Charlotte Bobcats To Become Charlotte Hornets?

By Rick Bonnell - rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com

So, if the Hornets nickname became available, would the Bobcats be interested in acquiring it?

"It's not something we've even contemplated," Charlotte Bobcats President Fred Whitfield said. "We wouldn't contemplate that as a possibility unless we knew it could be a reality."

The New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte's original NBA team, have been sold to the NBA, which will broker a sale to a new owner, either in New Orleans or elsewhere. Many fans in Charlotte still have a sentimental attachment to "Hornets."

A blog on charlotteobserver.com Tuesday drew 100 comments - many of them emphatic - on whether the Bobcats should change their name to Hornets. As a former Hornets season ticket holder, Whitfield gets that. But he thinks this is about more than a name.

"More about the feeling you got from the energy in that building," Whitfield said. "When Michael (Jordan) bought the team, he said, 'I want Time Warner Cable Arena to have that same feeling Charlotte Coliseum had when I played there'" as a Chicago Bull.

Whitfield said the team has commissioned a market survey to gauge what fans want in game presentation.

"Not make any decisions in a vacuum," Whitfield said. "Michael wants to listen to fans in every way."

As to renaming the team or rebranding the product in other ways, Whitfield said that's a more complicated process than fans probably realize.

"When you do something that massive, it changes everything at the league level - we're talking about authentic jerseys," Whitfield said.

"The expense is in the millions and it takes several years to work out. New uniforms, new colors - and all that goes through Adidas (the Bobcats uniform-supplier).

"It's everything from a new uniform to every sign" connected to your name and logo.