Re: Exclusive: Celtics Ownership Slammed

["Jim Hill" <jahill199@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Considering Jacobs is the leader in fleecing Boston sports fans and
residents for years, his going public with a slam on the C's owners is but a
weak shot across the bow to get Celtics fans up-in-arms.  Jacobs knows the
new guys can do what Gaston would not, build their on facility which would
then compete for concerts, college and school sports tournaments and holiday
shows with the Fleece.  Jacobs could end up with a white elephant.  Lot's of
land between Boston and Worcester to put in a fan friendly, easy access
multi-use facility.  The Kraft has shown it can work.

<Jim


Boston Herald
March 24, 2004
HERALD EXCLUSIVE
Jacobs slams C's ownership
Author: Scott Van Voorhis

FleetCenter owner Jeremy Jacobs took a hard line with the Boston Celtics in
an exclusive Herald interview yesterday, saying he won't cave into the Green
Team's demands for lease concessions, even as the storied NBA franchise
escalates threats to bolt his North Station arena.
Led by Belmont venture capitalist Wyc Grousbeck, the Celtics deep-pocketed
owners have threatened to build their own basketball palace if they can't
win a favorable FleetCenter lease extension.
Grousbeck's group, which paid a record $360 million for the team in late
2002, have made it clear that the price of staying at the Fleet must include
a piece of the arena's revenue. While the Celtics pay no rent, they don't
cash in on lucrative concession and luxury seat sales.
But Jacobs, the Buffalo, N.Y., stadium concessions magnate and Boston Bruins
owner who built the Fleet in 1995, contends that the Celtics don't know how
good they have it.
Along with playing rent-free, the Celtics don't have to shoulder either the
escalating cost of operating the arena or its debt payments.
"They have to realize they have a $160 million building which they get the
free use of," Jacobs said. "They have a great lease and at the time it was
considered unique."
A Celtics spokesman said the team owners would not comment publicly on lease
talks. The team's lease expires in 2011.
While that sounds a long way off, Hub developer Robert Epstein, a leading
member of Grousbeck's ownership group, has told the Herald that the team
will have to start planning for an arena within a year or so if it can't get
a new lease in place.
But Jacobs said he's not pushing the panic button. He said building an arena
may not be so easy.
"That is a value judgment they have to make," Jacobs said. "I know what it
took me to build my building. It is not an easy undertaking."
Jacobs also took aim at the Celtics for jacking up high-end ticket prices.
The Celtics this season hiked prices for hundreds of FleetCenter club seat
and luxury suite holders to $140 from $95, while another potential increase
to $170 may be in the works for next year. Luxury seat holders pay the arena
for their perches, but they buy tickets for each game separately from the
Celtics and Bruins.
Fleet management has accused the Celtics of raising ticket prices for luxury
seat holders as a way of targeting the arena's best customers - and an
important stream of revenue - in a power move to force concessions out of
Jacobs.
"I think the (Celtics) prices are onerous now," Jacobs said. "It's no way to
treat the people of Boston, especially when you depend on them for
supporting your product."
Moreover, if the Celtics ticket hikes were meant to force concessions, they
are not working, he said. "I haven't seen anything that makes me want to
deal."
Copyright 2004 Boston Herald

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jim Hill
Private Label Leasing, Inc.
mailto:jahill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
800-451-6567 Voice/Fax 866-571-3921
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