Dash Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Oracle CEO and billionaire Larry Ellison was rebuffed in his bid to buy the Golden State Warriors when the NBA franchise was sold to a group led by Peter Guber and Joseph Lacob in July for $450 million. But a source tells me that one reason why Golden State sold for a record NBA price is that the new owners of the Warriors could get from $100 million to $150 million from an owner who wants to bring a second NBA team to the San Francisco area. That is where the New Orleans Hornets, who were bought by the league for $310 million last month, come in. The Hornets lease at New Orleans Arena expires in 2014 and the franchise, suffering big losses and low attendance, needs to move to a market with better demographics and more corporate sponsors. It makes perfect sense that Ellison, who is worth $27 billion and badly wants an NBA franchise, would buy the Hornets and move the team to San Jose. For starters, he could immediately share a building with the NHL’s Sharks. Also, San Jose is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest city in the U.S., so sponsorship revenue would no longer be a problem. And the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose television market is the sixth-largest, which would provide a substantial increase in media revenue and make it possible to launch a regional sports network with other sports teams in the area. My source says Ellison would be more than happy to pony up $450 million for the Hornets (including a relocation fee for the Warriors) given the improved economics for NBA teams that will be the result of the new collective bargaining agreement. http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeozanian/2011/01/05/larry-ellison-might-buy-new-orleans-hornets-and-move-them-to-san-jose/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AboveLegit Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Makes sense, but another Cali team? Come on, there are more deserving cities out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamerGuy Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 It would work, and there would certainly be enough interest and revenue for them to be successful there. Be nice to see another state and city get a franchise, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogi Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 That would be interesting. Three NBA teams within a few hours of each other. I'd move them to Kansas City before San Jose, but then again I'm not the one with the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truth Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Makes sense, but another Cali team? Come on, there are more deserving cities out there.the Kings would probably move to Vegas or something if this were to happen. I knew there was some kind of conspiracy going on with the NBA buying a team, but I didn't want to say anything. the league had never purchased a team before and although they said they were intent on keeping it in New Orleans, I think we all knew that was a lie. this move would benefit the league as well as Ellison, who's wanted to own a team for almost a decade now. this new franchise could share an arena with the San Jose Sharks and rake in a lot of cash. I heard rumors of the Oakland A's moving to San Jose relatively soon as well. that might become the next big sports city with an NBA team and NHL team in the same arena and an MLB ballpark across the street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestle Snipes Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 He should re name them if so and we could buy back the name Hornets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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