
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990                   TAG: 9003290693
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

OWNER SAYS HE MAY MOVE HORNETS

The Charlotte Hornets may raise ticket prices, renegotiate their $1-per-game lease on the Charlotte Coliseum or move if the organization doesn't get more of the Coliseum profits, team officials said.

Team owner George Shinn told WBTV of Charlotte that moving the team, possibly to a site he owns near Fort Mill, S.C., is a "very real" possibility. Shinn didn't return a phone call Wednesday.

The news didn't sit well with some city officials.

"George Shinn is a greedy, selfish man," said Ed Peacock, the lone authority member to vote against the lease in 1986 because he thought it was too favorable to Shinn. " . . . George Shinn isn't going to get another nickel."

Peacock said he isn't surprised Shinn is trying to get a share of Coliseum parking and concessions profits. "We were expecting that," he said. "We're also expecting him to name himself as coach of the Hornets next year and to name himself the starting center."

A majority of the city authority that runs the Coliseum said it's highly unlikely they will renegotiate Shinn's lease.

Added Mayor Sue Myrick: "A deal's a deal - you're darn right. . . . For crying out loud, he's not hurting."

Spencer Stolpen, the Hornets' vice president, said Tuesday the team is reviewing a five-year option that would begin after the current lease expires in three years.

"We wish the Coliseum success and want it to continue," Stolpen said. "But we feel like the Hornets should be a part of the revenues the team generates."

The Hornets' $1-per-game lease at the Coliseum isn't the deal it appears to be, Stolpen said.

The five-year lease, now in its second year, allows the Coliseum to keep the $3-a-car parking fees and concession revenues. During eight home games in December, the facility grossed $864,809 from parking and concessions.

Thanks in large measure to Hornets games, the Coliseum rolled up $5.3 million in profits in its first 18 months. The authority had projected a profit of only $1.2 million in the first two years.

If agreement can't be reached with city officials, moving the team is an alternative, Stolpen said. Work is being finished this spring on a $12 million baseball stadium in South Carolina's York County for Shinn's minor-league Charlotte Knights. He has talked of expanding the site.

A more immediate possibility appears to be higher ticket prices next season. A consultant, Paul Bortz of Denver, is reviewing Hornets ticket prices, Stolpen said.

Hornets tickets - which average $17 this season - are now 19th highest of the 27 NBA teams.

by CNB