Category Archives: Basketball

04.13.11
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News for 4/13/11

Cal Baseball is safe for at least the next 7-10 years, thanks to relentless fundraising efforts.

Tonight marks the last NBA game to ever be played in Sacramento, at least for the foreseeable future.

As part of the new federal budget pact reached over the weekend, Congress is looking at numerous transit projects as low-hanging fruit for cuts including California’s High Speed Rail project and BART-to-Silicon Valley. It’s not enough to kill those projects, but it could stretch out planning while the projects try again for scarce federal funding in the future. BART-to-SV faces a lawsuit from a Milpitas industrial park owner whose access may be severely affected by construction of the line next to the property. The property owner wants an injunction against any further work until the issue is addressed.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is getting creative in figuring out ways to overcome the City’s $58 million budget deficit, which is $12 million more than when she came into office. In addition to a $80/year parcel tax, Quan is looking at short-term financing of the City’s retired police and firefighters’ pension plan. The Contra Costa Times’ Daniel Borenstein has a scathing critique of the pension refinancing plan and the City’s previous (largely failed) attempts to rein in the costs. The more you read about the plan, the more it looks like the Raiders’ Coliseum deal, full of overly optimistic projections and heavy on risk to the City. The current budget shortfall doesn’t have any material impact on any Oakland ballpark efforts, but decisions made now that could adversely impact fiscal feasibility down the road could have a huge impact.

OnMilwaukee.com has the first in a series of articles remembering the efforts needed and political battles waged to build Miller Park.

A study by the University of Toronto claims that the NHL is subsidizing numerous US-based teams and that Canada could support as many as 12 franchises (double the current number) thanks to high demand north of the border. I’d like to read this study before passing judgment.

A bill to authorize a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings has been introduced. However, it will not be heard until after April 26 and will have only a month to get through the legislature. Pundits are not giving the bill much of a chance of passing.

Two, count ’em, two ballparks are opening in Omaha over the next week. Werner Park, 9,000-capacity new suburban home of the Omaha Storm Chasers (AAA-Royals), seemed to be built in record time. TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, which is the new home of the College World Series, will host its first game next Tuesday when Creighton University hosts Nebraska (TV: CBS Sports Network/CBS College Sports). The 24,000-seat ballpark can expand to 35,000 for the CWS, though officials are quick to point out that even with the size, the ballpark is not a major league park.

A word on the Giants-Dodgers-Bryan Stow situation. As much as it’s heartwarming to see the outpouring of support for Stow, who remains in a coma following his beating following an Opening Day game two weeks ago, it’s important to remember that wasn’t the first incident, and sadly it won’t be the last. Two months ago, 20-year-old San Carlos resident Taylor Buckley pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter three years after the 2008 “sucker punch” killing of Anthony Giraudo outside a Giants game at AT&T Park. If anything, I’m surprised these incidents don’t happen more often. I look back at all of the A’s-Yankees games at the Coliseum, the Giants-Dodgers games at both AT&T and the ‘Stick, and I remember multiple fistfights and fans tumbling down the steps. More often than not, security gets there in time to stop the truly tragic from happening. Unfortunately, all it takes is for someone to hit his head on the edge of a concrete step, or for some thug to wait until he’s out in the parking lot to be an idiot, and then it’s a tragedy. It’s brutal and senseless, yet the line between a small no-harm skirmish and a tragedy can be so small. I want to believe in the better angels of our nature. Sometimes it’s not easy.

Lastly, and on a bittersweet note, the baseball season in Japan is starting, three weeks late and a month after the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant ordeal began.

04.04.11
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A Royal Dilemma

Two home games remain for the Sacramento Kings, before they presumably fire up the moving vans and head south for Anaheim, whose city fathers welcome to soon-to-be Royals with open arms, a much more updated arena, and a much richer and larger fanbase. One real hangup remains: the Maloofs owe the City of Sacramento $67 million of a loan they inherited from former owner Jim Thomas, plus a $9 million prepayment penalty on that loan.

