The team will begin playing in the fall of 2016.
The Charlotte Hornets have decided on a home for it’s future NBA D-League team. According to the Greensboro News and Record, the Hornets have chosen Greensboro, North Carolina over other finalists Asheville, and Fayetteville.
The team will play at the Pavilion, a facility that is part of the Greensboro Coliseum complex, although according to the report, the Pavilion will need major renovations before it can be ready to host games.
The decision to place the team in Greensboro seems based on the willingness to accommodate for the Hornets. Based on the seating projections for the Pavilion (which will be 2,500), it appears the team was looking for a more intimate venue to host games, rather than play in a larger, ready made, arena. While the Greensboro Coliseum is one of the biggest, and best basketball arenas in the state, there would have been a lot of empty seats had the D-League team chosen to use that facility. Packing a 2,500 seat fieldhouse should create a stronger atmosphere, and because the Pavilion is being renovated specifically for the D-League team, the players and staff won’t have to share the locker room and other facilities with anyone else.
Another factor for choosing Greensboro is location. While a city like Asheville would have been very close to Charlotte, Greensboro’s more central location will likely entice fans from across the state to attend games. Competing with college basketball will be a challenge, but at the very least, Hornets fans who don’t live close to Charlotte will now have the opportunity to see a Hornets owned team in a city that’s easier to get to no matter what part of North Carolina they are from.
According to the News and Record, a formal announcement is expected on Tuesday.
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