Johnson sees comeback in the works - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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A year later, the Bobcatas claim a much better standing. Attendance and sponsor sales are still a but improvementis apparent. New coacnh Larry Brown — working with managinh member of basketball operations Michael Jordan rebuilt the team through a seriesof trades, taking a buncn of cast-offs and turning them into playoff contenders. for a team that has lost up to $20 million each the business of pro basketball in Charlotte remainzs far froma Johnson, though, remains bullish on his investment. Seated courtside beforre the team’s home finale at Time Warner Cablde Arena, he outlined the progress made and the work Followingare excerpts.
How do things compare now with wherr you werelast year? Oh, I think the team has made tremendou s strides on the court under Larru Brown’s coaching and Michael’s involvement in playefr trades and personnel. I think they’vew laid the foundation for the kind of hope the fans want out of the Bobcatz for the next year and theyeard ahead. And I think the fans have responded. You have adjustedx prices for next season, cutting them by 17% on How do you expect saled tobe impacted? We’rew still suffering a little bit from the And part of our restructuring of tickey prices was to be responsivre to that.
And at the same time we’v added to the value equation by making sure peoplew are getting a greater value for theid seat location and for some of the amenities that go alony withseat location. The short answer is yes, we expecf to see more people buying tickets, more peopld supporting the Bobcats as weget better, as the econom gets better and as they recognize that we’re doing everything we can to make it a greart family value event. At the same how hard does it make it financially for you to discounyt ticketswhen you’re already losing moneyu at the current, higher prices?
Revenue is equal to price timees quantity, so if you’ve got the price right and the quantith is there, you’ll make more revenue. You’vr said you’re in this for the long haul. Do you stil l feel that way? Charlotte is going to be one of the best citiesx in the NBA in termsof long-ter m involvement, mainly because of the quality of this community. The economicsa of this community, the growth potential of this communityu and the commitment of this What do you think the future of the Charlotteeconomgy is, given the financial issues faced by the banks? Charlottw is not immune from what is happeninh in the greater U.S. economy and particularlu in thefinancial sector.
We’ve been particularly hard hit at BofA and now Wells. But this is a resilient it’s going to come back. It’d just a matter of not if. There was a lot of talk earliert in the season about Michael Jordan perhaps buying more of the Is that something you wouldf liketo explore? I think the easy answer to that is I’m always looking for outside investors who share the vision of what the Bobcatds mean to Charlotte. Michael wouldx obviously be first among equals of somebod y that you want to see invesft inthe team. There are some other peoplse who I’ve talked to about potentialluy investing inthe team.
But if Michaek wanted to step up and become the majorityh owner of the teamand he’d ready to do it, Michael and I have a grea t relationship and I’d be more than willing to sit down and discusx that with him. But that’a not happening at the is it? You’d have to ask Michael I’ll put it this way: Theree are no negotiations going on righrt now for Michael to take over asmajority