City Council extends 2017 agreement with NBA for possible 2019 All-Star Game

The Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to offer the NBA the same incentives for the 2019 All-Star Game, should the league decide to bring the game to Charlotte.

The NBA was scheduled to play its 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte in February. But the league moved the game to New Orleans this summer because of House Bill 2, the controversial state law that nullified Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that extended legal protections to gay, lesbian and transgender individuals.

The league said Charlotte could host the 2019 game if the law were repealed or changed.

Interim City Manager Ron Kimble said the Charlotte Hornets felt it would be beneficial to formally tell the NBA that the city’s offer still stands. The main part of the agreement is that the city and the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority have agreed to spend up to $600,000 to support the game.

“In an effort to avoid having to negotiate various agreements, including the City Services Agreement, from scratch, the NBA, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, the Hornets Basketball, LLC, and the city have developed a letter agreement that provides that the material terms and conditions of the agreements would apply in substantially similar force and effect with respect to the 2019 All-Star Game weekend should the NBA award the game to Charlotte,” the city said in its agenda.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 8:19 AM with the headline "City Council extends 2017 agreement with NBA for possible 2019 All-Star Game."