THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606020083
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 196 lines
It all began three years ago during an informal discussion at Norfolk City Hall.
Half a dozen members of the Norfolk economic development office, feet propped up on a table, gathered at the end of a long day to discuss what they hoped Hampton Roads would become by the turn of the century.
``We tried to define what we thought the region should be,'' said Robert B. Smithwick, then Norfolk's director of economic development. ``When we did, in order to be all of those things, we determined we had to have a major sports team.''
Problem was, no one in Hampton Roads, the nation's largest metro area without a major sports team, was pursuing a franchise.
It was a void Smithwick felt needed to be filled. So he spoke with Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, then began a campaign to put Hampton Roads into the big leagues.
That effort, which came to light only last week, landed Smithwick in the New York City office of NBA commissioner David J. Stern. Impressed with what he'd heard from Smithwick, Stern told Norfolk officials that the region has a good shot of landing a franchise if it puts together a proposal that includes an ownership group and a commitment to build a 20,000-seat arena.
This week, Norfolk will turn over responsibility for wooing the NBA to the Hampton Roads Partnership, an amalgam of 53 regional business, civic, political and military leaders.
When the Partnership's executive committee meets Wednesday at the Norfolk Southern Tower, it plans to name a subcommittee to hire a consultant, who will be asked to determine if the region can support an arena and attract an NBA or NHL team.
Fraim acknowledges that Hampton Roads is a long way from having an ownership group and a 20,000-seat arena. But he said his city's efforts have put Hampton Roads on the NBA's prospective expansion map.
``The NBA knows who we are and are interested,'' he said. ``We have their attention.''
Norfolk officials got the NBA's attention by quietly scheduling a series of meetings with league officials and attending seminars in which they rubbed elbows with others.
They went into those meetings well-armed with research on Hampton Roads and other markets. They asked Bob Walsh, a Seattle-based consultant with NBA connections, to assess their chances. Then they used Walsh and a source on the inside - Horace Balmer, the NBA's vice president for security and a Norfolk native - to arrange the meetings.
A chronology of Norfolk's efforts:
In early 1994, Smithwick has dinner with Walsh and NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell in Seattle to discuss bringing the NBA to Hampton Roads. Walsh recently had completed heading Vancouver's successful effort to get an NBA franchise, and twice brought the NCAA Final Four to Seattle.
Shortly thereafter, Walsh is hired by Norfolk to do a report for the city on the region's chances of landing a pro sports franchise.
Later in '94, Charlie Bauman and Billy Mann of the economic development office meet with Jerry Colangelo, owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, in Phoenix. The meeting, arranged and attended by Walsh, lasts two hours.
Colangelo, a close friend of Walsh, is considered the league's most influential owner on expansion matters. The meeting concludes with Colangelo conducting a tour of America West Arena, a state-of-the-art facility that was constructed with a combination of public and private funds.
``He told us about how they built the arena, how the pie was sliced,'' Mann said. ``And we talked about the hoops we'd have to jump through'' to get an NBA franchise.
In late '94, Fraim attends a seminar in Atlanta on arena construction and begins forging personal relationships with NBA officials and consultants.
In late '94 and early '95, area business leaders hold meetings with potential NBA ownership groups, including former NBA star Julius Erving and Philadelphia attorney Regan Henry, who owns an FM radio station in Hampton Roads.
In summer of '95, Fraim travels to Phoenix with Vice Mayor Paul Riddick to attend a seminar on arena construction and to talk with NBA officials. Among the NBA officials he meets are Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Virginia Beach economic development director Don Maxwell also attends the seminar, though separately.
In Phoenix, Fraim meets Rick Horrow, a Miami consultant whom Virginia Beach businessmen later would bring to speak to the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Horrow and Walsh are considered the most likely consultants to be hired by the Hampton Roads Partnership.
In February of '96, Mann, whose steal and layup led Old Dominion to an upset of No. 1-ranked DePaul in 1981, flies to San Antonio for the NBA All-Star game at his own expense to meet with NBA officials.
``I was out there relationship building,'' said Mann, who spent much time with Walsh.
In early April, Smithwick, Fraim and Norfolk City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. host Rod Thorn, a senior vice president for the NBA, and Balmer for breakfast during the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Mann also makes the rounds at the PIT, speaking with as many coaches and general managers as he can find.
``Horace grew up in Norfolk and Rod is a West Virginia guy, so they know the market,'' Smithwick said. ``Our mission was to make sure Paul and Jim had a chance to meet these two guys, and secondly, to get a feel for what they thought about our proposal.''
Finally, in late April, Smithwick, Bauman and Mann travel to New York and make a presentation to Stern, deputy commissioner Russell T. Granick and Balmer. Smithwick tells them about the history of the area - that it is larger than six NBA markets and has one of the nation's highest percentages of young and middle-aged males, a demographic the NBA covets. The 90-minute pitch is greeted warmly.
