NEW ORLEANS -- Although impressed by a presentation from this city's power brokers, NBA commissioner David Stern said hurdles remain for relocating the Hornets from Charlotte.

Stern visited New Orleans on Wednesday with a committee of NBA owners who will recommend whether the move should be approved. He said the Hornets owners and local officials still must prove the city and the region can support an NBA team long-term.

"Our concerns about sustained support were mitigated to some degree by the presentation we saw today," Stern said at a news conference after meeting with Gov. Mike Foster, Mayor Marc Morial, Mayor-elect Ray Nagin, two U.S. Senators and a large state legislative delegation.

However, more multiyear corporate sponsorship agreements are needed, along with more commitments for club seats, suites and general seating tickets, Stern said.

The team's announcement last week that it had sold 55 luxury suites and 8,121 season tickets was not totally documented, Stern said. Too many of the sales were in the upper levels of the arena, Stern said, rather in the more expensive club seats in the lower levels.

To allay league worries about the long-term viability of moving the team to New Orleans, the Hornets must sell between 2,000 and 2,400 club seats, which are sold on three- to five-year agreements, and increase corporate sponsorships, Stern said.

"If the benchmarks that have been set, in respect to sponsorships and ticket sales are met, in my view, the committee would likely vote to approve the relocation," Stern said.

The Hornets have sold 1,232 club seats and have two corporate sponsors that have "multiyear, multimillion dollar agreements," Hornets co-owner Ray Wooldridge said.

"We're making excellent progress," Wooldridge said. "The bottom line is we need the city of New Orleans and the region to step up and finish the commitment we made to sell 2,400 club seats and continue the momentum on the sales of general seating."

NBA owners are expected to vote on the move April 8 or 9. The Hornets need support from at least 15 of the league's 29 teams.

Stern and the committee toured the state-owned New Orleans arena, built in the 1990s with an eye toward attracting the NBA.

"I haven't talked to the owners, but I believe, as you walk through it, it's a first-class arena," Stern said. However, the arena was not the sole factor in the decision, he cautioned.

Business and political leaders sought to paint a rosy picture of the tourist-based New Orleans-area economy and its potential for growth. They told the visitors the state has invested in biomedical and other technology industries. Foster also has pushed plans to upgrade port facilities along the Mississippi.

"It was one of the most impressive presentations we have had about an area that is undergoing revitalization," Stern said.

His reaction left city leaders optimistic.

"I think we can look forward to becoming an NBA city in the near future," Nagin said.

In about two months, the team has sold more than 8,000 season tickets and 55 luxury suites, with the nine remaining suites to be sold to companies that sign up as corporate sponsors.

The Hornets owners, George Shinn and Wooldridge, have said a major problem with the Charlotte Coliseum is that it has only 12 suites, which limits revenue.

On the relocation committee are: Jerry Colangelo of Phoenix, Jerry Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers, Gordon Gund of Cleveland, Peter Holt of San Antonio, Lewis Katz of New Jersey, Herb Simon of Indiana and Ed Snider of Philadelphia.

Gund did not attend Wednesday's meetings because of a prior commitment.