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Pelicans relocation a possibility
Bill Simmons: I look at a situation like New Orleans. I don't know what that team is worth in its current state. I don't know what it's worth with that. Like playing in the Smoothie King, playing in a market that clearly has not responded to basketball in the same way these other markets. And it's like if somebody bought them and just moved them to Seattle and paid everybody relocation fees and then you didn't have to split your media rights, that seems like where this is headed. And I think there’s… I'm just gonna say it: I think there's some buzz starting that way that this New Orleans thing maybe is the situation.
Bill Simmons: I don't mean to start panic on New Orleans basketball. I'm also not sure there's enough of a fan base in place to even care that much. But um that lease at the Smoothie King lease expires I think in 2029. This is an experiment that has not worked for 50-plus years in New Orleans with professional basketball. And if like if you and I owned a team and they asked us what we thought and I like well we definitely have enough players to go to 32 teams that doesn't mean we should. We're making so much money from the media rights. I'm not even sure what you could give me back that would make it worth it.
Dallas-based Smoothie King has renewed its arena naming rights contract with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. The arena will “retain its distinctive identity as the Smoothie King Center for the foreseeable future,” the Pelicans said in a statement. Neither the club nor Smoothie King released details on the length or value of the agreement. The initial agreement, reached in 2014, ran for 10 years through the current NBA season and reportedly had an estimated value approaching $40 million.
Thornton said discussions on what to do with the Smoothie King will likely heat up after the ongoing $500-million renovations to the Superdome are completed next year. “I will tell you that the Pelicans are extending their lease through 2030. We are going to take a fresh look at that building.”
The NBA is investigating another player-fan incident after video captured New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis flashing his middle finger at the crowd following a home loss to the Charlotte Hornets, a league source told Yahoo Sports. Dressed in street clothes after being ruled out with a back injury for a fourth straight game, Davis flipped the bird at a Smoothie King spectator as exited the court.
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New Orleans Pelicans Owner Tom Benson and Smoothie King Owner Wan Kim announced today a multi-year agreement reached between the Pelicans and Smoothie King to name the New Orleans Arena the “Smoothie King Center.” “Smoothie King and the NBA are a perfect fit,” said Wan Kim, CEO of Smoothie King which created the original nutritional smoothie in 1973. “Both organizations are global brands that continue to grow in status and stature. Smoothie King supports the NBA and the New Orleans Pelicans franchise, and we think this partnership reflects our joint interests in nutrition, health and athletics from an international to a local perspective.”
The New Orleans Pelicans will announce on Thursday a 10-year naming rights deal that will result in their home being called the Smoothie King Center. Financial terms of the deal with franchisor Smoothie King, which has 675 stores in the U.S., South Korea and Singapore, were not being disclosed. The company has about 75 employees working at its New Orleans headquarters.
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