THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270669
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
A report issued Thursday by two nationally known sports consultants says Hampton Roads should build an arena seating a minimum of 20,000 if it expects to attract an NBA or NHL franchise. The consultants say the $130 million arena should be in downtown Norfolk and can be paid for in six years by raising the sales tax 1/4 percent - from 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 - in eight area jurisdictions.
The report was commissioned 17 months ago by the Hampton Roads Sports Authority to determine whether the area could recruit a major sports franchise and whether it should build an arena, where it should be located and how it should be paid for.
The $100,000 study by Brailsford Associates of Washington and HOK Sports of Kansas City was funded jointly by Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton and Isle of Wight County through the sports authority. With 1.6 million people, Hampton Roads is the nation's largest metropolitan area without a major sports franchise.
An increase in the sales tax would have to be approved by the General Assembly and all eight area localities. The revenues would be used to pay off bonds floated by the sports authority to build the arena. The bonds also would need local approval.
But the consultants' research says that with the sales tax increase, the arena would be paid off in six years.
``That time frame is based on conservative figures,'' said Mike Bogucki of Brailsford Associates. ``This is such a large market that it can be done that quickly and with relatively little pain.''
The report says downtown Norfolk is the best location for the arena.
``The experience of other areas is that downtown arenas generally succeed whereas arenas built away from downtown are not always as successful,'' said Christopher S. Dunlavey, executive vice president of Brailsford Associates.
The consultants recommend that before proposing the new arena and a sales tax, the sports authority take the following steps, in order:
Identify a core of area business and political leaders to lead an effort to acquire a franchise.
Identify businesses willing to purchase luxury boxes. At $70,000 a year for each, 44 luxury boxes would be a key source of revenue, netting about $8 million per year.
Identify and contact potential franchise ownership groups in Hampton Roads and elsewhere.
Cultivate public support of the proposal, possibly through public hearings in each city.
Contact NBA and NHL owners to make them aware that Hampton Roads is serious about acquiring a franchise.
``Owners tend to do business through personal relationships,'' Dunlavey said. ``You need to develop relationships with those people. That's something an outside consultant can't do.''
HOK Sports, which constructed Harbor Park in Norfolk and Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, produced a mock-up of an arena that would seat 18,000 for basketball, 17,000 for hockey and 20,000 for concerts.
It would include seating for 3,100 in luxury boxes and club-level seating - an area served by waiters and waitresses - two luxury restaurants and a novelty store.
Reaction of most sports authority members was cautiously optimistic, though Norfolk City Councilman Paul R. Riddick said: ``I wonder if it would be more prudent to build a larger facility. I would think we would want to attract NCAA tournament games and the CIAA tournament, and that might require more seats.''
Morton V. Whitlow, a former Portsmouth City Councilman who represents the city on the sports authority, recommended that the group take no action.
``I suggest that we take some time to digest this information so that we can decide how we can best implement this plan,'' he said.
The consultants spoke with NBA and NHL owners and did a detailed market analysis and concluded Hampton Roads probably will not land an expansion franchise in either league. More likely, it would have to entice an existing franchise.
They said the NBA will not expand any further in the United States and that the NHL will expand to larger markets, including Atlanta, Houston and Cleveland, before considering Hampton Roads.
The NBA's New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers and the NHL's Hartford Whalers and Florida Panthers were named as the franchises most likely to relocate in Hampton Roads. All are losing money.
Though upbeat about the area's prospects for attracting a franchise should an arena be constructed, the report did sound some negative notes.
``The arena development poses a significant risk to the region,'' it said. ``If the region is able to attract a major-league franchise, then the development of the arena would be an economic boon. If not . . . it would represent a tremendous economic cost with very little benefit.''
The consultants say the area economy could suffer a net loss of $195 million over a decade if a major sports franchise did not inhabit the arena, and a net gain of $85 million if one did.
The report also said: ``Hampton Roads defies classification as either a major league or minor league market. It straddles the dividing line between these two concepts of market size, with sufficient demographics to achieve a major market size, but perhaps insufficient depth and diversity in its corporate market to sustain an NHL or NBA franchise.''
Sports authority executive director Art Collins said the consultants were told to be honest and conservative.
``We wanted to make sure this was not a marketing piece, not a puff piece, but a very sober, objective view of what our situation is,'' Collins said. ``We need to be honest with ourselves about those things.''
The report also concluded that Hampton Roads stands a better chance of landing a franchise if it claims Richmond as part of the region. Charlotte officials claimed all cities within a 150-mile radius around downtown - including Greensboro, N.C., and Columbia and Greenville, S.C. - as part of its market when it successfully recruited NBA and NFL franchises.
By including Richmond, Hampton Roads would jump from 40th to 21st nationally among TV markets. by CNB