re: How secure are the Pelicans in NO?

First, the national TV money is HUGE. In the bad old days when we thought the team was under constant threat of leaving, the players were taking 57% of $900 million leaving about $13 million for each team from the national TV deal. The new deal will average $2.66 Billion per year and the players cut is down to 51% giving each team $43 million from the TV deal, an increase $30 million. So imagine the Shinn Hornets worst season and give them $30 million extra, do you think they'd need to leave to make ends meet? That's not even taking increased revenue sharing and franchise valuations into account.

I was going to make other points like Benson supposedly bought the team for they synergy with his other properties, not to mention having 2 teams gives him more leverage when negotiating with the state/city, but I think I'll just leave it at the TV deal. That's a lot of extra money to put your mind at ease.