The Charlotte Bobcats really want to host an upcoming NBA All-Star weekend and they made a big show out of them sending in the application (along with as many as 10 other teams.
But with that came a statement from the people making the application that the Time Warner center needs an upgrade, to the tune of $48 million.
How does $33.5 million sound? Actually more like $27.5 million now plus some maintenance money for the next decade. Is that enough?
That’s what the city can offer reports the Charlotte Observer.The city of Charlotte is prepared to spend $27.5 million in capital improvements for Time Warner Cable Arena, as well as 10 years’ worth of annual payments of $600,000 for ongoing maintenance….
The city’s proposal calls for the team to receive money for restaurant renovations, bathroom improvements, new lighting, visitor locker room upgrades, moving the ticket office and scoreboard improvements. The team would also replace a number of “tabletop” seats in its lower bowl with traditional seats, which would increase capacity by about 600 seats.
The Hornets will pitch in money, too, covering upgrades to their home locker room and suites in the building.
Is that going to be enough, or at least enough to keep Charlotte in the running for an All-Star Game? Time will tell, but the league is trying to pump up owner Michael Jordan and that market.