Sacramento has gone so far as to write Anaheim a letter informing them of the Maloofs’ current debt obligations in an effort to influence Anaheim away from the franchise. So far, that letter has ony drawn scorn from the Maloofs, who don’t want Sacramento interfering in “business matters.” Anaheim approved $75 million in relocation costs and improvements plus a practice facility for the team, which just about seals the deal. On the Kings website there are no efforts to sell season tickets for the 2011-12 season, and the only promotional item is Fan Appreciation Night on the 13th, the final game in Sacramento Kings history against the hated Los Angeles Lakers. Thomas was seen last Friday in one of the Maloof brothers’ courtside seats, probably to see the team he brought to Cowtown play for the last time.

That leaves the matter of outstanding debt, which the cash-strapped Maloofs have promised to pay but haven’t said how they would do it. If they default, they will lose the arena and the 183 acres that surround it, plus Sacramento would get a $25 million stake in the Anaheim Royals. Chances are that the Maloofs don’t want Sacramento to have any stake in the team, so it could offer up the arena, land and a smaller cash payment to settle up. Two weeks ago, San Jose and Santa Clara County settled an ongoing debt issue in part by transferring real estate from the City to the County. It’s not hard to see the Maloofs offering the same kind of deal, since a) they won’t need the arena after they leave, and b) It’s a good asset the City could get for a song, warts and all.

Assessed value of the entire property comes to $61.7 million, with $45 million of that in the arena and practice facility. The assessed value of the arena may be overinflated due to the state of distress that the arena is in and the renovations it needs going forward. The assessed land value is a mere $16.7 million, or $91,000 per acre. Right now, even with that pittance of a land value, for a revenue-needy city such as Sacramento it may as well be worth nothing. There will undoubtedly be some in city government who feel that way. Then again, there are serious long-term strategic opportunities should Sacramento move to acquire the arena.

The uncertain future of redevelopment makes acquiring the land a risky proposition. To fund any improvements to the land, the City would have to create a redevelopment district from which they could collect tax increment after the land was flipped to a developer. (In short, this is the practice of landbanking.) As attractive as the land may have been 10 years ago, it’s not the least bit attractive right now – unless someone is dying to build right now. Given Sacramento’s horrendous housing market, that seems highly unlikely – though that hasn’t stopped recent Sacramento arena proposals from including a large infill housing development component. In any case, should redevelopment agencies cease to exist after this summer the City would have to rush to approve the deal and the creation of the redevelopment district.

The point of accruing tax increment would be to fund improvements for the arena, whose leaky roof and outdated, cramped quarters are pushing the Kings to vacate their premises. If Sacramento is to have any hope to attract a future NBA franchise, at least $250 million in improvements would have to be in order. That would include the following items:

  • Fix the roof
  • Dig 20-40′ further down (a la Oracle Arena) to create a more spacious, flexible event floor
  • Add a club concourse and seating
  • Add another suite level and revamp suites
  • Redo the seating bowl and replace seats
  • Replace scoreboard and signage

If Sacramento were not to worry about getting a replacement team, it could opt for a more modest ($50-100 million) spiffing up of the arena, which would focus on must-fix items such as the roof and the back-of-the-house. The City could immediately turn management of the venue over to a dedicated operator like SMG, AEG, Global Spectrum, or SVSE. The purpose of the arena would be to continue to attract concerts, ice shows, and other non-team entertainment to the region. The arena could have enough improvements to be once again included in the NCAA basketball tournament rotation. All of this has some significance, as the closest large indoor venues to the City are the 8,000-seat UC Davis Pavilion and 11,000-seat Stockton Arena. Those venues are 20 and 50 miles away from Sacramento, respectively. The outdoor Sleep Train Amphitheatre is 30 miles north in Wheatland and ony operates in the summer. Those distances would leave an entertainment black hole in the capital city if the arena were not to continue operating. Even with the mistrust of Maloofs and the need for cash, it may be an offer that Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council can’t refuse.

The future of basketball in Sacramento looks bleak, to put it mildly. Even if it were to get a brand new arena deal done in the next six months, there’s no guarantee they’d ever get a NBA franchise anytime soon. That’s Mayor Johnson’s strategy at this point, and it may be the only sound one if you hold out any hope for major pro sports in Sacramento. Johnson could turnaround and pitch the ARCO site to the A’s, but the gloomy market there makes funding a $400 million ballpark extremely difficult, let alone an arena renovation. There are forces who want to forego ARCO and build an arena downtown, as expensive and complicated as it sounds. It’s going to be tough to get a good deal in place, and I don’t envy the decision makers up there one bit.

