THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994 TAG: 9406240639
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940624 LENGTH: Medium
The TV market is here. So, too, is the population, the income factor, and the thirst.
{REST} So why hasn't some major league tossed a ball or shot a puck our way?
The reason is simple:
Money.
Hampton Roads doesn't have anyone who can afford a major-league franchise who is interested in acquiring one.
``The missing ingredient,'' says former Norfolk Mayor Joseph A. Leafe.
``We just haven't had that entrepreneur with deep pockets, with the desire to go out and obtain a franchise for this area.''
Of course, the region doesn't have an adequate stadium to house a major-league football or baseball franchise, or an adequate arena to accommodate a major-league hockey or basketball franchise.
But political and civic leaders agree that finding a deep-pocketed sports enthusiast would solve that problem.
``We could get the facility, we could get the franchise, if we had an 800-pound gorilla come in and say, `We've got the money. Let's make it work,' '' contends Greg Wingfield, the executive director for Forward Hampton Roads.
The problem is not new.
Norfolk City Manager Jim Oliver remembers when the region lost its only previous major-league franchise, pro basketball's Squires, in 1976 because of the same problem.
``I had a sort of inside view at a very young and inexperienced level, and I saw the then-city manager try to be a part of holding that team together,'' Oliver recalls.
The team died because no one stepped forward to plunk down a couple million dollars.
No one has stepped forward in the last 18 years, either, as the price of an NBA franchise increased to more than $125 million.
``You can count on your fingers the people in this area who could take on that sort of financial involvement,'' Oliver says, ``and none of those people have ever demonstrated that kind of interest in sports.''
Brad Face, as a member of Future of Hampton Roads, has been involved for several years in attempting to bring major-league sports to the region.
He says if a ``modern-day Howard Hughes'' appeared overnight and reached into his pockets, the region would quickly come together to welcome a big-league franchise.
``There are big-money people all over the country who are interested in owning major-league franchises for one reason or another,'' says Norfolk Tides president Ken Young, an outsider himself.
``It would be ideal to have local owners because there would be a reasonable chance they would keep the franchise here. But if that isn't the case, I think the money people could be attracted to this area.''
Others, though, say there is enough local money available to attract a major-league franchise. Maybe not in one deep pocket, but a lot of them.
``You can count on one finger (actually two - Norfolk Southern and Smithfield Foods) the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters in Hampton Roads,'' says former Virginia Beach mayor Harold Heischober.
``But while we may not have individuals in the area who by themselves have that big money, we do have some with the ability to attract a lot of big money.
``I think we have the financial wherewithal to do it on the private side if we could get the public side in place.''
Norfolk City Councilman Paul D. Fraim believes the best opportunity to obtain a major-league franchise is for one to move here from another city.
``It is going to be easier for us to position ourselves for a franchise that wants to move, as opposed to getting into a bidding war for a new franchise,'' Fraim says.
``We don't have the corporate support here for a new team, and we don't have someone like (Charlotte NBA owner) George Shinn.
``But for a franchise that wants to move to a better city, we probably look good.''
{KEYWORDS} MAJOR LEAGUES FRANCHISES
by CNB