Fan support key for Hornets

Hornets owner George Shinn said he would support a lease extension with the state, if the team can garner sufficient fan support in the area.

A proposed training center attached to New Orleans Arena also will be a factor in any long-term commitment to New Orleans, he said.

Shinn’s staff is talking with the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District and, he says, he’s spoken privately with Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

“Our guys are trying to get things worked out,” he said, “and if they can’t, the governor and I have an agreement that we will sit down and put something together ourselves if we have to.”

Topics of discussion have ranged from a lease extension _ the current expiration is 2012 _ to “putting together a stronger package that would give us a little safety net,” Shinn said.

Shinn said the Hornets are trying to get 10,000 season-ticket holders this year.

The team earlier this month said it had gotten half that and had not started sales of half-season packages.

On Friday, Shinn and Hugh Weber, the Hornets’ chief operating officer, addressed Hornets employees and emphasized working together to meet their goals in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.

The Hornets have played nine games at New Orleans Arena since Katrina hit in August 2005, playing the rest of two, full seasons in Oklahoma City. The team is set to play at least 41 regular-season games in New Orleans this coming season.

“You’ve got to believe in what we’re doing, you’ve got to believe in the Hornets,” Shinn told the employees. “If you don’t believe in the team you’re working for, you don’t belong here.

“A lot of people don’t think we can do it. There are people here (in New Orleans) who don’t think we can do it, and I know there are people throughout this nation just wanting us to fail,” he said. “We’re not going to let that happen.”