Post by WBBDaily on Nov 17, 2023 20:38:02 GMT -5
On Nov. 1, a letter from the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed that the plan to bring an expansion team to Portland had been tabled months after she said the city was being "actively considered.”
But concerns over the viability of bringing women’s professional basketball to Portland date back to at least September, according to emails obtained by the Business Journal under a public records request.
The records disclose several concerns the league had about adding Portland to its roster of teams, including the renovations that will need to be done on both Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in coming years and how that could leave the WNBA team without a venue.
The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported previously that prospective owner Kirk Brown dropped his support at the final hour, torpedoing the effort. But records obtained by the Business Journal indicate that the league may have gotten cold feet after viewing the city’s facilities.
The obtained records reveal that on Sept. 25, Adam Harrington, managing director at the Portland-based investment firm pH Partners that worked with Brown on the ownership deal, told Andrew Fitzpatrick, the city’s director of economic development, that the WNBA was feeling uneasy about the “arena situation.”
More specifically, the league was concerned about the city possibly canceling the Moda Center’s lease when it expires next year, Harrington said. It also raised questions about the viability of the Coliseum as a venue should the WNBA team be displaced from Moda during the renovations.
Those renovations are set to happen between 2027 and 2029, according to the records.
“Could we get a support letter from the City that states that the City will honor our lease regardless of the Blazers’ status, and that the City will provide a viable VMC in the case that we are displaced from the Moda Center?” said Harrington in the Sept. 25 email. “This is a real-time issue for us, really need to get it resolved this week or risk our announcement being pushed back.”
Two nearly identical letters were produced in the next couple of days, and made out to Harrington and Engelbert. Both letters, signed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ensured that the WNBA team would be able to play its games at Moda Center through 2030, even if the lease were terminated before Oct. 14, 2025.
The current ground lease expires Oct. 11, 2025.
The letter also said Moda Center’s renovations will require two to three years of summer closures starting as early as 2026, and the Coliseum will be closed for $50 million in renovations during the summers of 2024-25.
Both Wheeler and Wyden assured Harrington and Engelbert, though, that the Coliseum would be usable for the team’s games during the 2026-29 seasons in the event they would not be able to play at Moda Center.
“The good news is, because we have two large arenas capable of accommodating the WNBA, one of the two buildings should be available during each WNBA season,” the letter said. “And while the VMC lacks some of the amenities of the newer and larger Moda Center, the planned upgrades will result in a greatly improved fan experience, making it a more suitable temporary home for the WNBA team during Moda construction.”
This letter was sent to both Harrington and Engelbert Sept. 27. Harrington made it clear that ironing out these details could make or break the deal to bring an expansion team to the city.
“We have to nip this before it becomes a big issue and jeopardizes our candidacy. The league is understandably taking a very hard line here,” Harrington said in a Sept. 25 email.
Then, while the Bay Area celebrated word it will become the league’s next expansion market on Oct. 5, representatives for Moda Center and the Coliseum were preparing for the league to visit both venues the following week.
This visit plan also pushed back proposed announcement dates for Portland as an expansion market to Oct. 24-26, the documents revealed. While the original proposed announcement date is unclear, the records seem to imply that it could have taken place closer to the Bay Area’s announcement date.
"The league is reviewing our revised facility plan. We've pushed back our announcement. Looking like sometime in the 10/24-26 range in Portland. There will be nothing about Portland mentioned in next week's media," Harrington said in an email to Fitzpatrick on Sept. 27.
The league visited both venues on Oct. 9, and Fitzpatrick told Susan Hartnett, spectator facilities and development manager for the city, via email that the league was “very concerned about the condition of the locker rooms and other player-facing facilities” in the Coliseum, specifically.
Along with the locker rooms, the Coliseum’s storage, office, training, showering and flex spaces all need to be updated to meet the WNBA’s requests, according to the Rose Quarter General Manger AJ Zahn in an Oct. 13 email. Additional finishing such as branding are also required, Zahn said, but would have to be owner-funded.
VeteransMemorialProposedWNBARenovations
Proposed renovations to floor plans in Veterans Memorial Coliseum created after the WNBA toured the facility. The cost of these updates is estimated to be more than $4.9 million.
Perkins&Will
The cost of these updates was estimated at about $4.9 million, Zahn wrote. She added that $1.75 million, at most, could come from the city, but that the other $3.15 million “would need to be funded by ownership, fundraising or another way to get this project moving at the basic finish level.”
Fitzpatrick replied to Zahn the next day, suggesting alternative funding sources, including the state.
On Nov. 1, the day the WNBA's Engelbert sent her letter on the decision to not bring a team to Portland, Fitzpatrick told Karl Lisle, the external partnerships and programs manager with the city of Portland, that Wheeler was working to redirect some funds to ensure the renovation of the Coliseum could be done.
“The Mayor has directed the Office of Management and Finance to re-program already approved resources and allocate additional resources, if necessary, to significantly upgrade Veterans Memorial Coliseum facilities for their temporary use by a WNBA team during Moda Center Renovations,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “The City of Portland remains committed to doing all that is needed to welcome a team to our community — our sports economy, our fan base, our values and community make Portland a fantastic place for a WNBA team.”
While Brown had reportedly dropped his bid to become the team's owner, Engelbert, in her Nov. 1 letter, cited the need for facility renovations as the sole reason for the plan being "deferred for now." Brown and Harrington were still involved in emails regarding the expansion, including the renovations needed at the Coliseum, as late as Oct. 14.