03.11.11
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Days of Reckoning

Governor Jerry Brown’s self-imposed budget deadline has come and gone, though Brown has asked for more time to work out details with the legislature. That body is trying to line up a floor vote next week, and they can waive the advance requirement for a public vote if they can get the budget basics outlined. If a compromise can’t be reached in the Capitol, Brown has warned of an “all cuts” budget in which every state agency and employee group will be in an “every man for himself” mode. It’s hard to conceive, but not out of the realm of possibility. It’s too early to know what such an impasse would mean for redevelopment, and for the various stadium projects throughout the state.

Speaking of redevelopment, Santa Clara County’s lawsuit against the City of San Jose and SJRA will have a hearing on Monday. The immediate issue at hand is the County’s request for an injunction against the transfer of the Diridon land to SJDDA. It’s a move that could have a paralyzing effect on ballpark efforts in San Jose, at least if the state goes through with the elimination of redevelopment agencies. One thing to keep in mind is that unlike many other Bay Area counties, Santa Clara County has no redevelopment agency of its own. That makes the County unique in that advocacy for curtailing or eliminating redevelopment presents no potential conflict of interest. San Jose has tendency to throw its weight around, so you can see why the County might feel it has to resort to a legal action.

If redevelopment goes away, it wouldn’t only threaten San Jose. Oakland, Santa Clara, and at least two or all three of SoCal football concepts would both see their stadium projects vanish (San Diego, City of Industry for certain, Downtown LA unclear).

Under Brown’s proposal, redevelopment agency property would be sold and the proceeds divided among the cities, counties, school districts and other local entities, finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said, so moves to protect the assets – transferring parking lots, buildings and other properties to a city, for example – could limit the amount those other local government bodies get if lawmakers eliminate redevelopment agencies.

Assuming that whatever lawsuits stem from the seizures get resolved, that would leave the various cities to work out deals where agreements and contracts already exist. That would include the Coliseum in Oakland and the Airport West property in San Jose.

In other news:

  • Chuck Greenberg is resigning from his CEO post with the Texas Rangers today, after only 8 months on the job. A shocker, and the background article is a worthwhile read.
  • The A’s will raise funds for victims of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami on April 3, a game against the Mariners. The day will also be called Japanese Heritage Day.
  • NFLPA appears to be ready to decertify itself, a move that would preempt a lockout. It would also set off a series of lawsuits. The two sides are said to be some $600-700 million apart n terms of sharing revenue, with the league offering 43% of the full pie ($9 Billion) and the players wanting 50%. By going down this path, both sides are setting a highly contentious precedent that could well be followed by the NBA this summer, MLB not so much. Update 1:19 PM – The league has reportedly upped their offer to 46%. Last minute talks are underway. Update 2:16 PM – False hope. Union is decertifying. Begin lockout posthaste.
  • Tim Kawakami continues to carry the torch for Larry Ellison’s NBA team ownership bid.

I need a drink.

03.06.11
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Lacob makes an oops

I guess this marks the end of the honeymoon.

We may be a few months away from Northern California being a one-horse NBA territory, that horse being the Golden State Warriors. That makes it the perfect time for the W’s owner to open his mouth and insert a foot, no? The internets are abuzz with a quote Joe Lacob made during a panel at the annual Sloan Sports Conference back east. Asked whether bloggers (such as those at Warriors World and Athletics Nation) are fans, Lacob replied:

“They are not real fans, because they don’t have season tickets.”

Ouch.

This led to the expected evisceration of Lacob by those aforementioned bloggers and commenters pretty much everywhere, including this excellent post by Bay Area Sports Guy. Is this Lacob’s real opinion of fans, or did he simply not think his response through? We’ll find out in a day or two.

It’s strange that Lacob could show such disdain for fans. Many people who participate online are incapable of being season ticket holders for any number of reasons:

  • Familial responsibilities
  • Distance
  • Work schedules
  • Economic means and status

Many fans, due to circumstance, can only take in a game here or there or buy a miniplan of some sort. The Warriors’ season ticket base may have eroded thanks to the mismanagement of Chris Cohan, but overall ticket sales are still strong, as evidenced by this season’s 18,651 average attendance. The W’s are one of two teams in the top 10 in the NBA to have an under-.500 record. The other team, Cleveland, presold tickets last season with the idea that they would retain LeBron James. That didn’t work out so well.

