GREENVILLE, TX: GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT TO BUILD ARENA

This sickens me...

http://www.insidetxbiz.com/adminnm/templates/frontpage.asp?articleid=792&zoneid=1

New $50 M arena in GreenvilleFriday, July 21, 2006 - Since February, the Greenville Board of Development has been working with Global Entertainment Corporation on plans to build a $40 to $50 million multi-purpose arena off highway 30 in Greenville. The arena will take approximately four years to build and have a capacity between 5,000 and 6,000 people with corporate boxes. It will be used for sports, concerts, rodeos, religious event, graduation and “thrill shows”. With the completion of the Bush Turnpike (HWY 190) to HWY 30 and the widening of HWY 380 this new complex will be accessible to Collin County residents. Global Entertainment Corporation picked the Greenville area because it is far enough away from major entertainment venues and it will not compete with Frisco. The project named “Project Global” is in the exploratory stage and the Greenville Board of Development has been working with Global Entertainment Corporation to determine that a need and market exist in Greenville. There are 30,000 residents in Greenville, 100,000 in Hunt County and 600,000 in a 40 miles radius. Robert Winningham, director of the Greenville Board of Development, wants Greenville to become a destination and mentioned that other projects are being discussed.The next stage of the process is raising the funds needed between both the public and private sectors. Global Entertainment is a company engaged in sports management, arena and related real estate development, facility and venue management, marketing and venue tracking and brand licensing. Global Entertainment owns the Central Hockey League and the rights to the Forth Worth Brahmas. The Brahmas and the City of Fort Worth have stopped renegotiations with the city concerning lease renewal. The Brahmas have announced that they will be taking the 2006-2007 season off to look for a better deal.“There is speculation that the Fort Worth Brahmans would play here,” said Robert Winningham. “The arena is one that a professional hockey team would play in. It does not have to be the Brahmas but could be a totally new team. I know that a hockey team is definitely going to be in the mix here guaranteeing us 32 home games excluding playoffs.

In other words, Greenville will be given an arena by Global Entertainment to house the Fort Worth Brahmas. This is a team that could have moved to East Texas and had more success than in it's previous city. For a review, the population of Greenville according to 2005 Census Estimates is 25,637 which is up from 23, 960 5 years ago. Clearly the area is not growing as fast as McKinney (pop. 96,581) and Frisco (70,793), two of the fastest growing areas in the state located in an adjacent county from Greenville, but 31.6 miles and 46.8 miles away, respectively (that's not interstate driving either. In fact, Greenville is located 29.2 miles from Rockwall, which most see as the current Eastern edge of the metroplex.

Greenville is located in Hunt County, population of approximately 100,000. Total. Kapesh?

This team will not make it in Greenville. The building of a 5,000 seat arena there is completely unwarranted. I don't know what the CHL was thinking. Oh wait, they weren't.