THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506040149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Nashville is building an 18,000-seat arena, and if an NHL or NBA team relocates there, the Tennessee city will ante up a $20 million bonus.
Meanwhile, NHL officials say Charlotte, Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Cleveland, Phoenix, Portland, Kansas City and even Salt Lake City also are considered potential expansion sites.
But not Hampton Roads. With 1.6 million residents, it is the nation's largest metropolitan area without a major sports franchise. Yet it is not even a blip on the NHL's radar.
While similar-sized areas such as Charlotte, Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., have moved into the big leagues in recent years, Southeastern Virginia is still stuck in neutral. There is no large arena here, nor any plans to build one. There is no known public or private effort to bring a franchise to Hampton Roads.
That's why the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads is studying the feasibility of building a 20,000-seat arena in Southeastern Virginia.
``We're trying to foster a debate,'' said Art Collins, executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and a member of the authority. ``I don't think this region has achieved any consensus as to whether it wants to be in the big time. . . . We've never really had a communitywide discussion on this subject.''
That's a debate area political and business leaders say they hope will occur once the $100,000 report, being funded by area cities and counties, is released in July.
Brailsford Associates of Washington recently delivered a portion of the report to the sports authority. It examined efforts in six similar metropolitan areas, including Nashville and Charlotte, to attract big-time sports and concluded that Hampton Roads ``has the market power to compete for a major league (hockey or basketball) franchise.''
Among other conclusions:
Hampton Roads lacks many of the assets needed to attract an NHL team. The area's TV market and total population don't match the needs of the NHL. However, it has most attributes - population, median income and television market size - needed for the NBA. Demographically, the area is similar to Orlando, home of the NBA's Magic.
The area's fragmented political and business structure is a major weakness in trying to attract a big-league franchise. There is no dominant central city, and the area's seven largest cities often feud.
The area's poor name recognition - few north of Richmond and south of Nags Head know that Hampton Roads isn't a highway - is a major negative.
There is not a ``major player'' in the Hampton Roads business community willing to lead the effort to bring a major sports franchise, such as George Shinn did for Charlotte.
A major corporation must weigh in as a potential owner or financing partner. Washington has USAir Arena. Chicago has the United Center. Might Hampton Roads have a Norfolk Southern Arena, Landmark Center, Anheuser-Busch Palace or Smithfield Foods Hall?
Because of the area's strong interest in country music, family shows and religious events, and its location as the largest market between Washington and Charlotte, an arena would attract up to 148 events a year. About 100 are needed to ensure the success of an arena.
There are few large corporations, which usually buy blocks of season tickets and purchase luxury boxes.
``The report confirms a lot of things we knew intuitively,'' Collins said. ``We have major strengths and we have major weaknesses.''
The final report likely will stir controversy, he said. It will discuss where to build the arena, how to finance it and whether to build before or after a franchise agrees to relocate here. The report is being composed by Brailsford and HOK Sports, the firm that constructed Harbor Park.
Collins said the toughest question will be determining how to finance and subsidize an arena. It could be built by a joint public-private venture, as is being done between Greenville, S.C., and sports entrepreneur Carl Scheer. More likely, it would be built by a regional authority with funding from area cities.
The authority might also buy Scope and the Hampton Coliseum, which would lose business to the new arena. Without those purchases, Norfolk and Hampton might oppose a new arena, Collins said.
There's also the age-old question of how to persuade citizens to pay for an arena in another city in a region where cities battle over everything from water to light rail.
``It's hard for people to visualize that a project in one city benefits everyone, that we all win,'' Collins said.
Brailsford recommended than an arena not be constructed as an end in itself but as part of an overall economic development strategy to draw high-paying jobs to Hampton Roads.
Collins said the area needs to replace white-collar jobs lost when local banks were purchased by out-of-town banks that sent many high-paying jobs to Charlotte, Richmond and Atlanta.
``You would be using sports to put a face on Hampton Roads,'' Collins said. ``If you want to be a national-class community, then you have to provide those attributes that national corporations are looking for.''
And big-time sports is one such attribute, he said. That's why Nashville, with just 1.1 million residents in its metropolitan area, is aggressively pursuing the NHL's New Jersey Devils.
``They perceive sports as a part of their strategy to attract business and tourism,'' Collins said.
``Seventy percent of the people in Hampton Roads work in industries that are stagnant or shrinking. The military is downsizing. We have to attract new businesses to have the kinds of jobs we want for our children. This isn't just about sports. It's about the kind of community we want to be.'' by CNB