ShoogarBear
10-12-2004, 08:04 PM
Link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/10/12/bc.bkn.clippers.staples.ap/index.html)
Clips could be playing elsewhere next season
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Clippers might be in the market for a new home next year.
The team's six-year lease at Staples Center expires at the end of this season, and no agreement has been reached beyond that.
Michael Roth, vice president of communications for Anschutz Entertainment Group, said Tuesday that the parties have been negotiating to extend the lease for some time and are "working to resolve the issue."
Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, which owns Staples Center, wouldn't comment.
Leiweke was quoted Monday in a story in Los Angeles Downtown News, a weekly publication, that AEG was contemplating whether it wanted to extend the lease.
"We actually would make more money if instead of having 40 Clippers games we had five concerts," Leiweke said. (Ed.: And there probably would be more basketball being played) "The Clippers' issue is in negotiations now. Their lease is up after this year and ironically, shockingly, we've got to make a decision as to whether we want them back. We're not sure."
Roth said the actual interview took place three weeks ago, and Leiweke's comments were a small part of the story on Staples Center's fifth anniversary. The arena opened in 1999.
Roth acknowledged it was possible Staples would reap more benefits from five concerts than a season of Clippers home games.
Joe Safety, the Clippers' vice president of communications, didn't immediately return a telephone call.
One possible alternative for the Clippers is Anaheim Arena, where they played as many as six games a season for several years when the Los Angeles Sports Arena served as their home.
Clips could be playing elsewhere next season
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Clippers might be in the market for a new home next year.
The team's six-year lease at Staples Center expires at the end of this season, and no agreement has been reached beyond that.
Michael Roth, vice president of communications for Anschutz Entertainment Group, said Tuesday that the parties have been negotiating to extend the lease for some time and are "working to resolve the issue."
Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, which owns Staples Center, wouldn't comment.
Leiweke was quoted Monday in a story in Los Angeles Downtown News, a weekly publication, that AEG was contemplating whether it wanted to extend the lease.
"We actually would make more money if instead of having 40 Clippers games we had five concerts," Leiweke said. (Ed.: And there probably would be more basketball being played) "The Clippers' issue is in negotiations now. Their lease is up after this year and ironically, shockingly, we've got to make a decision as to whether we want them back. We're not sure."
Roth said the actual interview took place three weeks ago, and Leiweke's comments were a small part of the story on Staples Center's fifth anniversary. The arena opened in 1999.
Roth acknowledged it was possible Staples would reap more benefits from five concerts than a season of Clippers home games.
Joe Safety, the Clippers' vice president of communications, didn't immediately return a telephone call.
One possible alternative for the Clippers is Anaheim Arena, where they played as many as six games a season for several years when the Los Angeles Sports Arena served as their home.