I’m very disappointed this passed. Taxes continue to increase. Government continues to spend. How about NOT spending every tax dollar and SAVING for projects like this? That’s what responsible people do.

The NBA votes in April about the Sonics, Allyn, that’s why we couldn’t “save.” We don’t have time.

Also, it’s not a tax increase.

You are just another person proving that those who voted “no” are terribly misinformed.

All you people, in 5 years, when downtown is flourishing exponentially more than it is now, and we are a viable city with a pro team, will feel pretty foolish for your petty jealousy for “the millionares” that we are “helping.”

Like Jim Traber said on the radio the other day, it’s people like you that are the reason why OKC sat on it’s butt for 20 years and didn’t do anything.

I think its stupid you know. If we wanted to make the ford center look like this why not do it 5 yrs ago when we built it???? And we should be worrying about fixing up schools and gettin them new school books like the lottery is suppose to be going towards then why are schools getting a cut????Why cant we actually use the money for good? And if the “millionaires” want to help go help our kids with schools so they can actually go to decent looking schools!

Lauren,

The Ford Center was built five years ago to attract a NHL team, not a NBA team. The Ford center needs improvements. It is not even close to being on par with other NBA arenas. Oklahoma City has already gotten it’s money out of the current rendition of the Ford center. I believe that you are forgetting that the “millionares” will also being taxes to the state of Oklahoma. Many of the players will buy or build homes in the metro, spending their millions right here.

I don’t see how any reasonable person could possibly perceive this a negative for our city. To the one-third of OKC residents who voted no, I have bad news for you, after the improvements are made the Ford center. This tax will be renewed again and again. It is clear that the majority of Oklahomans are ready to let the world know what a great city we have and the we have made a commitment to the future of OKC!

Congratulations to the citizens of OKC and our thoughtful and forward looking civic and business leaders. Great Job.

It’s to bad that we continue to have some people with a sour grapes attitude when it is clear that we have such a great group of civic minded citizens here in OkC with such a forward looking attitude. We’ve passed MAPS, MAPS for Kids, the streets and roads project, and now the Big League project. We’ve cast another vote for our future and taken another step forward.

I’m 69 years old and retired now, and for significant periods of my life I have had to live and work in other aeas of the country because of lack of opportunities in Oklahoma. It is these kinds of projects that will make our community more vibrant and will help bring new opportunities to us and make it possible for many more of our children and grand children to find employment here at home.

Great Job!

Matt wrote: “The Ford Center was built five years ago to attract a NHL team, not a NBA team.” While it is true we were hoping to get an NHL expansion team (we made the list of finalists), the Ford was built to satisfy BOTH NHL & NBA standards/requirements. We made about $2 million in NBA specific in improvements/upgrades for the Hornets when they were here.

And you are probably correct, as long as they can tie the next tax increase to MAPS, it will probably pass. And as long as they don’t let a “temporary” tax actually be temporary, they will be able to claim (no matter how much they are misleading people) that it won’t be a tax increase.

Did you even read the City Ordinance (not the summation of the Ballot)? It clears states in multiple places this is an “ADDITIONAL excise tax” (sales tax). Strangely, the word “additional” didn’t appear on the ballot. Guess we didn’t want any voters confused by the truth.

Small correction, 1/3 of the the residents didn’t vote “No” (nor did 2/3 of the residents vote “Yes”). Roughly 50% of the residents of OKC aren’t even registered to vote (250,000 people). We don’t have a clue what their opinion was. Of the remaining 50% who are registered, only 30% of them bothered to vote (still a much higher turnout than normal for a local, single issue election). That means 70% of the registered voters opinions are unknown as well (which means 85% of your fellow OKC residents were silent on the issue). Roughly 425,000 people kept silent.

Ford Center was built for the minimum and this proposal would have come up even if the NBA had NO interest in coming to OKC. Plus if we were building the Ford Center today it would be closer to the plans released today. What was ok then would not be acceptable today.

Also the 85% OKC residents that were silent gave their opinion; it is that they don’t care enough to vote on the issue. If you don’t vote don’t complain. Larry, The

I did vote, and have every right to “complain” as you put it. When 85% don’t care enough, what does that tell you?

I would have felt the same way if the vote had gone the other way. Just like other “landslide” votes, where they implied the whole City was behind the School or General Obligation bond issues (that had the typical 10% or less of voter turnout). It is just misleading.

This campaign was just as mis-leading as those were “it won’t raise taxes” and it is an “extension” of the current tax. Neither are entirely truthful.

