Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

[Bball]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

I was listening to the Eddie White show (reliable source?) and he mentioned that there are many NBA teams bleeding money (true) and that 20 of them were for sale. That number sounds like an exaggeration, but you do wonder who will be willing to shell out a lot of money for the Pacers and move them to another city with the current economic climate and upcoming labor rift.
.

That's one way to look at it... The other way is that it could be a buyer's market not only with teams available at lower dollars than expected but with cities aglow with the idea that an NBA franchise is just the type of economic development to get their own local economy out of the doldrums. ...Which means more corporate welfare as they offer better and better deals to owners (or potential owners) to lure a team....

[Gamble1]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

Well the $2 user fee would be for all CIB properties and events taking place there. The idea would be to pay for these shortfalls in accounting, and also hopefully build up a rainy day fund. $2 is really an arbitrary number though. I'm just saying there needs to be a user fee. Then it falls under something like a sin tax, you aren't paying it unless you use it.

And your misconceptions are that the city would just subsidize the Pacers and pay their light bill. Who pays the light bill when the rodeo is in town? Or the Circus? Right now its the Pacers. They just don't want that burden anymore. Part of unloading that will most likely mean paying some money to CIB every year to cover their costs too.

So you are telling me that Simon doesn't get a cut for bringing those events here?

This sort of contradicts what Donnie Walsh said when they formed PS&E.

“We built this company with the Indiana Pacers franchise as our foundation,” said Donnie Walsh, PS&E’s Chief Executive Officer and President. “Now we have diversified into additional sports and entertainment areas that are helping to fuel our growth by providing year-round revenue generating events.”

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/about_pse.html

I have a hard time believing that the owners are just turning on the lights free of charge.

Bball is right. If you have a user tax this will have negative affect on ticket sales and you can bet that Simon doesn't want a user tax.

[Bball]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

I have a hard time believing that the owners are just turning on the lights free of charge.

I was under the impression PS&E paid 1 dollar for the Conseco lease and paid operating expenses and EVERYTHING it generated went into PS&E's coffers. So when the big concert comes to town, whatever the venue's cut is is what PS&E makes. The CIB sees none of it. For all intents and purposes I thought PS&E were leased this building to do with what they wanted.

Of course having White River Park, Deer Verizon Creek, and Lucas Oil Stadium siphoning off events might not help Conseco attract events but when you're only paying a dollar for use of the building for every year you'd think you could make yourself attractive enough for enough events to keep the lights on.

[Gamble1]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

I was under the impression PS&E paid 1 dollar for the Conseco lease and paid operating expenses and EVERYTHING it generated went into PS&E's coffers. So when the big concert comes to town, whatever the venue's cut is is what PS&E makes. The CIB sees none of it. For all intents and purposes I thought PS&E were leased this building to do with what they wanted.

Of course having White River Park, Deer Verizon Creek, and Lucas Oil Stadium siphoning off events might not help Conseco attract events but when you're only paying a dollar for use of the building for every year you'd think you could make yourself attractive enough for enough events to keep the lights on.

This was my impression as well. When you break down the numbers the Pacers and the Fever use the building 16% of the year not including the playoffs. Looking at the remaining events at the Fieldhouse is where you see the problem. I counted 11 listed on the website from now to August. Nothing is listed beyond that.

You might be on to something. They may just not be able to fill the place up because of the venue competition.

[Pacers]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100414/SPORTS04/4140332/Pacers-would-consider-moving-if-deal-isn-t-struck

On Tuesday, Pacers Sports & Entertainment President Jim Morris said if a deal isn't inked by June 30, Simon would have to start searching for other solutions, and nothing would be off the table.

"We've been having conversations with the Ballard administration for two years," Morris said, "and we're now at the point where we need to wrap this up in the next 30, 40 days."


If that doesn't happen, he said, "Herb would have to look at all of his options."


Including moving the team?


"Herb would look at all of his options," Morris repeated.

