Saints owner Tom Benson buys the New Orleans Hornets (FOX8)
April 14th, 2012
FOX8Live.com
Saints owner Tom Benson has bought the New Orleans Hornets from the NBA, the NFL club announced.
The team said on Twitter Friday that it is “thrilled” to confirm “Tom Benson as the new owner of the New Orleans (at)Hornets!”
A person familiar with the deal says the
purchase price is $338 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press
on condition of anonymity because the financial terms have not been
announced.
The NBA has been trying to sell the Hornets
since buying the club from founder George Shinn in December 2010. While
preparing the team for sale the league negotiated a new lease for the
Hornets to remain in the state-owned New Orleans Arena through 2024.
The sale of the team to Benson has to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors, which is meeting in New York on Friday.
The framework of ownership negotiations were
handled in a way that a new Hornets owner would have to accept the lease
worked out between the NBA and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The lease agreement
also called for $50 million in improvements to the basketball stadium,
which sits right across the street from the Superdome.
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