CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The co-owners of the NBA's Hornets have sold the Charlotte Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League to investors led by original Checkers owners Carl Scheer and Felix Sabates.

The new ownership group on Tuesday announced it purchased the Checkers from Big Play Entertainment, a company owned by Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge. Shinn and Wooldridge got the go-ahead earlier this month to move the Hornets to New Orleans.

Scheer and Sabates bought the Checkers in 1993 and owned them until 1996. Big Play Entertainment bought the team from Tim Braswell in April 2000.

The new ownership group also said it has established a lease agreement keeping the Checkers in Charlotte's Cricket Arena for five years.

Scheer, currently the owner of the 2002 ECHL champion Greenville (S.C.) and the Carolina Rhinos of Arenafootball2, formerly was an executive with the Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Scheer also was commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association for two years in the mid-1980s.

Sabates is a co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing with a NASCAR race team.

Bob Scheer will serve as the franchise president.

The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.