While NBA tickets are generally thought of as expensive, in the W’s case they’re actually quite reasonable. Team Marketing Report has the team’s average ticket price (PDF) at $34.13, the lowest of all four California teams. Tickets in the ends of the lower bowl can be had for $35 a game as part of a season ticket package, which is a fabulous deal when considering the proximity of those sections to the court in Oracle Arena’s basketball-friendly layout.

At the heart of Lacob’s quote and the subsequent outcry is the question of what a “real fan” is. We’ve talked plenty about how much corporate interests mean when it comes to allowing a team to thrive or even survive on an annual basis. When it comes to classifying fans, though, that’s really dangerous territory and it’s something we’ve tried to avoid here. Fanhood can’t be quantified. Consider the following examples:

  • The college student who grew up loving the W’s and can’t afford season tickets yet.
  • The professional firm who buys four club seat full season plans mainly to hand them out to clients.
  • The former season ticket holder who is now married, has three kids, and is too busy to see more than 3-4 games per season in person.
  • A couple who moved to the East Coast for work and follows the W’s on NBA League Pass (TV and online) and gets tickets whenever the W’s come to their city.
  • A night security guard who listens to KNBR constantly, reads WW and GSOM, and whose best chance to attend games is the rare day game.
  • A poor teenager who idolizes Monta Ellis or Stephen Curry and whose single mother works two jobs and doesn’t have the time to take the kid to a game.

Which of the above seems the least like a real fan?

Lacob’s gonna have a lot of explaining to do in the coming days. Perhaps he should take some pointers from Andy Dolich’s Virtual Season Ticket concept, which could use some fleshing out for the NBA model but has potential. It’s incredibly obtuse to rule out huge demographics who contribute to the W’s bottom line – indirectly yet significantly. Whatever he does, he probably won’t be so dismissive the next time around. Then again, there’s one sure fire way for W’s to get new season ticket buyers: win more games. Just a thought.

P.S. On the venue front, Lacob mentioned that the team’s lease runs through the 2016-17 season, which we’ve discussed here when the possibility of moving to San Francisco has come up. Makes me wonder if he’s already mentally checked out of Oakland.

P.P.S. Tim Kawakami has a clarification from Lacob, in which he was referring more to profanity-laced emailers than bloggers per se:

“The last thing I’d want to do is denigrate the online community,” Lacob said. ”I think I’ve demonstrated an openness to media, the fans, everybody, to answer every question, take it head on. And I’m willing to listen.”

Let’s hug it out, bitches.

03.04.11
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Sacramento is now Plan B, Anaheim is Plan A

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson came out of a 40-minute meeting with the Maloofs with the notion that Sacramento is only a fallback in case a deal between the Kings and Anaheim’s Honda Center doesn’t work out. The team was granted an extension to April 15 (tax day!) to get its affairs in order.

More and more I think the tipping point for this was the Lakers creating their own network, thus creating an opening for Fox Sports to hook up with the Kings. It’s a potentially huge deal which makes the LA market superior to any other potential relocation spot.

I know many of you are Kings fans and this has to hurt. Look on the bright side though – at least you’ll never have to worry about this again:

Pithy commentary provided by “The King” Jerry Lawler, of course.

02.20.11
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Sacramento Kings in talks to move to Anaheim

And so it begins. Numerous reports last night (ESPN/SacBee/FanHouse) have the Maloofs talking with the officials at Anaheim’s Honda Center over a move to Anaheim. NBA commissioner David Stern is feigning ignorance regarding details – but come on, he injected himself into the Kings’ pursuit over a year ago so he must be keeping abreast of everything that’s going on.

Honda Center and Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli is #582 on Forbes’ list of world billionaires with a net worth of $1.7 Billion (funny how that figure keeps coming around). Should the Kings move to the O.C., the deal is supposed to have Samueli take care of any existing debt the Maloofs have, including a loan from the City of Sacramento. Samueli would also cover a $30 million franchise relocation to the NBA and territorial rights fees due to both of the existing LA franchises, the Lakers and Clippers.