If the Ford was built for the minimum as you are saying, it was never made public (we even extended the MAPS tax for 6 months to “finish MAPS right”). If you have ANYTHING that substantiates that claim, PLEASE post it. I have not been able to find it. Every article I found indicated the opposite.

We were told repeatedly the Ford was a “first rate facility” for 4 years (even when the Hornets were here). Suddenly it went from “state of the art” to “adequate” in only a year’s time? And needs more in improvements than the entire building cost just 5 years ago? Please!

Also, one of the earliest articles said the entire $100 million was to lure an NBA team (not concerts or the Big 12 or anything else). Most of the improvements are NBA specific (team store, office space, locker rooms, TV studio etc) or designed to increase revenue for the team (luxury sky boxes, more concession area etc) Only way I see the improved bathrooms increasing revenue is if they become pay-toilets (just kidding).

If that article was correct and the subsequent articles that repeated the “lure an NBA team” line, NONE of these improvements would have been considered. So, your statement “even if the NBA had NO interest” is flawed at best.

Congratulations, Oklahoma City, on passing the sales tax continuation to get an NBA team here. As one of those who voted Yes, I’d like to say that it will be great to have a major league sports team and all the revenue it will generate for the city and its citizens.

One thing to keep in mind is this is a buyer’s market. There’s one NBA team moving and many cities around the country that would love to host it. Just like athlete salaries, what was great 5 years ago will not be so great on the offer table today. Bennett bought the franchise in the hopes of bringing the team to OKC, but he’d be stupid to if OKC had voted No on the measure and another city offered him a sweeter deal. It’s just business sense.

Guys, we are talking about a penny. The same penny that we are already spending on sales tax. Do you really think that after Dec. 31, 2008 that you will be taking home more money. I see a penny on the ground and I don’t even pick it up. It is not going to cause anyone to go broke. Matter of fact, it is quite a return to get a modern arena and quite possibly, an NBA team. And for everyone out there who is whining about the money going to millionaires, nay, billionaires – the money does not go to them. It goes to the Ford Center. They have to lease the Ford Center like any of the other events that are held there. Except now, there will be 41 dates a year (not counting pre-season games) that will already be booked up. This brings more people to our city. This brings more commerce to our city. This brings more revenue to our city. This is a good thing for OKC if we want to progress as a city. Anyone who wants to hold on to their penny, maybe you should consider moving to a rural area outside of OKC, where they aren’t quite as progressive.

Well Ive thought alot about it , I mean I guess it is good for our city but you ppl act like we have the have the worst boringest city ever. look at us were doing alright whether we have an NBA team or not look we have the blazers, sooners, cowboys ect we have awesome concerts and people coming like hannah montana came in dec and from what i heard ppl were payin up to 3000 for tickets ,rush is coming stuff like that you all act like this city is going to be downfalling if we dont have a team. I talked to a lady the other day that lives in Seattle and we were discussing this issue and whats funny that ppl dont know is they gave the coach free land and money to build their own “stadium” so that we dont have to redo ours just for them and she said they suck anyways why do we want a team who sucks from ppl who have seen them before you know I still stand behind my word of being against it but I guess if everyone is for it one person isnt going to change the decision of hundreds of ppl.

Lauren K, this is not an AOL chatroom in 1998. Please try to type full words.

And if you think OKC wasn’t boring a few years ago, and still kind of is in some ways, then you’ve obviously never been to another city.

O wrote: “…the money does not go to them. It goes to the Ford Center. They have to lease the Ford Center like any of the other events that are held there.”

Guess you missed the article in Wednesdays paper [http://newsok.com/article/3212072] where it FINALLY talked about the “Sole Master Tenant” lease (where the team gets ALL of the revenue form ALL of the events–not just the 41 NBA games–money the City is currently getting will now be going to the team).. It also mentioned the “sweetheart” lease (very minimal amount) the owners will be paying in rent:
_______________
How will the lease be structured?

Most NBA teams typically receive control over revenue streams such as concessions, merchandising, ticket sales, personal seat licenses, suite licenses and naming rights. The team likely will receive similar benefits with the only question being how much the city will share in the revenue profits. It’s likely the team will have to pay rent on their lease.

When will lease negotiations begin?