``For the first time, I came away from a meeting feeling comfortable that if a package is presented well and presented properly, we should have a great chance to succeed,'' Smithwick said.
Before he began wooing the NBA, Smithwick contacted all the major leagues, including the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL and even the Canadian Football League. He spoke with New York Mets vice president Frank Cashen, with whom he helped negotiate the deal for Harbor Park, and former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Smithwick's high school classmate.
At first, Smithwick thought the NFL should be the region's top priority even though it would be difficult to build a football stadium in land-poor Norfolk.
``It's something we're sure would work here,'' said Smithwick, who recently resigned as economic development director and works in the city manager's office.
But by the time Norfolk's effort got under way, the NFL was far along in the process of adding two expansion franchises, which eventually would go to Charlotte and Jacksonville, which have metropolitan areas smaller than Hampton Roads.
``I don't think we were organized enough at that point'' to get the NFL's attention, Smithwick said. ``There's no reason, had we not come together early on, that the region couldn't have taken advantage of it. If we'd had a game plan, a commitment, we could have done it.
``Look at Jacksonville. It's a good market, but certainly not any better than this market. Look how they sold their wares to the NFL. We could have done that, and we can do it in the future'' if the NFL expands again.
With NFL and Major League Baseball expansion years away, Smithwick turned to hockey and basketball. The focus quickly moved to basketball, in part because the region has a successful minor league hockey team in the Hampton Roads Admirals.
``We met with Blake Cullen and told him we wanted the Admirals to be a partner, not a victim,'' Smithwick said of the former Admirals owner, who recently sold the team to local investors Mark Garcea and Page Johnson.
Smithwick also was convinced that the NHL was more interested in markets such as Atlanta, Cleveland and Houston than Hampton Roads.
Thus, with Walsh's help, the NBA push began.
Smithwick and Walsh met in April 1994, when Walsh accompanied officials from Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. to inspect the site for MacArthur Center, a proposed mall that plans to have the upscale department store chain as one of its anchors.
It was a quick, one-day trip for the Nordstrom delegation, which was attending the Final Four in Charlotte and came to Norfolk between the semifinals and championship game. But it was enough to get Walsh's attention.
``I was impressed right away with that market, with people like Bob Smithwick and the mayor,'' he said.
NBA officials hold Walsh in high esteem. Stern, Thorn, Granick and Balmer all recently urged Norfolk officials to hire Walsh to lead the region's NBA effort.
``I think he would be an excellent person to do that,'' Granick said of Walsh. ``He's one of the few people around with a track record.''
However, Walsh's association with Norfolk might hurt him with the Partnership. Some suburban officials favor Horrow because he has yet to make a determination on where an arena should be located.
Walsh's report to Norfolk officials, which was not released to the public, indicated the region probably could attract an NBA or NHL franchise if it were to build an arena. He studied two prospective sites - downtown and the Stumpy Lake area in Virginia Beach/Chesapeake - and recommended downtown Norfolk.
Stumpy Lake, he wrote, would be the preferred site only if political considerations, meaning gaining support from suburban cities, were necessary. Downtown Norfolk is the best site, he said, because of easy interstate access, parking and its central location.
About the same time Walsh was presenting his report to Norfolk, the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads was authorizing a similar study by HOK Sports, the nation's premier stadium/arena contractor, and Brailsford Associates, a prominent consulting firm from Washington, D.C.
That report, which was released to the media, came to similar conclusions: Hampton Roads could attract and support an NBA or NHL team if it were to build an arena. And the arena should be constructed downtown, though downtown Norfolk wasn't specified.
The major question remaining, according to the Walsh and Sports Authority reports, is if the region can sell enough luxury boxes to make an arena financially feasible. In January, Norfolk officials began pushing for a study to answer that question in talks with Virginia Beach officials and later with the region's mayors.
Smithwick said he's proud of Norfolk's efforts to date, and hopes they're not squandered by the region: ``We have a golden opportunity.''
Added Mann: ``One of many lessons I learned from Bob is that step one in attracting a business to your community is to meet and develop a rapport with management.
``One of the last things David Stern said to us is, `We'd love to hear from you.' I'd say that step one is complete.''
Step two begins this week with Norfolk's handoff to the Hampton Roads Partnership. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Color photos
THE PLAYERS
Robert B. Smithwick
Norfolk official who got the ball rolling
Bob Walsh
Consultant who connected Norfolk with NBA officials
Jerry Colangelo
Phoenix Suns owner who advised officials on building arenas
David J. Stern
NBA commissioner has said region has good shot at team
KEYWORDS: NBA SPORTS FRANCHISES by CNB