[Unclebuck]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

I think this quote from Jim Morris sums it up the best. So whether you love or hate basketball, you should want the Pacers to stay

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100414/SPORTS04/4140332/

Pacers-would-consider-moving-if-deal-isn-t-struck
NBA team wants city to pick up $15M tab to run Conseco
By Bill Ruthhart
Posted: April 14, 2010

"The fact of the matter is, if we weren't here, the lost tax revenue the city and the state would experience, together with the expense of running an empty building, would far exceed the cost of paying for the operation of the building while we're here," Morris said.

[Speed]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

The gaunlet has been thrown down, deadline set. This could be a major moment for this city to make a decision about the future. The harshness of it all seems sudden, but it sounds like it has been building to this for awhile. I wonder if the Pacers get this concession if thats the end of it for awhile or are there other things that need to be taken care of. I guess the whole thing about the building needing upgraded needs addressed as well. I just wonder if the 15 million is the end of it or the beginning.

[Putnam]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

The gaunlet has been thrown down, deadline set. This could be a major moment for this city to make a decision about the future. The harshness of it all seems sudden, but it sounds like it has been building to this for awhile. I wonder if the Pacers get this concession if that's the end of it for awhile or are there other things that need to be taken care of. I guess the whole thing about the building needing upgraded needs addressed as well. I just wonder if the 15 million is the end of it or the beginning.

It's never the end.


This really is a tough situation. Mayor Ballard was elected out of nowhere because of revolt against a Peterson tax increase. Ballard came in and accomplished the one thing on his agenda (consolidate police and sheriff) and now he has to deal with some really tough decisions.

The Conseco Fieldhouse deal was done by Peterson, and you can imagine Ballard's advisors shaking their heads and wondering why it was done that way. But there's no room for shadenfreude. Ballard has to deal with it somehow. And he has to deal with it at a time when his municipal responsibilities are looking bleak for the rest of his administration.

[graphic-er]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

This new deadline means nothing but the end and beginning of the Pacers Fiscal year. I'm pretty sure this deal is bigger than that.

[duke dynamite]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

I think this quote from Jim Morris sums it up the best. So whether you love or hate basketball, you should want the Pacers to stay

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100414/SPORTS04/4140332/

Pacers-would-consider-moving-if-deal-isn-t-struck
NBA team wants city to pick up $15M tab to run Conseco
By Bill Ruthhart
Posted: April 14, 2010

And that is true. I just hope the general public feels the same way, too.

[duke dynamite]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

And as always, the comments on today's article in the Star just go to show you how much those idiots want the team here, and still for some stupid reason feel that they are a team full of "thugs".

[graphic-er]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

And as always, the comments on today's article in the Star just go to show you how much those idiots want the team here, and still for some stupid reason feel that they are a team full of "thugs".

Yes I truly can not fathom how many idiots reside in Central Indiana. I feel like a genius most of the time.

[duke dynamite]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

Yes I truly can not fathom how many idiots reside in Central Indiana. I feel like a genius most of the time.

Well to the credit of most of those idiots, there are idiots in other cities, too.

[duke dynamite]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

You can tell that most of those people are for the flavor of the month, too. Some person said, "They should have the same values and heart as Butler."

[Putnam]

Re: Pacers face uncertain future at Conseco Fieldhouse

Yes, Duke. Ruthhart is a general/business writer and he presents it as Pacers-asking-for-handout. Wells (or Kravitz?) knows better and wouldn't have written it that way probably, but the understanding hasn't spread very far at all down the hall among the Star staff, let alone the public. We can't be sure who wrote the even more pointed headline and subheads, but they show a really pi55y attitude toward the Pacers.


I have argued in other threads that the Pacers role in the community is exaggerated. And this issue here proves my point.

Asking a relatively minor private business to manage municipal affairs for the city is not responsible or smart on either side. Imagine the city telling the corner hotdog vendors that in addition to selling a few dozen dogs a day to the lunch crowd, they also have to keep the downtown streets paved. Imagine the vendors saying OK to it. Several years later, we'd all be complaining that the streets were crumbling, the vendors would cry that people weren't buying enough brats, and the city would be saying it didn't have the budget to "take over" this "new" expense.