Smithwick.
``Charlotte took regionalism and made it realism. Jacksonville did the same thing, and got a public-private partnership going that went out and sold a large number of season tickets and had a group ready to buy a franchise.
``That is what has to be done here if we are ever going to get major-league sports.''
Smithwick thinks it will happen. Soon.
``If it is going to happen, it has to be in the next five years,'' he predicts. ``If it doesn't happen in that time frame, major-league sports will be so entrenched that I seriously doubt there will be a relocation.''
But, four years after that encouraging consulting report in 1990, there is no indication the area is closer to becoming big league.
There is no regional plan to build a stadium or large arena. No professional marketing group to trumpet the area's suitability for major-league sports.
The Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, which originated in 1986 to provide financing for a proposed speedway in Isle of Wight County, doesn't actively sell the area. Neither does the sports task force of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
The once popular hope that the region could pull itself together to construct a stadium for an NFL team is no longer discussed, either.
Brad Face, chairman of The Future of Hampton Roads' sports arm, explains that the price of building such a stadium and attracting an NFL franchise is simply too high.
``There is no business reason to justify the spending it would take to build a stadium and get an NFL franchise here,'' Face contends.
Indeed, recent studies indicate the cost of building an NFL stadium is only the beginning of an expensive adventure.
The publicly financed Superdome in New Orleans, for example, lost $75 million during its first 12 years of operation.
Smithwick and others believe the best opportunities for obtaining a major-league franchise are with the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association.
``An arena is easier to build financially, and you get more use out of it,'' says Hampton Roads Admirals owner Blake Cullen.
But the price of those are increasing rapidly, too.
A recent survey by the Washington Post revealed that the average cost for six new NBA arenas under construction is about $175 million.
Much of the costs, though, are financed from preferred seating areas, such as executive boxes and club seating.
``The NHL represents a good opportunity to us if we make a good presentation,'' Smithwick believes. ``There may be some NBA teams interesting in moving.''
But where would they play?
On some nights, Scope, with less than 10,000 seats, isn't big enough to accommodate Admirals fans. It certainly would not be acceptable to an NHL team.
``Scope is adequate to do what we are now doing,'' Smithwick says. ``But when you talk about housing an NBA or NHL team, or hosting NCAA basketball tournaments, you need capacities from 20,000 seats up.''
So why doesn't someone have a shovel in the ground?
Smithwick and other government leaders contend it does not make sense to build a huge arena without a tenant.
``You have to have some dates to make this work,'' Smithwick explains. ``If you build an arena and have a ready-made commitment for 85 dates a year, then you can use that for your catalyst to build the balance, and that way you can attract the NCAA regionals, you can look at things like the Final Four.
``But the catalyst has to be a major-league sports franchise.''
He emphasizes that it must be a committed major-league franchise - not just the dream of one.
``The philosophy that says build it and they will come is not always an accurate philosophy. There is a beautiful stadium sitting in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area that is unused,'' Smithwick reminds.
``What you have to do is say, `we will build it if you will come.' Both parties have to make commitments. When both parties make commitments to the partnership, then the partnership succeeds.
``I would hate to see us bring a major-league sports franchise here if we have to buy it 100 percent. I would like to see us get it here because both parties would benefit.''
While there once was mild interest among the Hampton Roads communities for building a regional stadium and a speedway, it is not certain now that all or any would agree on pooling their financial resources to build a large arena. Competition, rather than cooperation, has marked recent sports ventures.
Most everyone, though, seems to agree that the most suitable site for a major-league arena would be downtown Norfolk, where business is booming again.
``The myth that (downtown Norfolk) is not the place to go has been broken by the success of the Admirals and Tides,'' former Virginia Beach Mayor Harold Heischober said.
He also thinks political leaders in Virginia Beach are no more aggressive about major-league sports than they were five years ago.
``They would like to have it,'' he adds, ``but politically they just haven't stepped up to the plate.''
Meanwhile, Norfolk Councilman Paul D. Fraim, a strong force behind the construction of Harbor Park, speaks enthusiastically about what a new arena for a major-league franchise would do.
``When you talk about building a $70 million sports palace, the detractors start pointing to the community's other problems,'' Fraim says.
``But if you build it, maybe it becomes an economic force for these other problems. Harbor Park has proven to be a positive economic influence for the community.''
Admirals owner Cullen says he would oppose any plan to put an arena anywhere other than downtown Norfolk.
``You just can't go wrong by doing that,'' Cullen contends.
Even if Norfolk is willing to build the arena, as some city leaders suggest could be done, they know regional cooperation is needed to attract a major-league franchise and make it successful.
``I think those plans (to build an arena) are 100 percent dependent on whether or not we, as a region, can come together to attract that franchise,'' Smithwick says.
``It would be my hope that since we are one of the largest regions in the country without major-league sports we ought to be able to make that happen, too.
``If you go to Harbor Park to watch a ballgame, as sure as the world you are going to find someone who lives in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, even on the Peninsula.
``That is what it is all about. If we could get major-league sports, I don't think it would matter where you put the facility, and I don't really care.
``We would all benefit. I just hope like the devil we can orchestrate something to make that happen. I want to live long enough to see this region come together because we would be a powerhouse.''
Smithwick, who played huge roles in building Harbor Park and convincing Nordstrom's to locate in downtown Norfolk, is committed to making it happen.
``I think we can do it,'' he says. ``We are working on it because we believe we can. We'll just see what happens.''
{KEYWORDS} MAJOR LEAGUES FRANCHISES
by CNB