Could Mayor Fischer turn the tables and say if UofL leaves the Yum Center, he will begin an aggressive campaign to bring an NBA team to Louisville as the Yum Center's primary tennant?

 

An NBA team in Louisville is not in UofLs interest since the NBA would attract corporate sponsorship that UofL pretty much has a monopoly on.

 

Honestly, I really doubt UL will be leaving the YUM! Center. The way the contract is written is that UL gets first rights to buy the arena if it does go bankrupt. Meaning UL just needs to match the highest offer and it's theirs. So say for instance an NBA team comes in and offers 250 million for it, as long as UL counters with 250, it's theirs. So on and so on until someone folds and thinks the price is getting too high. The taxpayers will inherit the rest of the debt.

The Yum Center doesn't exist without UofL agreeing to move downtown. Kind of annoying that UofL is being made out to be the bad guy. They accepted a deal the city offered, and are more than pulling their weight.

The Yum Center doesn't exist without UofL agreeing to move downtown. Kind of annoying that UofL is being made out to be the bad guy. They accepted a deal the city offered, and are more than pulling their weight.

 

I really don't think UL is the bad guy, they took an opportunity when politicians handed it to them. I will say, they should help their city out as much as possible to keep the arena from going into bankruptcy and costing the state a ton of money, rather than jumping ship and building one of their own. It would work out best for them and the state, IMO. They were handed an absurdly great deal by politicians, they took it (who could blame them) but now that the place is nearly 700 million in debt they want to act like they're being treated unfairly. Color me stupid, but I would renegotiate the deal so that the arena survives and the taxpayers aren't left to handle a terrible decision by the politicians. It would also be extending an olive branch to the state in the future if they want more funding.

The Yum Center doesn't exist without UofL agreeing to move downtown. Kind of annoying that UofL is being made out to be the bad guy. They accepted a deal the city offered, and are more than pulling their weight.

 

I don't think UofL or Jurich is the bad guy, though some could say he took advantage of what an idiot our former mayor is to UofLs advantage. I say that is the fault of Louisville voters for continuing to reelect the moron. Jurich saw how Abramson allowed Cobalt (or whatever the group that started 4th Street Live is) to bend over Louisville taxpayers and knew he was 1,000 times smarter than Mayor Jerry and could pull a similar raping for UofL. The blame belongs with the former mayor and Louisville voters there.

I really don't think UL is the bad guy, they took an opportunity when politicians handed it to them. I will say, they should help their city out as much as possible to keep the arena from going into bankruptcy and costing the state a ton of money, rather than jumping ship and building one of their own. It would work out best for them and the state, IMO. They were handed an absurdly great deal by politicians, they took it (who could blame them) but now that the place is nearly 700 million in debt they want to act like they're being treated unfairly. Color me stupid, but I would renegotiate the deal so that the arena survives and the taxpayers aren't left to handle a terrible decision by the politicians. It would also be extending an olive branch to the state in the future if they want more funding.

 

Well I mean if UofL is expected to do ALL the work to fix the debt, they are being treated unfairly. Like I said, they are already doing the biggest portion of the "helping" as it stands. I'm sure Jurich will be open to re-negotiating, but he's not going to do it all and he shouldn't.

Well I mean if UofL is expected to do ALL the work to fix the debt, they are being treated unfairly. Like I said, they are already doing the biggest portion of the "helping" as it stands. I'm sure Jurich will be open to re-negotiating, but he's not going to do it all and he shouldn't.

 

Completely agree, UL shouldn't have to bend over backwards to fix the problem. I do believe that UL and the city should work together on this and come up with a compromise to help reduce the debt. That's going to require UL to pay a higher rent and from the article, it doesn't appear they want to do that.

Completely agree, UL shouldn't have to bend over backwards to fix the problem. I do believe that UL and the city should work together on this and come up with a compromise to help reduce the debt. That's going to require UL to pay a higher rent and from the article, it doesn't appear they want to do that.

 

They will agree to a different term because it's cheaper to re-do the deal than build your own arena. The angst comes from the city painting UofL as the bad guy when they aren't. The city should be mad at itself, if anybody.

They will agree to a different term because it's cheaper to re-do the deal than build your own arena. The angst comes from the city painting UofL as the bad guy when they aren't. The city should be mad at itself, if anybody.

 

Agreed.

they can aggressively pursue an NBA team, but who will move? New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings? Memphis built the FedEx Forum for the Grizzlies. Milwaukee is working on a new arena for the Bucks.

The NBA will never come to Louisville because the NBA will never survive in Louisville.