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But concerns over the viability of bringing women’s professional basketball to Portland date back to at least September, according to emails obtained by the Business Journal under a public records request.
The records disclose several concerns the league had about adding Portland to its roster of teams, including the renovations that will need to be done on both Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in coming years and how that could leave the WNBA team without a venue.
The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported previously that prospective owner Kirk Brown dropped his support at the final hour, torpedoing the effort. But records obtained by the Business Journal indicate that the league may have gotten cold feet after viewing the city’s facilities.
The obtained records reveal that on Sept. 25, Adam Harrington, managing director at the Portland-based investment firm pH Partners that worked with Brown on the ownership deal, told Andrew Fitzpatrick, the city’s director of economic development, that the WNBA was feeling uneasy about the “arena situation.”
More specifically, the league was concerned about the city possibly canceling the Moda Center’s lease when it expires next year, Harrington said. It also raised questions about the viability of the Coliseum as a venue should the WNBA team be displaced from Moda during the renovations.
Those renovations are set to happen between 2027 and 2029, according to the records.
“Could we get a support letter from the City that states that the City will honor our lease regardless of the Blazers’ status, and that the City will provide a viable VMC in the case that we are displaced from the Moda Center?” said Harrington in the Sept. 25 email. “This is a real-time issue for us, really need to get it resolved this week or risk our announcement being pushed back.”
Two nearly identical letters were produced in the next couple of days, and made out to Harrington and Engelbert. Both letters, signed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ensured that the WNBA team would be able to play its games at Moda Center through 2030, even if the lease were terminated before Oct. 14, 2025.
The current ground lease expires Oct. 11, 2025.
The letter also said Moda Center’s renovations will require two to three years of summer closures starting as early as 2026, and the Coliseum will be closed for $50 million in renovations during the summers of 2024-25.
Both Wheeler and Wyden assured Harrington and Engelbert, though, that the Coliseum would be usable for the team’s games during the 2026-29 seasons in the event they would not be able to play at Moda Center.
“The good news is, because we have two large arenas capable of accommodating the WNBA, one of the two buildings should be available during each WNBA season,” the letter said. “And while the VMC lacks some of the amenities of the newer and larger Moda Center, the planned upgrades will result in a greatly improved fan experience, making it a more suitable temporary home for the WNBA team during Moda construction.”
This letter was sent to both Harrington and Engelbert Sept. 27. Harrington made it clear that ironing out these details could make or break the deal to bring an expansion team to the city.
“We have to nip this before it becomes a big issue and jeopardizes our candidacy. The league is understandably taking a very hard line here,” Harrington said in a Sept. 25 email.
Then, while the Bay Area celebrated word it will become the league’s next expansion market on Oct. 5, representatives for Moda Center and the Coliseum were preparing for the league to visit both venues the following week.
This visit plan also pushed back proposed announcement dates for Portland as an expansion market to Oct. 24-26, the documents revealed. While the original proposed announcement date is unclear, the records seem to imply that it could have taken place closer to the Bay Area’s announcement date.
"The league is reviewing our revised facility plan. We've pushed back our announcement. Looking like sometime in the 10/24-26 range in Portland. There will be nothing about Portland mentioned in next week's media," Harrington said in an email to Fitzpatrick on Sept. 27.
The league visited both venues on Oct. 9, and Fitzpatrick told Susan Hartnett, spectator facilities and development manager for the city, via email that the league was “very concerned about the condition of the locker rooms and other player-facing facilities” in the Coliseum, specifically.
Along with the locker rooms, the Coliseum’s storage, office, training, showering and flex spaces all need to be updated to meet the WNBA’s requests, according to the Rose Quarter General Manger AJ Zahn in an Oct. 13 email. Additional finishing such as branding are also required, Zahn said, but would have to be owner-funded.
VeteransMemorialProposedWNBARenovations
Proposed renovations to floor plans in Veterans Memorial Coliseum created after the WNBA toured the facility. The cost of these updates is estimated to be more than $4.9 million.
Perkins&Will
The cost of these updates was estimated at about $4.9 million, Zahn wrote. She added that $1.75 million, at most, could come from the city, but that the other $3.15 million “would need to be funded by ownership, fundraising or another way to get this project moving at the basic finish level.”
Fitzpatrick replied to Zahn the next day, suggesting alternative funding sources, including the state.
On Nov. 1, the day the WNBA's Engelbert sent her letter on the decision to not bring a team to Portland, Fitzpatrick told Karl Lisle, the external partnerships and programs manager with the city of Portland, that Wheeler was working to redirect some funds to ensure the renovation of the Coliseum could be done.
“The Mayor has directed the Office of Management and Finance to re-program already approved resources and allocate additional resources, if necessary, to significantly upgrade Veterans Memorial Coliseum facilities for their temporary use by a WNBA team during Moda Center Renovations,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “The City of Portland remains committed to doing all that is needed to welcome a team to our community — our sports economy, our fan base, our values and community make Portland a fantastic place for a WNBA team.”
While Brown had reportedly dropped his bid to become the team's owner, Engelbert, in her Nov. 1 letter, cited the need for facility renovations as the sole reason for the plan being "deferred for now." Brown and Harrington were still involved in emails regarding the expansion, including the renovations needed at the Coliseum, as late as Oct. 14.
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