NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, left, speaks as Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, right, listens during a news conference, Tuesday, June 23, 2015, to announce Charlotte, North Carolina, as the site of the 2017 NBA All-Star basketball game. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
After losing its won bid to host next year’s NBA All-star weekend, the city of Charlotte remains committed to bring the festivities to town.
The Charlotte City Council voted on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) to offer the league the same incentives for NBA All-Star 2019, which had been originally agreed upon for the 2017 event, Charlotte Observer reported.
According to the proposed deal, the city, along with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, will jointly spend up to $600,000 to support the weekend festivities.
“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 council proclaimed in its agenda.
The Queen City was supposed be home for the All-Star Weekend 2017, but the league opted to move the games to New Orleans after North Carolina legislators failed to amend a controversial bill that limited protections for the Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.
READ: NBA to move All-Star Game from Charlotte over LGBT law
The 2018 event, meanwhile, was already awarded to Los Angeles, but NBA executives are reportedly leaving the door open for the possibility of Charlotte hosting in 2019.
The league remains true to its stand against discrimination, and would only allow the hosting if an “appropriate resolution” to the controversial HB2 bill is passed by that time. Khristian Ibarrola