Very soon. With the NBA set to vote on the move next month, both Oklahoma City officials and the team owners likely want a deal hammered out before the NBA’s Board of Governors convene April 17-18 to consider the relocation application. A lease agreement, especially a sweetheart deal, could prove to the NBA that Oklahoma City has bought into the league’s business model and is worth of becoming an NBA city.
_______________

Bennett is expecting all of the above and has said as much in previous articles…he has also said City leaders are very likely to give the team a “favorable” (to the team of course) lease because they understand the teams needs. The NBA isn’t big on sharing, that is why they insisted on a new $500 million arena and a new lease in Seattle (that lease requires the team to share the revenue with the city).

Since the money for the improvements didn’t have to come out of Bennetts pockets, the sales tax money might as well be. The article also pointed out the team will most likely be getting the Naming Rights revenue (approx $90 million). People have argued on the forums that there isn’t any reason for the teams owners to pay for improvements to a building they don’t own, so why does a team deserve even one cent of the Naming Rights money? Can’t have it both ways folks, if they get the money from something they don’t own they can pay for the improvements to something they don’t own.

Larry, I would be interested to find out where you read about the “Sole Master Tenant” lease. You say that it gives the NBA team “…ALL of the revenue form ALL of the events–not just the 41 NBA games…”, however I didn’t get that from the article that you cited. In the article it only says “Most NBA teams typically receive control over revenue streams such as concessions, merchandising, ticket sales, personal seat licenses, suite licenses and naming rights..” I don’t interpret that as saying that the team gets all of the revenue for all events. I can see them having claim to all of the revenues from tickets, merchandise, concessions, etc. for NBA games, but I don’t see how they have any claim to revenues from a Hannah Montana concert or Blazers games. I am not saying that you are wrong, but I would like to see documentation stating that the NBA team will have exclusive rights to moneys generated by other events.

Larry is correct.

This is part of the new NBA business model. Ford Center has to be remodeled not because it isn’t good enough to watch a basketball game in but because it didn’t have all the extra revenue sources that the NBA wants. They want all of these sources to go to them and want to share litle, if any, with those that pay the taxes.

Clay Bennett was in a rush to get the OKC voters to approve this deal so there wasn’t time for them to get educated about what this really means to them.

This is a classic case of “be careful what you wish for”. In your rush to steal Seattle’s NBA team you are buying yourself an open ended taxpayer subsidy for Bennett and his boys.

You have already seen it start. The Arena remodel is not enough, now the state has to give him tax breaks. There will be more subsidies as his costs to relocate skyrocket. If you recall the news story when he briefed Sonics employees about all the things OKC was going to do for him it included:

- Remodeling Ford Center
- Building a practice facility
- Paying his relocation costs (the fee to the other owners will be huge)
- A brand new state of the art Events Center like he asked for in Seattle in a decade or so.
- All the revenues from the complex.

Plus the lease is being written to set a high benchmark from the first two seasons the team having a “honeymoon” with fans where you will fill the place up, then he gets to opt out when attendance naturally drops after people get used to having an NBA team. He will use this opt out to force you to build the new events center and if he doesn’t get it he will sell the team to someone who will move it to Kansas City, San Jose, or another city just like OKC that wasn’t smart enough to figure out how the game is being played.

The worst part of all this is that you have been forced to pay the price up front and may never get a team. Getting 16 of 30 owners to allow relocating a team from a #12 market to a #50 market is going to be difficult especially now that Seattle has one of the richest people in the world stepping up to keep the team there.

Beware of what you wish for is so true. Having grown up in OKC and now living in Nashville for the last twenty years, I remember 10 years ago when we got the NHL here. Yes, the NBA courted Nashville also, but growing up a former Blazer fan I’m so glad we got hockey here instead. Terry Crisp is one of the radio color commentators that I remember watching when he was a Blazer. Although hockey in the south as some snooty Canadians have perceived doesn’t work, I think it does. The Dallas/Nashville rivalry is priceless.

It still is a struggle as recently the team owner sold because He couldn’t get into the local big money support since He lived out of state and couldn’t break into the local money clique. Luckily a local group, with some outside ownership, has taken over. But the big clause is ticket sales. If Nashville doesn’t meet the requirements, they lose money from the NHL and the risk of losing the team with an out clause for low ticket sales.

The economy in Nashville is definitely more diversified than OKC. So, even if you get the franchise, if you don’t keep the ticket sales up for years to come kiss the Sonics good-bye. I’m also glad the arena is no longer called the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Yes the Same Gaylord. Good Luck OKC.

Amoxicillin….

Amoxicillin on-line prescription. Amoxicillin. Amoxicillin dosage. Amoxicillin trial strep pharyngitis….

Its a cat-and-mouse game. Eventually, it could lead to Big Gs dethroning.