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Referring to the arena, Malcolm Graham, the councilman who heads the economic development committee, told CBJ, “The Hornets are responsible for day-to-day management (of the arena) but it’s owned by the citizens of Charlotte. We need to make sure if and when there’s an opportunity to host an event, there’s some flexibility on the part of management.” Graham and other council members expressed similar concerns during a committee meeting this month about ensuring community use of the planned new practice center, too.
James Jordan, the Hornets’ chief operating officer and interim president, told CBJ, “It’s really two things: Trying to maintain the facility and trying to figure out how we become a top organization. We’re doing both. I think a lot of the ideas that came out today, we can do most of those ideas.” The latter part of his statement referred to community use, particularly at the practice center. A team spokesperson told CBJ today that no specific ideas or uses have been explored because the Hornets are still in the early stages of planning.
Charlotte continues to rank among the top five in the 30-team NBA for new season-ticket sales this summer and, during the past week, saw a spike in demand with the start of single-game ticket sales. NBA teams released their 2021-22 schedules late last week. On Aug. 21, the Hornets held a priority pre-sale for single-game tickets and set a franchise record for tickets sold and revenue. The following day, individual tickets went on sale to the public. And, while those sales did not break records, they did trend higher than in recent years. “We think that’s an indication that our fan base is excited,” Hornets President Fred Whitfield told CBJ during an interview this week.
“When we really started to see a lot of energy is when we rebranded from the Bobcats to the Hornets,” team President Fred Whitfield told CBJ. “Clearly, with the excitement around us bringing that brand back and the colors and all the history, we started to see some growth in that area.”
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Of course, not every team employee will get the same, diamond crusted ring that's going to rest on the fingers of James, and Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, but ticket takers, seat ushers, security guards, Cleveland police officers, and all who work behind the scenes at Cavs home games will be able to say they won a ring. And they'll have proof. The same goes for rings commemorating the Lake Erie Monsters' AHL Calder Cup victory from last season. Virtually all employees involved with Monsters' operations, including some who work for the Columbus Blue Jackets (the Monsters' NHL affiliate) will get rings.
The Seattle Mariners topped the list with a 51.4-percent decline. The other teams on the list are the Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Dallas Stars, Oakland A's, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Columbus Blue Jackets and Miami Dolphins. Entering Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Pistons ranked last in the 30-team NBA with an average attendance of 12,488.
Mary Schmitt Boyer/Tom Reed: John Michael will continue on #CBJ telecasts until the #NBA lockout is resolved.
The Grizzlies have a ways to go in order to become an elite NBA team on the court. But Eric Granger believes he's joining the best facility in the league. Granger was named vice president of arena operations for FedExForum on Monday when he officially succeeded Steve Zito as the supervisor of event booking, facility operations, guest services and facility contractors. "Over the past five years FedExForum has come to be known as a leader in the industry, both in terms of building operations and quality of events, and together, we will continue to surpass these expectations for the people of the Mid-South moving forward," said Granger, a South Alabama alum who spent the past several years working in Nationwide Arena (home to the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets) and the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center; and in Mobile, Ala., for the Mobile Civic Center, the Civic Center Theatre and the Mobile Convention Center.
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