The deadline for the Maloofs to apply for a move is March 1, and if it goes through it would mark a dark day in Sacramento sports. The Maloofs would still own the decaying ARCO Arena and would get no more than pennies on the dollar for it because of the extensive cost of required renovations to the venue. Not that they could set foot in Cowtown ever again, mind you.

As for the Honda Center, it could find itself with a ton of basketball action over the next few years. The Kings can move right in as long as the labor situation is settled and the schedule with the Ducks is worked out. This is thanks to the seating bowl configuration, which has the flexibility to properly stage NBA games. Honda Center is also home to the annual Big West tournament and is set to host the NCAA tournament’s West regional a month from now.

Honda Center in NCAA tournament configuration (image courtesy of flickr user SteevzStuff)

One more tenant may be on the way: UCLA men’s basketball. The vaunted program was supposed to play at the old Forum in Inglewood next season while extensive improvements were made to Pauley Pavilion, but the Forum was bought last year by MSG and is ready to undergo its own improvements to make it a very competitive concert venue. Ironically, doing this would allow the Forum to grab dates from the Honda Center, which has been the go-to concert venue in the LA/OC region due to the calendar for the Staples Center being so full. As a prominent UCLA alum, Samueli would love to have his Bruins play a year or two at his arena. Though fans and students may not love the brutal trip from Westwood to Anaheim, at least it’s a place to play. Scheduling UCLA with the hoops Kings and the hockey Ducks is not unprecedented. The Verizon Center in DC has Georgetown men’s basketball, the Caps, and the Wizards all happy under one roof. The Bruins eventually may be forced to have their own sort of regional barnstorming tour with home games played in Ontario, Bakersfield, and even San Diego.

The venue outlook would look like this:

  • Staples Center (18-19,000): Lakers, Clippers, LA Kings (NHL), Pac-10/12 tournament, Grammys
  • Honda Center (17,500): Ducks, Anaheim Kings (NBA), Big West tournament
  • The Forum (17,505): Concerts, filming of the ABC Sitcom “Mr. Sunshine“

If there were ever a situation that calls for a metro to have three top tier arenas, this is it. Without the right number of permanent tenants, at least one venue is taking on an enormous amount of risk. The Forum’s new business model had risk written all over it until the Kings came a-knockin’, now it might make perfect sense. It goes to show that in the Bay Area, there’s no market for a third arena in San Francisco unless they want to ruin themselves and HP Pavilion/Oracle Arena in the process.

Update 11:50 AM – The Maloofs would likely sell their equity share in Comcast Sportsnet California as part of the move. Would the A’s swoop in to pick that up? I sure hope so.

02.15.11
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News for 2/15/11

Marc Morris of Better Sense San Jose argues against using scarce San Jose redevelopment funds for a ballpark. He makes very good points about cuts to neighborhood business districts and other smaller projects. At the same time, the claim that stadiums don’t provide much economic benefit is a stroke too broad, considering that locally we have two examples that have provided such benefits: AT&T Park and HP Pavilion. Morris was against the arena 20 years ago, and I sense that he’s tilting at windmills as an encore.

The Federal Transit Administration approved full funding of the first part of the BART-to-Silicon Valley extension. This approval is only for the initial phase, which would terminate three miles northeast of Diridon at Berryessa. The second phase is the Downtown San Jose tunnel and further route up to Santa Clara/SJC. Next, the funding must be approved as part of the next federal budget.

There’s a ton of coverage of the Wilpon-Madoff situation, which seems fluid and with a higher price tag for Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, and in the end, the Mets. ESPN’s Outside the Lines has a thumbnail sketch.

The Los Angeles Lakers are partnering with Time Warner Cable to have all local game broadcasts on a pair of new regional sports networks: one in English and one in Spanish. Unlike most sports networks which utilize SAP for Spanish audio while using the same video feed, the twin Spanish network will have its own audio/video and production. Update 9:43 AM – Multiple sources have the new deal pegged at 20 years, $3 Billion. Even if two-thirds of that were given over to network operations and revenue sharing, that would leave $50 million per year for the team – nearly enough to take care of team payroll by itself for the next 2-3 CBAs. Also, the deal may have an effect on the Dodgers in that Frank McCourt has been talking about starting up a similar twin-language RSN. He may choose to jump to the Lakers-TWC network if the price is right, or use that as leverage to get a better deal from Fox. Fox recently gave McCourt an additional $111 million over the next three years to cover expenses associated with running the ballclub, so there’s a question as to who really has the leverage here.

