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Magic Blames 11-Year-Old Arena for Losing $38 Mil in Last Four Years

ORLANDO-Rich DeVos, the billionaire owner of the local National Basketball Association franchise, says the city-owned, 7,000-sf TD Waterhouse Centre is too old, too small and too outdated to draw big-spending corporate sponsors.

By Alex Finkelstein | Updated on December 15, 2000

ORLANDO-In an unprecedented move and with hopes of swaying the city into building a new arena, Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos is disclosing for the first time that his team has lost $38 million over the last four years and probably will lose another $10 million a year over the next two seasons playing at the Downtown 11-year-old, 17,000-sf TD Waterhouse Centre.

DeVos blames a limited number of skyboxes and expensive club seats, falling attendance and rising player salaries for the Magic’s financial dilemma. The city says public sentiment isn’t supporting the construction of a new $250-million basketball court and that, although the city doesn’t want to lose the Magic, DeVos will have to solve his own money problems.

For example, the influential 5,000-member Central Florida Hotel Motel Association is adamant against using any part of tourist tax money for a new sports house. The hoteliers feel the tourist tax should be used to promote the hospitality business, not sports.

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