The cityâ??s Capital Improvement Board, which owns Conseco Fieldhouse, is still trying to figure out what to do about the
Indiana Pacers' request for financial aid to the tune of $15 million for the upcoming year.
The money is not allocated in the CIB budget approved by the City-County Council earlier this month, but the issue is not dead yet.
â??Weâ??re dealing with things one at a time,â?? said CIB member Pat Early, who has been the point person in dealing with the Pacers. â??To say absolutely, positively, the Pacers are on their own is not an accurate statement. As we work through this, we are hopeful we can be creative.â??
Iâ??m not sure what â??be creativeâ?? means, and Iâ??m not sure Early does either. But Early added that thereâ??s no thought that the financial problems facing the small market Pacers â??will simply go away.â??
â??The Pacers are desperate to seek solutions to get themselves closer to break even,â?? Early said. â??Weâ??re not closing the door on anything.â??
Early gave no indication where the funds would come from, but he did say the possibility of the Pacersâ?? folding or moving if this situation isnâ??t eventually addressed is a real one. He said the teamâ??s ownership has not made any threats or comments about moving or folding the franchise, but the teamâ??s financial challenges dictate city leaders consider that possibility.
â??Then we still have all the costs associated with owning and operating that facility and no one left to occupy or operate it,â?? Early said.
Forbes magazine estimated the Pacers lost $6.5 million last year, $1 million in 2007, and $12 million in 2006, but Pacers officials have said their losses are far greater than that, with financial losses coming in nine of 10 years at Conseco Fieldhouse.
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Don't get me wrong I'm a strong fan of both the Pacers and the Colts but some of the stunts they pull are absolutely ridiculous! The Pacers get all the proceeds from ticket sales and parking in that area. Not only that but, the Simon's are making hoards of cash despite this recession. Instead of using some of the cashflow to help finance THEIR team. We do need both the Colts and Pacers for a healthy city but we do NOT need them to leech the blood out of the city coffers.
Releasing partial and unaudited financials to a few friendly insiders, who are forced to sign non disclosure agreements, is NOT enough to convince anyone with ANY brains to believe this fairy tale that the Simons are not making money on their Pacers entertainment enterprise.
Public disclosure of audited financial statements from the Pacers and all other related entertainment companies along with legal affidavits from the team owners, accountants, auditors, and bankers would be a good start to legitimacy and creditability.
Anything less should be disregarded as fantasy and possibly a crime.
After receiving a huge CIB taxpayer bailout, which covered Pat Early's earlier approval of a completely one sided Colts contract and a series of disastrous financial hedges, he wants to break the Pacer's contract 10 years early, so he can pick up an additional $15 million a year of Pacers expenses through an insolvent CIB to match the public subsidy parity of the Colts?
Most accountants get fired for much less cause.
The Pacers' issues wouldn't be such a big deal if:
1. they were winning
2. the city/state had money to OPERATE Lucas Oil Stadium
Remember, the Pacers are just excersing their option to re-negotiate their lease...something they have the right to do per the agreement signed 10 years ago! Has anyone looked into the re-negotiating option in the Colts/Lucas Oil Stadium deal?
And remember, the Herb and Mel Simon OWN the team. Simon Property Group does not, so you can't equate revenue that Simon Property Group generates with what Herb/Mel have. Don't get me wrong, I know they are billionaires, but the two entities do not go hand-in-hand. It's simply owning two different companies.
1. The Pacers are very involved with the community and youth. If you don't know that you are not paying attention.
2. The idea that people don't know the team is ludicrous. It was not that many years ago that the team was #1 in Indy. Larry is working dilligently to get them back to their former lofty status.
3. You can't demand because you think it should be so. The Pacers are a private enterprise and the city negotiated for their deal in good faith.
4. The team and the city are trying to find common ground for a workable solution. There is no leaching attempted or going on. To suggest such a thing shows ignorance.
No one said they were going to close Lucas Oil. How absurd to even post that! The Peterson administration gave up a lot, but don't forget that their full revenue stream won't be realized until the convention center is completed and until the economy rebounds. These are factors that had significant impact on where the problem lies. The recession wasn't taken into account at all. Remember that.
Let's look for calm, intelligent thoughts into the long-term solution that is favorable to all parties. Stop defaming the Pacers. They have and will continue to mean a lot to the city.
The Pacers are just adding insult to injury by demanding taxpayers take over there operating costs like the Colts.
Neither team is showing any gestures of public goodwill to resolve this mess.
Seems pretty fishy considering so many people are questioning the accuracy of the CIB books, that the current checks and balances are dropped leaving only the State Board of Accounts, which has failed to read the Independent Financial Audit and Red Flag huge problems for over 17 years, to check CIB's books.
Bring Back The Professional Independent Financial Audit With State Board of Accounts Review!!!!!
However, he is very smart, and outwitting Mayor Dullard will be a walk in the park for him. :lol:
The Pacers current lease does not give them the right to renegotiate.
http://bit.ly/12t2vL
Another misconception is that the fieldhouse contract gives the team the right to renegotiate its lease after 10 years—it actually gives the team the right to cancel the lease after the first 10 years if it doesn’t reach certain profitability targets. Voiding the lease, though, would cost the team dearly. It would be obligated to pay CIB a termination fee “based on a formula sufficient to reimburse the city for the economic effects of such early termination,” the contract says. The minimum penalty is $50 million, but the contract says the Pacers’ cost for terminating the lease in 2012 could be as high as $144 million.
If they threaten to move, where would they go?
http://bit.ly/12mfQ9
It’s laughable to think there are other markets waiting with open arms and sweeter deals for beleagured teams. We all see how that is working out in Oklahoma.
The Pacers financial situation is more of a league issue than a city issue, as more than half of NBA teams are losing money.
http://bit.ly/38ZkWo
Saying that less than half the teams in the league made a profit last season, Stern spoke at length Tuesday about the financial difficulties facing the league's 30 franchises
The NBA has actually offered some assistance to their struggling teams but he Pacers turned it down.
http://bit.ly/CtUjX
12 of the league's 30 franchises plan to borrow between $13 million and $20 million a piece.
As the Pacers seek ways to cut their losses, have they considered how much they are losing each season on the Fever? Could letting the Fever go save several million dollars?
http://bit.ly/c2zS7
The Indiana Fever have not turned a profit during their 10-year stint in the WNBA.