[HooverDam]

From: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/olym...asketball.html

Glendale nears deal for USA Hoops HQ
by Craig Harris - Jul. 18, 2008 07:21 PM
The Arizona Republic
An agreement in principle could be reached by next week for USA Basketball, the governing body for the U.S. men's and women's Olympic teams, to move its headquarters to Glendale.

"It appears there is a lot of progress being made. People are hopeful there will be a memorandum of understanding signed before the (Olympic) team takes off for China," said Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball's men's Olympic team. "The city of Glendale and their people have been very aggressive and very creative in putting a package together."

Colangelo, in a phone interview Friday with The Arizona Republic, said the best-case scenario is to have something in writing before all the principals involved with USA Basketball head to China on Friday for the Olympics.

Glendale; Louisville, Ky.; and Colorado Springs, Colo., which currently is home to USA Basketball, are the three finalists for the headquarters, where younger teams that compete internationally also are trained.

Landing the headquarters enhances the community's image and is likely to generate economic development with spending by visiting athletes, family members and sponsors.

Craig Miller, assistant executive director of USA Basketball, said details are being worked out with all the cities and added that a decision had not been made. The organization has said it hopes to make a decision by this summer.

A Louisville official said she had not heard anything regarding Glendale, and Colorado Springs officials did not return calls.

But Colangelo said "everything was moving in the right direction" for Glendale, and he was very optimistic that the city will secure the headquarters.

"We hope there will be some announcements before we leave," Colangelo said. "Everything is moving along very well."

Glendale has enhanced its proposal by bringing in at least five business partners who would be responsible for helping build a training complex and office space, according to city officials.

"We feel we have a strong proposal that needs to be ironed out," City Manager Ed Beasley said. "We have partners in this deal that make it unique."

Beasley would not reveal the identities of those partners. He said the offer also would include sports medicine, fitness, education and entertainment components in addition to USA Basketball facilities. It was the first time the city had acknowledged that it was collaborating with a specific number of businesses.

"We are looking at partners coming into the deal and a commitment from their individual standpoints on how they can move their products and business plans forward," Beasley said. "We have the same vision. It's an international holistic approach."

If the city gets USA Basketball, Beasley said the headquarters would be near the sports complex that houses University of Phoenix Stadium, Jobing.com Arena and the new spring-training facility for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.

He declined to disclose a specific location.

"The other amenities are a huge advantage for us," Beasley said.

The city, which spent $180 million on the hockey arena, has not said how much it would spend on a USA Basketball headquarters.

Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said the basketball headquarters would be one more link and a catalyst for growth in the sports and entertainment district, which has been built in the past five years.

Councilman Phil Lieberman said he sees the benefit of landing the training center to attract year-round visitors.

"Training camps will run 12 months per year, rather than seven months for hockey and five months for football," he said.

Marc Ganis, a sports-business consultant with Chicago-based SportsCorp Ltd., said that if Glendale secures USA Basketball, it could open the doors for more Olympic organizations to move their headquarters to the West Valley.

He said other Olympic sports are looking for better facilities and added that metropolitan Phoenix has the advantage of having a major airport, existing facilities and outstanding weather.

"The Valley has quite a few attributes, and Glendale is a leader in the Valley with sports," Ganis said. "It's not surprising Jerry Colangelo and his people had something to do with this."

USA Basketball has been based in Colorado Springs since 1979 and has a staff of up to 20 people.

Julie Frisoni, a Glendale spokeswoman, said that with USA Basketball's relationship with the NCAA and NBA, there is potential to bring new events to the sports complex. She also said the city's proposal would include facilities for youth sports.

Frisoni added that even if USA Basketball agrees in principle to come to Glendale, the City Council could not approve a memorandum of understanding until at least Aug. 12, the next regularly scheduled council meeting. However, that meeting coincides with the Olympics, and she said any action likely would not happen until the Summer Games are over.

Well just another thing to add to the list of things to thank Jerry Colangelo for. I hope this happens, it would be nice for the West Valley, and as a basketball but myself it would mean probably getting the chance to see Team USA scrimmages and stuff in the future.