Fort Worth Unveils Proposal For New NBA, NHL Arena And Other Fantasies

Fort Worth Flying Saucer

Fort Worth has a minor league hockey team that plays in that flying saucer shaped arena you see in the picture. The flying saucer shaped arena is part of Fort Worth's Convention Center where few conventions take place.

The Fort Worth Convention Center does host a lot of events other than conventions, such as the BIG PARTY Elsie Hotpepper and I are going to later this month.

During the period of time I have been observing how things get done in Fort Worth I have noticed that when someone proposes building something in Fort Worth, be it a convention center hotel, a corporate headquarters or a sporting goods store, the entity doing the building does so only after Fort Worth provides tax breaks and other perks.

So, imagine my surprise this morning when I read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram proposing building something in Fort Worth in a way I've never seen done here before...

Fort Worth Unveils Proposal For New NBA, NHL Arena And Teams

The wheels are turning for a new, self-funded NBA and NHL arena in Fort Worth, funded privately and publicly by tax revenue on the arena development and the professional teams that would call it home.

The plan was spearheaded by Fort Worth-born investor Chris Hansen, who with his investment group is planning to purchase an NBA franchise and bring it to Fort Worth. He also is searching for a partner to bring an NHL team to Fort Worth.

“If we succeed, this project means hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment – an investment that will help our city recover from the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression,” said Mayor Betsy Price at an announcement Thursday at City Hall.

Okay, I know you're thinking, wait a minute, Fort Worth does not have major league professional teams of any sort, let alone aspiring to have two such teams in a new arena.

Well, the above was actually excerpted from an article in this morning's Seattle Post-Intelligencer about a new sports arena in Seattle.  I substituted "Seattle" with "Fort Worth".

Fort Worth really badly needs to replace the very outdated Will Rogers Memorial Center Arena, it being the location where the Stock Show Rodeo takes place.

So, why is it in Fort Worth there is not a proposal to build a new arena in the same manner something gets built in other places, like Seattle?