NBA City Restaurant to Open at Target CenterSeptember 22, 2005
The National Basketball Association today announced that NBA City Restaurants, the NBA's venture into themed dining, has signed an agreement to open an NBA-themed restaurant in Target Center, the home of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The new NBA City in Target Center is set to open February 2006, it was announced by Ralph Burnet, owner and chairman of NBA City Restaurants and Timberwolves limited partner.
NBA City in Target Center will be the second NBA-themed restaurant in the U.S. and will be patterned on the successful original NBA City venue, which opened in September 1999 in Orlando at Universal Studio's CityWalk. An estimated 500,000 people travel through NBA City's doors each year to enjoy a unique dining and entertainment experience, and the restaurant was voted Orlando's Best Theme Restaurant by the Orlando Sentinel.
"The strength of the NBA brand and the consistent quality of NBA City's food and service has made it one of the most visited restaurant destinations in Orlando," said Burnet. "We realized from its increasing popularity that the time is right to bring that experience to new markets, and with Minneapolis's affinity for basketball and great food, it is the perfect place for our domestic expansion to begin."
NBA City will be situated on the east side of the Target Center, easily accessible from the street level or by Skyway. The restaurant will have a seating capacity of 300 with a bar that will seat 50 and features state-of-the-art, high-definition televisions.
"We look forward to opening in the Target Center and providing the same high quality, entertainment experience that the Orlando restaurant has offered since it opened," said NBA City President Jim Stanley. "Since its inception, our goal with NBA City has been to change common expectations of the themed dining experience by providing exceptional food and service comparable to places charging twice the price."
In addition, Timberwolves courtside season ticket holders will receive added benefits associated with NBA City. These amenities will include:
· Personalized locker in a members-only locker room inside NBA City
· Guaranteed dinner reservations at NBA City up to 48 hours before any game or Target Center event
· Valet parking to games and Target Center events
· Guaranteed Timberwolves premium items on giveaway nights
· Priority access to purchase tickets, up to equal number on your account, to Target Center events
· Dedicated Courtside Club Members hotline to service club and account needs
· Exclusive member-only annual gift from the Wolves & Target Center
"We're extremely pleased that Ralph has decided to make Target Center the home of the second NBA City in the country," said Timberwolves CEO Rob Moor. "This will provide another benefit to our season ticket holders and our fans by adding an another state-of-the-art upgrade to Target Center."
NBA City provides a complete entertainment package, including an interactive game area where guests can test their basketball skills, a retail store where guests can shop for their favorite NBA merchandise, and a restaurant where diners can enjoy great food and drink while watching their favorite sporting events and programming produced by the NBA exclusively for NBA City.
NBA City continues Target Center's two-plus year "Extreme Makeover." Over the course of the past two years, Target Center has added a new center-hung scoreboard, LED and Ribbon Board system, a Timberwolves team store in the Skyway level, Club Cambria in the suite level and new seats throughout the building. Additionally, improvements to the building's acoustics system will be coming this fall.