A pair of articles by Neil deMause (for Baseball Prospectus) and Pete Toms (for The Biz of Baseball) on the upcoming MLB CBA negotiations should give you an idea of where the two sides stand at this point. One word missing from either article: contraction.

Deadspin has a tale of two guys who had the run of Camden Yards after an Orioles game was postponed. Is it true? Does it matter?

CBS College Sports Network will be renamed CBS Sports Network. Hmmm…

02.09.11
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News for 2/9/11

Not to be outdone, a rival to the dome/town at UNLV has emerged. The $1.5 Billion complex, called the Las Vegas Sports Center, would consist of three separate venues instead of one multipurpose domed stadium. Included would be a NBA/NHL-quality arena, a 50,000-seat football stadium for UNLV football, and a 9,000-seat partially covered baseball stadium for the AAA 51s. The area targeted for the project is near downtown, the same area which has been bandied about for a new arena and a new MLB domed stadium in the past. The ballpark could be expanded to MLB capacity, though with the way it would be constructed it’s hard to see how it would work. Architecturally, all three venues would have large arches from which tensile roofs would be partly suspended. Heading up the plan is a group called International Development Management, with 360 Architecture doing up the plans. The scary bit? It’s quite possible that the UNLV Now domed stadium concept could approach the cost of the three purpose-built venues simply due to the cost of the technology that would be used.

VTA has an idea for finding operating funds for Caltrain’s 2011-12 year: take it out of the electrification and stalled Dumbarton Rail Corridor projects. The Dumbarton project would rebuild the abandoned rail bridge south of the existing vehicular bridge and provide rail between Union City and Redwood City. Interestingly, this redheaded stepchild of public transit (VTA took from it for BART-to-San Jose) may receive renewed interest now that Facebook has announced plans to move its 2,000-employees-and-rising from Palo Alto to the former “Sun Quentin” campus in Menlo Park. A planned station would be situated adjacent to some land that Facebook bought for parking or a campus expansion.

Blowback from the Super Bowl seating scandal continues with one fan looking to sue the NFL and Jerry Jones. Also suing: Cowboys premium season ticket holders who got limited view seats. All this hubbub reminds me of a friend who lives in Chicago. A few years ago, he got Super Bowl tickets as his family had Bears season tickets for several generations. The weekend of the big game, a family friend died and they were forced to cancel the trip. Let’s calm down and have a little perspective, shall we?

The Rangers announced that they are raising single game ticket prices. We can call that the Beltre-not-Lee Tax.

Five Cal sports may not face the axe after all, thanks to complications arising from Title IX compliance. Short $25 million in the budget for the next 5-10 years, the University chose to target men’s and women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s baseball, and men’s rugby squads for elimination. The organization Save Cal Baseball, which has been renamed Save Cal Sports in a show of solidarity, has raised $16 million, which should be enough to keep all five teams running for at least the next four years. The university decides the fates of the teams on Thursday. Update 2/10 1:45 PM: The University has put off the decision for the time being and is telling people to “stay tuned.”

Update 2/10 2:49 PM – MSFC will replace the roof at a cost $18 million, holding the Vikings to their last year on the Metrodome lease. The cost of the replacement will be mostly covered by insurance. Update 2/10 12:27 AM – A report to be issued to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission will show that the H.H.H. Metrodome’s roof was damaged so extensively in December that it cannot be repaired and must be replaced at a cost of $18 million. This news will only serve to advance talk of either replacing the Dome with a new stadium somewhere in the Twin Cities area or a threat of a Vikings move to Los Angeles. And since I can’t get enough of watching the Dome’s roof collapse…

01.31.11
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Redevapocalypse What-If Scenarios

Now for the “fun” part.

Last night I described the fate of redevelopment in a California where the concept no longer works within the budget framework. Today it’s time to discuss all of the great/terrible fates that await our favorite local sports franchises should RDA funding sources dry up.

