Charlotte Hornets creates a “buzz” with new floor design
The Charlotte Hornets unveiled their brand new basketball court today at Time Warner Cable Arena just in time for draft day. The new court is a Robbins All-Star Plus portable basketball floor which features the new logo and color palette for the Hornets. Over 250 honeycomb shaped stencils were used to create the unique honeycomb stain pattern which was manufactured and finished at the Robbins flooring mill in Ishpeming, located on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The floor also features Robbins revolutionary new “no loose parts” locking system, Rapid Latch™, which is designed to speed up arena change-overs and provide the floor with a tight, monolithic appearance.
The wood playing surface is MFMA Northern Hard Maple known for its beauty and durability, and was harvested from Northern U.S. forests. The floor is designed to enhance the safety, comfort and performance of the athlete, and will absorb about 60% of an athlete’s impact energy while at the same time provide a dynamic surface for ball-bounce. The intent of the floor is to provide a surface which allows for exciting play while at the same time, reducing wear and tear on the athletes’ bodies.
The 7,000 sq ft floor took nearly 3 weeks to manufacture, and once set-up, the unique graphics took 3 weeks to complete. Robbins worked closely with the Hornets to keep the stunning new graphics under wraps for nearly 8 months until the floor was unveiled today. “We are thrilled with the look of our new Charlotte Hornets playing court,” said Hornets Senior Vice President of Marketing Seth Bennett. “Robbins did a great job with making all of the graphics on the floor stand out, especially our Hornets logo that appears at center court. Along with being visually appealing, the court is one that will also benefit our players by providing a more comfortable playing surface. We could not have asked for a better partner for the playing floor than Robbins.”
We are not the only ones excited about the new floor. Hornets fans already seem to love the new design. Within 3 hours of posting the new floor photos on Facebook, the Hornets had almost 6,000 likes and over 1,000 shares. We think it is safe to say, Hornets fans are equally “buzzed” with excitement about the floor. Robbins was honored to have been chosen to partner with the Hornets for this exciting project. We look forward to watching the team play on the new floor and wish them great success in the 2014 – ‘15 NBA season.
Click here to learn more about the All Star Portable flooring system, or contact us at 1-800-543-1913 to speak with a Robbins representative in your area.
