[orlegend0208]

NBA Awards Nashville With Expansion Franchise

Nashville Design.jpg

June 11, 2003, Nashville, TN – The National Basketball Association announced today that the 30th franchise to enter the league will be the Nashville Storm, in an announcement made by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Stern and Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell joined Nashville Storm majority owner, Arthur Price, as the new team’s name, logo and colors were unveiled to fans at a team-hosted basketball event in Bridgestone Arena. Bridgestone Arena is where the Storm will play all of their home games.

Owner Arthur Price addressed the thousands of fans that attended the event, "I'm pleased to announce, that the Nashville Storm will be the 30th NBA Franchise." As he announced it, the curtain hiding the court design/uniforms/logo was dropped, making it public for fans in attendance to see.

The team’s name, logo and colors were selected following a six-month process that included various forms of fan feedback, a series of creative phases and a thorough analysis of merchandise opportunities, game presentation possibilities and licensing considerations.

“This naming announcement is one more part of the new and exciting chapter that we have begun with the NBA and Arthur Price,” said Mayor Purcell. “Nashville is a quickly expanding city and I look forward to seeing the new Nashville Storm logo and colors throughout the city, nation and world. But most especially on the backs of the players who will call Nashville home and become a fixture in the community.”

The new franchise will now become Nashville's 3rd professional team along with the Nashville Predators of the NHL and the Tennessee Titans of the NFL. The city also has a baseball team, the Nashville Sounds, who are the Triple A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

The Storm will share Bridgestone Arena with the NHL's, Nashville Predators. Bridgestone Arena was built in 1996 when the NHL first expressed interest in giving an expansion team to the city. It was also built due to the possibility of the NBA relocation/expansion to the city back in 1996. Since that hasn't come to fruition, it has been used exclusively for the Nashville Predators and other big events like concerts for the past 7 years. It is estimated that the Arena will be able to hold 19,395 people in attendance for basketball games.

Despite having the Titans in Nashville since 1997 and the Predators in Nashville since 1998, neither team has won a major championship (Super Bowl or Stanley Cup). The closest either team has gotten to winning it all was back in 1999 when the Titans lost Super XXXIV to the St. Louis Rams.

That was a big part of Arthur Price's statement, "The city of Nashville and it's fans deserve a team that will constantly compete for Championships. And, in time, that's exactly what we will do."

The Nashville Storm of the National Basketball Association is owned by Arthur Price. The NBA announced on December 18, 2002 that Price would become the owner of the NBA expansion franchise in Nashville. The Nashville Storm, will select fourth in the 2004 NBA Draft following an expansion draft of players from other NBA teams, will play their inaugural season in 2004-2005 at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville.