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Thread Sports Management, an NBA player representation firm owned by veteran agent Bernie Lee, has merged into Quartexx Group, a firm that is owned by Lino Saputo Jr., one of the richest people in Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed. But the basketball player practice will now be known as Quartexx Basketball. Quartexx Group is based in Montreal and is the parent of Quartexx Hockey, which represents many top NHL players, including Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, Coyotes wing Taylor Hall, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Maple Leafs wing Mitch Marner and Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Chase Hughes: Longest division title droughts by sport: NBA - Wizards - 38 years NHL - Oilers - 30 years NFL - Browns - 28 years MLB - Pirates - 25 years
That is not the case in the NBA. Nor is there an obvious city that would make sense for expansion, as there was when the NFL made Houston -- which lost the Oilers to Tennessee in 1997 -- its 32nd team, in 2002. Even if there were, the Commish and Deputy Commish Adam Silver made it clear at All-Star weekend that expansion was not going to be a panacea for the Sacramento-Seattle dilemma. "I don't think the NBA wants a 31st team right now," a person with longstanding familiarity of the league noted over the weekend. "That's the problem. I suppose you could add another team. It confuses the schedule, but it's not that big a deal. But I don't sense there's any appetite for another team right now."
There are some clues on that last facet in the report. ICON/Taylor used five arenas as the basis of the Sacramento model: AT&T Center in San Antonio, Sprint Center in Kansas City, Amway Center in Orlando, FedEx Forum in Memphis and a complex under development in Edmonton, Alberta, for the NHL's Oilers. According to the report, all of these arenas used hotel and car rental fees, arena use sales tax, and (in Edmonton's case) a provincial tax to fund construction. The report also highlights the benefits of the entertainment and sports complex to the city and region: a project $556 million cash infusion to the region during construction and $25 million annually during operation of the building; $2.3 million in new local municipal revenue (aka, tax rolls bonus) during construction and $770,000 annually during operation. This is billed as one hell of a local stimulus project.
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