49ers Bond Rush
It all starts not with the Oakland Athletics, but rather the San Francisco 49ers. The linchpin to the Santa Clara stadium plan is $114 million in public funds, $42 million of it from the RDA (the 49ers would provide a partial advance). This money would have to be raised before any RDA dissolution or cutbacks take place, so the deadline would presumably be sometime in the next 4-5 months. This means that Santa Clara would have to go to the bond market three times for the stadium project:

  • $42 million from the RDA
  • $35 million from the newly assembled Mello-Roos district (hotel taxes)
  • $330 million from the Stadium Authority

If the RDA doesn’t get the bonds by the deadline, there’s no chance that the hotels will even tax themselves for their piece, let alone fund a RDA shortfall. The agreement between Santa Clara and the Niners would have to be reopened so that an alternate funding source could be inserted, and that source couldn’t be tied to the general fund in any way. The Stadium Authority couldn’t get started because there’d be no certainty of the project getting off the ground until the funding package worked itself out.

$40 million doesn’t seem like a big deal as it’s less then 5% of the project cost. It’s still a lot of money to raise and a big enough gap to throw a wrench into the works. There’s a chance that both parties could figure out a way to bridge the gap but it’s not going to happen immediately, and unless it’s the team pledging to cover it completely, any contractual details will require renewed scrutiny.

Should the team find the sledding too rough, there’s always a Plan B. They can run to Oakland, where the Coliseum Authority and the Raiders will be waiting with open arms.

The Coliseum Authority has bonding authority and capacity through its joint powers, the City of Oakland and Alameda County. There’s that nagging problem of ongoing debt burdening both parties through 2026, which can be looked at one of two ways: Should the JPA endeavor to get a new two-team NFL stadium built in the hopes that helps cover the debt or cut its losses and keep paying the debt even though the Raiders could be long gone before it’s retired? (Not that amassing more debt is favorable as the current bonds were downgraded to BBB last month.)

The problem Oakland and the JPA has going forward is the fact that the new Raiders stadium plan had integrated redevelopment along Hegenberger, including a new conference center, hotel and retail. With the well run dry, none of that stuff could get built unless some new taxation/indebtedness occurred, or unless the stadium project’s funding coved it. So what you’d be left with is in all likelihood an updated version of the stadium and arena complex, surrounded by parking. Sounds familiar, eh?

On the other hand, if Santa Clara is able to get the funding ball rolling, it’ll prompt the Raiders to move more quickly in order to leave Oakland. Al Davis isn’t going to live forever, and Roger Goodell is a take-no-prisoners negotiator who has been clamoring for the two teams to share a stadium. Whatever the location, expect an agreement between the host city and the two teams sooner rather than later. Otherwise it might be too late for both.

Which Way Warriors
We’ve discussed the Warriors and the Lacob-Guber group’s interest in San Francisco. The Port of SF owns land to the south of AT&T Park that could be well suited for an arena. This is important as the money’s already spent, no new funds required. In order for a new arena to be built, it would have to be privately financed and it would make the most fiscal sense if two teams shared the arena, not just one. This model has worked well in Chicago and Dallas, where both cities’ representative hoops and hockey teams created partnerships to build their venues. The Giants being the developer has only limited impact since they couldn’t materially impact which touring acts or other events came to town. Two teams means two major winter sports teams, not just the W’s and a minor league franchise.

Can it be done? The Giants/Warriors would have to attract the Sharks or a second NHL team, neither of which seems likely. SVSE would probably entertain the offer as a way to extract lease concessions from San Jose, but it wouldn’t move beyond that. It’s much like trying to get the W’s to move south permanently – it’s technically doable but highly unlikely. Lacob-Guber could also use the SF arena as a stalking horse for improvements to the Arena.

Again, any new arena in SF is only possible if it is privately financed. The good news? There will be so little big project construction in the future (save for public facilities) that the labor could be relatively cheap.

