VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTVR) - A proposal to bring an 18,500-seat arena to Virginia Beach was presented to Virginia Beach City Council members on Tuesday afternoon. The proposed arena would be built next to the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
It’s a joint proposal from two entertainment companies – Comcast-Spectacor and LiveNation.
The companies said they'd partner with Virginia Beach to bring a pro-team to the state and with naming rights would lease the stadium for a quarter century. But the companies said they would not pay for the new arena, and that is where talks appear to have stalled.
Peter Luukko, President and CEO of Comcast-Spectacor, told WTKR.com the companies are interested in Virginia Beach because they already do a lot of business in Hampton Roads and the area is the “largest underserved market in the US.”
While no professional team was specifically named in association with the arena during Tuesday's presentation, the NBA's Sacramento Kings were mentioned in an earlier report from a Hampton Roads business journal.
Some Central Virginians CBS 6 spoke with said they'd be willing to make the trek down to the beach to root on a Virginia NBA team.
"It'll make the economy for Virginia boom and I'd drive 200 miles to see a pro team from Virginia," said David Self, a Midlothian barber. "I think we'd do better than Sacramento as far as supporting them."
This isn't the first time the region has been promised a pro-team. Years ago the NBA's Hornets were supposed to call Virginia home, but went to Charlotte instead.
No timetable is set on when Virginia Beach would consider the proposal.
