Two Cities Propose New Arenas for Grizzlies

Officials in Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday unveiled plans to build a new arena for the Vancouver Grizzlies, leaving Anaheim as the only city that would require the NBA team to move into an arena more than two years old.

In New Orleans, the fourth city to which the Grizzlies are considering moving, a new arena opened in 1999. The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim opened in 1993, but Pond General Manager Tim Ryan said his building would compare favorably to whatever might be built in Louisville or Memphis.

“Our arena is still state-of-the-art,” Ryan said. “It has all the amenities that arenas under construction today have.”

Ryan also said he has invited Grizzly owner Michael Heisley, who never has seen a basketball game at the Pond, to visit for the sold-out NCAA West Regional finals next week. That may not fit into Heisley’s schedule, since the March 26 deadline for applying to the NBA for relocation comes two days after the regional final.

Heisley enjoyed plenty of hoopla, albeit without an actual sporting event, as he concluded a two-day visit to Louisville on Thursday. At a pep rally at the headquarters of Tricon Global Restaurants, parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, Heisley was serenaded by a band, cheered by hundreds of Tricon employees and hugged by the six-foot-tall KFC chicken mascot, the Courier-Journal reported.

If Heisley moves his team to Louisville, Tricon would pay millions in naming rights to an arena to be called the KFC Bucket. The team would be renamed the Kentucky Colonels, a nod to the founder of the chicken chain and to the old ABA team of the same name.

Heisley told The Times this week that he would retain the Grizzlies’ nickname if the team moves to Anaheim.

Heisley and the NBA have pushed for the Grizzlies to move into an arena with dozens of cash-generating luxury suites, available now in Anaheim and New Orleans. But, in Memphis on Thursday, AutoZone founder J.R. “Pitt” Hyde III proposed an arena costing between $200 million and $220 million, with financing to be determined, the Commercial-Appeal reported. In Louisville, officials pitched to Heisley a $215-million arena, according to the Courier-Journal.

Heisley called the Louisville proposal “very attractive” but said he would not decide where he might move his team until next week at the earliest.

Also Thursday, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said the Grizzlies would not be moving to his city.