Bucks Owner Wants to Keep Team in Milwaukee and a New Arena

During the introductory press conference for new head coach Larry Drew, Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl used the opportunity to once again make it clear that he desperately wants a new stadium built. Kohl says this is the most critical element in order for the Bucks to stay in Milwaukee. Per the Journal Sentinel: “Kohl talked about his team and the importance of getting a new building at a news conference Monday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center to introduce Bucks coach Larry Drew. The 78-year-old owner, who sat in the audience with members of Drew’s family, fielded questions from reporters from his seat after Drew and Bucks general manager John Hammond had spoken. Kohl is confident a new arena will be built to replace the $91 million Bradley Center, which opened on Oct. 1, 1988. Kohl said it was matter of when a new arena will be built, not if it will be built. ‘We have to find a way and we will find a way,’ Kohl said. ‘We know we have to find a way to a new facility and we will. The question is when and how. But we will because that is the future of not only the Bucks … Milwaukee and Wisconsin need a 21st century sports and entertainment complex.’ Kohl said repeatedly during his remarks that the new facility is not just for his basketball team — in a manner Miller Park is for the Brewers and Lambeau Field is for the Packers — but a multiple-purpose entertainment center. ‘The Bucks are part of it, and they are a key part of it, one of the anchor tenants,’ Kohl said. ‘But we take 40 or 41 or 42 dates a year. And a facility holds upwards of 200 events in a year. So it’s really important not just for basketball but for the community, for economic development, to get a 21st century facility that is comparable to what is found in many, many other medium and large cities in this country. We have to get there. It’s important for our community and our state to get there. And along with that, that will see to it that the Bucks stay here. They sort of need each other. A facility needs the Bucks, and the Bucks need a facility. We are determined to get there.'”