Where do I Stand?
- Lack of a passionate devoted ownership that does not treat this franchise as just another business with the profitability placed ahead of all other considerations.
- Lack of a modern serviceable arena as the home for the franchise to attract spectators and make it more profitable for the ownership, as there is nothing wrong with profitability while entertaining.
These two problems are interlinked in a complex manner details of which are beyond the patience of this narrative. The point to underscore, however, is that in order to keep the team in town, whether held by current ownership or a new owner, and in order to make construction of the new arena a reality, Magic has to be successful on the basketball court. The current ownership does not recognize such necessisity, thus is not prepared to make bold investments to realize the objective. These investments may require, amongst other considerations, the courage to overlook the salary cap issues for a year or two, and to invest on the essentials of success such as hiring a high profile coach and having a decent medical staff on the payroll.
The Ownership and the Management, which could not be separated, have made enormous mistakes in the last few years. The last string was the attempts of an arrogant GM with little or no experience in NBA to disassemble the team and ship out an All-Star guard whom could not be brought about to give his unconditional support to the GM.
As it stands, the fans with real attachment to the city are left with nothing but to hope and pray that the team would be successful. Such aspirations are dimming out due to team’s inconsistencies caused by injuries and the lack of a strong charismatic coach to whom the players would give in nights in and nights out. This trend is jeopardizing the prospect of the team remaining in town as the ownership may insist on the construction of a new arena (or move to wherever such concession is granted) for which the public support is non-existent given the uninspiring performance of the team.
posted by Matt @ 4:23 PM
6 Comments:
At 10:46 AM,
Matt said…
In response to Tragic Fan’s comment, we need to establish first whether or not we want to keep the Magic in town. If the answer is affirmative, then the new arena issue comes in play because the profitability issue is in the center of any successful venture. It may not be this ownership or this management but the arena is the focal point, regardless. There are cities who build hoping somebody will come. Do they know anything about attendance in advance? Attendance is a variable that could change quickly.
At 1:39 PM,
Matt said…
I have reflected my views on Sentinel blog although not in an expansive manner. We should never loose the sight of the main objective being to keep the team in town. The arena’s issue is the least of all complicated matters, and there is a host of ways to address it, as I have outlined below:
1. It could be financed by a small tax on tourists’ revenue. This option imposes no burden on the local community.
2. It could be financed by a mixture of public and private funding. The public funding portion could again come from a small tourists’ tax.
3. It could be financed by full private funding. This could come from the ownership of the Magic or from private investors who would then lease it to the franchise.
Regardless, when the arena is built, it would be an asset of the community. If financed by public funding it would be an asset owned by the city or the county and leased to the third party operators like many other assets of the kind, and if financed by private investors or a mixture thereof, still remains a fixed asset that could not be taken away from the community. Now if in the process, the current ownership gains some profit undeservedly, so be it.
The best scenario would be that the current ownership decides to sell when their expected price is met. This scenario depends largely on the success of the team on the basketball court. The worst scenario would be for the current ownership to move the team to a different location. This franchise did not come about without the hard work of some dedicated individuals, and if lost, the substitution could not be easily brought about.
At 4:05 PM,
Mike said…
Magic has one of the worst home records in the league. Is it possible that that can be a reason for low attendence? Hmmm. People came when we where winning games and if we start winning again people will come regardless of a new arena or not.
I've been a Magic fan since Shaq broke his first rim and the reason why I've stayed a fan is because the ownership has really done a lot more for Orlando the any other NBA team has done for their respective cities. The Magic has contributed so much to the City that if they leave we will see the negative effects in a big way.
Even if they move to another town I'll still be a fan because I've invested so much time, emotions, and money, it wouldn't feel right going to another team. But right now I can no longer ignore the major errors that they are doing. Something has to turn around soon.
I believe that with Dick Devoe giving up power to his kids, things will change for the better starting next season.
At 5:03 PM,
Matt said…
Welcome to the blog Mike. There is no doubt that the Magic has contributed a lot to the community, part of which is due to Dick Devos's deep rooted religious beliefs. However, there is a consensus amongst neutral observers that the franchise has been mismanaged due to a shortsighted corporate mentality that placed the profit ahead of all other considerations. The recent goof ups have actually magnified the problems. What we are facing here is a classic example of egg or chicken. The arena is not going to fill up if the team is not winning, and the team will not win if proper investments are not made. The ownership argues that in order for them to make required investments they need established tools, part of which would be a new or renovated arena that allows extra revenue. It is true that the ticket sale is only a portion of the revenue and there are many more ways of generating revenue if a modern arena is built. However, one may argue that how could the community commit to constructing a new arena for an ownership that has shown little professionalism and virtually little or no enthusiasm in building an inspiring team. All they have done in the last few years are pointing to cutting costs rather than using capital to achieve improvements. What I am advocating is that the construction of an arena has nothing to do with this ownership, and it is rather a long-term investment by the city or the county for a potential third party tenant.
At 6:22 PM,
Matt said…
Tragic Fan, we are not in disagreement as much as we are in agreement with each other. My question to you is: Why limit the funding to the current ownership if a different venture keeps the team in town? I am not in Dick Devos's head of what inspires him, but for whatever reason, he wishes to be a tenant rather than a landlord. It is not uncommon for corporations to take either route, nowadays, depending on their own philisophy of investment opportunities.
At 9:53 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Towns build arenas to either attract a new franchise, or to keep an attractive franchise. No matter how they try to spin it, the Devos family equates to uninterested multi-millionaire out-of-staters. When they do try, they wind up imitating clods.
While I can't prove it, I suspect that Orlando would be playing in one of the 3 or 4 best arenas in the league if Shaq had been resigned. Florida is a fast growing place and has managed to build many great facilities in the last decade with general funds, sales taxes, rental car taxes and other clever ploys. Orlando would do the same, but there is no movement pushing for it.
Instead we wait for Grant Hills 7 year contract to expire while threats of Kansas City are in the air.
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