Sports Editors/Basketball Writers & Columnists
NEW YORK--(BW SportsWire)--August 22, 2000
NBA City, the league's completely original and innovative restaurant based in Orlando, Florida, has announced a partnership with Ralph Burnet/RWB Financial. Under the terms of the agreement, Burnet will assume control of the existing NBA City in Orlando, as well as the future development of NBA-themed restaurants throughout the world.
Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc., which has owned and operated NBA City since its launch in September 1999, has relinquished its development rights for NBA City, as well as its ownership of the existing Orlando restaurant, in an effort to continue its strategy of focusing on its core business.
"We are excited to announce this partnership with Ralph Burnet and his team. Ralph has achieved success in one business after another and we look forward to the development of numerous NBA City restaurants on a global basis," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. "Hard Rock Cafe has done a terrific job in developing and launching NBA City in Orlando and it is unfortunate that unrelated circumstances prevent them from continuing the development on a global basis. We are thankful to them for positioning NBA City for the international success that I know it will achieve under Ralph's leadership."
"NBA City is already a proven winner," said Ralph Burnet, chairman of RWB Financial. "I'm extremely excited to further develop this authentic concept in partnership with a world-class brand like the NBA."
Ralph Burnet founded Burnet Financial in 1973, which operates real estate, mortgage banking, title and casualty insurance, and office building development ventures. Burnet also founded the Burnet Senior Classic, which is the most charitable golf tournament on the Senior PGA Tour, with contributions eclipsing $5 million dollars in the past eight years.
NBA City, a 17,000 square foot restaurant located at Universal Orlando's CityWalk entertainment district in Orlando, Florida, includes:
- The CityWalk Cage is a two-level, 275-seat dining room featuring NBA and WNBA black and white photography and a floor-to-ceiling basketball mural. Two 10 x 15 foot video screens display exclusive NBA City programming, highlighting the greatest moments in the NBA and WNBA. From Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, the greatest moments, performances and rivalries of the NBA come to life at NBA City. - The 75-seat NBA City Club offers a full menu in a hip and upscale atmosphere. Couches, banquette seating and leather chairs set the tone, and floor-to-ceiling windows provide a spectacular view of the CityWalk lagoon and plaza. Plasma television monitors broadcast live NBA and WNBA action, as well as selections from the NBA's archive of classic games.
- The 2,100 square-foot NBA City Playground features
custom-developed basketball attractions and a fantasy photo
take-home product that puts guests right in the middle of game
action.
- The NBA City Shop features a line of Orlando-specific NBA City
merchandise as well as the best of NBA and WNBA licensed products.
Guests can also purchase personalized NBA and WNBA jerseys.
The NBA is composed of 29 teams in the United States and Canada and is the model for professional sports in league operations, public service and global marketing. NBA games and programming were broadcast to 205 countries in 42 languages for the 1999-2000 season. NBA Entertainment (NBAE) -- the Emmy Award-winning production and programming division of the NBA and WNBA -- is one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world. NBAE produces NBA.com TV, the NBA's 24-hour television network, and several weekly television shows, and creates exclusive content for NBA.com, WNBA.com, the 29 team sites of the NBA and the 16 team sites of the WNBA. For more information on the NBA, visit www.nba.com.
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