It was nice knowing you Cowtown
Unlike some of the whispering about MLB contracting two teams, there actually has been talk about contracting the Kings. And it will only get louder as the current season draws to a close later this summer. The woes of the Kings and the Maloofs have been chronicled here and elsewhere for some time now, and there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for them. Mayor Kevin Johnson is playing this like he has to walk the ball up the floor and dump it into the post every possession instead of being able to do anything dynamic like this. Being a mayor is a tough job. I want to see the Kings stay in Sac, but it’s hard to see long term with every proposal linked to some kind of redevelopment. The NBA probably won’t buy them as it did the Hornets, which leaves the Kings in some sort of limbo for years to come.

San JosA’s
The landbanking strategy San Jose has used for years has never been more wise than right now, as it works to cobble together the remaining land at Diridon. As I understand it, the money is basically untouchable at this point and SJRA can do whatever it wants as long it takes care of its housing set-asides (25%). If SJ and the A’s are given the green light, the vote this summer or fall won’t be about ballparks vs. schools since the money will already be spent. The debate will be about baseball vs. other housing or commercial developers in a time of a glut of both housing and office space. And yes, the decision could drag on for another several months or even a year.

Oakland mayor Jean Quan has been publicly silent on what the death of RDAs could mean for the Victory Court project, and that’s not a good sign. When the mayors went up to the Capitol last week, the most quotable guy there was Chuck Reed, not Quan. There should be a greater sense of urgency there if Oakland’s various supporters want the donut hole strategy to come to fruition, but it’s not happening publicly, perhaps by design. Should the EIR be delivered at the beginning of April, there will be ample opportunity to go over every detail of the document, and it’s that thoroughness baked into the CEQA process that could eventually kill MLB in Oakland. The way I see it, Bud Selig is looking for a politically expedient opportunity to declare support for San Jose, and that could come in the form of a 400-page EIR that brings up more questions than answers. Why? Because Lew Wolff has to have been in his ear constantly about this redevelopment business, and opportunities are running out fast. Maybe the day of reckoning wont occur immediately, it might occur well along in the process as it did in Fremont. Either way the clock is ticking as it is for AT&T in that commercial for the Verizon iPhone.

Of course, if Let’s Go Oakland had declared Victory Court as its site in December 2009 instead of 2010, Oakland might not be in such a bad position. Oakland’s only saving grace now is something out of its control: the continued difficulty with T-rights negotiations. That’s like basing your retirement plan on an upcoming shared inheritance – will you get a good enough piece, or will it mostly go to the more favored child/mistress/charity? It’s not a real investment strategy.

01.21.11
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Quick visual study in arena conversions

Last weekend HP Pavilion scheduled one of its occasional day-night event doubleheaders. The Harlem Globetrotters were in town for a 1 PM matinee, followed up by a 7:30 PM Sharks-Blues matchup. The Sharks/SVSE took a time-lapse video of the changeover.

The Globetrotters don’t attract sellout crowds, yet they routinely play in some of the largest, most modern arenas. HP Pavilion’s main tenant is a hockey team, so any arena floor or seating changes have to be done with preserving the rink in mind. In the Globetrotters’ case, there’s no need to pull out the special basketball risers that would be used for a NCAA hoops regional or NBA game. Instead, they use a set of low-rise risers while the end seats at the hockey boards aren’t used. When the big hoops games come, the end seats are retracted and replaced by a different set of risers. The change seen above requires a little less labor, so no big deal. If you tried to sit along the hockey boards at the ends, your view of the court would be obstructed.

At American Airlines Center in Dallas, the end seats are in a dual-rise system which allows for maximum flexibility. The risers are well-pitched for hockey games, but they convert into a more gradual pitch for basketball. The chief benefit of this arrangement is that none of the end basketball seats are on the floor – except for the ones closest to the court. Just about every new dual-sport arena has something like this in place. This one in Dallas or Portland’s Rose Garden or the Verizon Center in DC are perhaps the most extreme.

For perhaps the worst example of how to do this, you don’t need to go much farther than everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Power Balance Pavilion ARCO Arena. There, the floor’s bizarrely unique configuration has its sideline seats retract to create extra floor space. By doing this, all ice shows or hockey games have to played on transversely mounted ice. Since a basketball team is the chief tenant, ice is not a permanent floor feature, so the ice brought in from containers in sheet form and mounted much the same way a floor would.

There may actually be a way to pull this off in a more modern arena with the right technology. Unfortunately, ARCO’s not getting any of that stuff.