By Andy M. Drury, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
May 9--A group of City Council members deadlocked Tuesday about whether to bring a minor league basketball team to Macon.
Mayor Jack Ellis and the National Basketball Development League presented a renegotiated contract, but questions continue to swirl around the proposed deal. During a joint session of the Appropriations and Public Properties committees, a vote to endorse the new document ended in a tie.
Council members Ed DeFore, Henry Ficklin and Alveno Ross voted to support the contract, and Dick Dickey, Jim Lee and Filomena Mullis opposed it. Two members --- Elaine Lucas and Brenda Youmas --- declined to vote.
'I know we have to make a timely decision, but I don't want to rush on it,' said Lucas, who questioned whether Macon sports fans could support a fourth team. Already, the city is home to Macon Braves baseball, Macon Whoopee hockey and Macon Knights arena football.
'My concern is about saturation,' she said. 'If we did not have the other three teams operating here, in some cases operating marginally, I would say, 'vote for it right now.' '
The two committees will reconvene Monday to consider the basketball contract again, one day before it could go before the full City Council for final approval.
Next week's meetings are considered critical for the deal.
Rob Levine, a senior vice president with the NBA, said Tuesday that time is running out.
'There are a number of other cities interested,' Levine said. 'We need to make a decision on Macon within the next week.'
So far, five cities have signed deals to bring the NBDL to their arenas: Fayetteville, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Mobile, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; and most recently Roanoke, Va., which approved the deal Monday night.
The contract was received poorly by the council when it was first presented three weeks ago. That contract called for the city to pay a $250,000 franchise fee during a five-year period, pay for any necessary capital improvements, and share nearly every other revenue associated with the business.
In return, the league and its partner, entertainment promoter SFX Entertainment, would guarantee the city 26 basketball games and 20 other events. The partners, collectively known as Arena Ventures, would pay the city $4,000 to cover staffing costs at games and up to $6,000 for SFX events.
Tuesday, council members received the updated version of the contract only five minutes before the start of the meeting.
Ellis said there are two major changes:
--Instead of a $250,000 franchise fee divided over five years, the expense would depend on how much Macon earns each year from the agreement with Arena Ventures up to $50,000. For example, if Macon earned $45,000 during the first year of the contract, the city would only pay that amount, not the entire $50,000.
--The original 4,500 average attendance requirements for basketball games and SFX events have been lowered to 3,500. The figure represents the minimum required attendance to prevent Arena Ventures from breaking the five-year contract after the first three years.
Levine spent time Tuesday allaying fears about the contract that have surfaced in recent weeks, including scheduling conflicts with conventions, loss of hotel revenue and the perception that the NBDL would compete with other Macon sports teams.
'Our competition isn't a hockey team or arena football team,' Levine said. 'All of us have a common enemy --- movies, restaurants and couch potatoes.'
Addressing scheduling concerns, Levine said the basketball team would be 'second fiddle' to the Macon Whoopee and conventions for rights to the Macon Coliseum.
The local economy would grow if a basketball agreement is passed, Levine said, pointing out that NBDL staff would rent 1,600 hotel rooms annually.
'We think we're part of the solution by growing the pie,' Levine said. 'We can also pledge to you we won't block any major conventions.'
But Councilman Charles Dudley, who is not a committee member but attended Tuesday's meeting, said he was concerned about the kind of entertainment SFX could bring to Macon.
A recent Widespread Panic concert, brought to town by SFX Entertainment and which drew crowds estimated near 10,000, was rife with drug and alcohol use, Dudley said.
'The police personally told me it was out of control,' Dudley said. 'There were numerous arrests, and we're not talking about marijuana. We're talking about cocaine and that type of drugs.'
Ellis, who said he attended the concert, said he never saw 'blatant violations of the law.'
'It was one of the most successful events we've had,' Ellis said. 'It was something like I've never seen before, a throwback to the Grateful Dead. ... I'm glad they were here. It was a boon to us and helped our bottom line.'
Dudley said the city should 'know what's coming' with the contract.
'It will affect the reputation of this city,' he said.
Council President Anita Ponder said she isn't ready to give the contract her blessing.
'What I'm wrestling with is, we've made a commitment to some other teams in this city, and I just want to make sure we don't stretch ourselves thin and fail to live up to those commitments to other teams,' she said.
'I want to support it, but I need to have some comfort level with respect to how it impacts the existing teams,' Ponder said. 'But do I think it's a good contract? The answer is yes.'
CONTRACT CHANGES: Macon Mayor Jack Ellis said there are two major changes in the NBDL proposal:
Instead of a $250,000 franchise fee divided over five years, the expense would depend on how much Macon earns each year from the agreement with Arena Ventures up to $50,000.
The original 4,500 average attendance requirements for basketball games and SFX events have been lowered to 3,500. The figure represents the minimum required attendance to prevent Arena Ventures from breaking the five-year contract after the first three years.
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(c) 2001, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
