Sonics being sold

[path12]

Waiting for the press conference. All I've heard is that the buyer is from Oklahoma City.

[Franklinnoble]

http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/it/ga/sonic.gif

[Franklinnoble]

http://spaflyer.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/soniclogo.jpg

[SirFozzie]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Streetfighter_guile_illust.png

SONIC BOOM!

[GoSeahawks]

Paul Allen will buy them. I've heard this rumor for too long now.

[path12]

Paul Allen will buy them. I've heard this rumor for too long now.

Nope. Done deal with an Oklahoma City group. They "pledge" to work on a new arena deal for 12 months. Just about the time the Hornets are scheduled to go back to N.O.

Yeah, surrrrrrrrrre they're gonna work on a deal. Not like it'd have a chance of getting through a vote anyway.

[Swaggs]

Paul Allen will buy them. I've heard this rumor for too long now.

They were just sold... and not to Paul Allen.

[Franklinnoble]

I thought Paul Allen owned the Blazers?

[Johnny Slick]

Paul Allen will buy them. I've heard this rumor for too long now.You know that Paul Allen already owns the Blazers, right? Anyway, I think that, from the standpoint of the NBA, moving a team from Seattle to Oklahoma City would be really, really stupid, bad stadium deal or no bad stadium deal. The only reason the NBA would allow this is as a threat to the city to cave in, and when the alternative is Oklahoma City, that's really no threat.

[GoSeahawks]

Wow, that's actually surprising. I've been hearing that Allen wanted out of Portland so he could buy another Seattle franchise.

[Johnny Slick]

From what I hear, the Blazers are losing even more money than the Sonics. Maybe he'll move them up to Seattle after the Sonics leave...

[miami_fan]

SEATTLE -- A group from Oklahoma City has agreed to buy the Seattle SuperSonics and the Seattle Storm, the Sonics said Tuesday.

The Basketball Club of Seattle, which owns the Sonics and the WNBA's Storm, will sell the team to the Professional Basketball Club LLC, headed by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett. Bennett said at an afternoon news conference in Seattle that whether the Sonics remain in Seattle for the long term would depend on whether the team can reach an agreement with the city to replace or renovate KeyArena.

"It is not our intention to move or relocate the teams," Bennett said.

Marianne Bichsel, a spokeswoman for Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer that the city plans to hold the Sonics to their lease, which expires in 2010.

No price was immediately reported, but Sonics majority owner Howard Schultz said the team turned down higher bids from groups that sought to move the Sonics immediately.

"It is really impossible to communicate how difficult this decision has been for us to make," Schultz said.

Bennett, who was previously on the San Antonio Spurs' board of directors, was instrumental in the temporary relocation of the New Orleans Hornets to Oklahoma City following Hurricane Katrina and emerged as a potential investor in the Hornets.


In February, Schultz threatened to move or sell the city's oldest major-league professional sports franchise, saying the team has lost about $60 million in the past five years.

Team officials have blamed a revenue-sharing lease at KeyArena with the city of Seattle that lasts until 2010. The lease was called the worst in the NBA by commissioner David Stern.

Following an April 5 meeting of the team's ownership group, team president Wally Walker said the organization would retain advisers to examine different options. Those choices included possibly building a new arena in the Seattle region -- most likely in the eastern suburbs of Bellevue and Renton -- or selling the team.

Potential suitors from outside the region included Oklahoma City, San Jose, Calif., and Kansas City, Mo. In February, Schultz said an unidentified city offered the team a "blank check" to move the Sonics.

The Basketball Club of Seattle purchased the Sonics and the WNBA's Storm in 2001 for $200 million. The current owners said they have no interest in owning a franchise that doesn't play in the area.

The organization unsuccessfully lobbied the state Legislature, asking for an extension of taxes that helped build the Seahawks' Qwest Field and the Mariners' Safeco Field.

Gov. Chris Gregoire tried to help broker a deal with the Legislature earlier this year, but lawmakers adjourned in March without taking action on the Sonics' $220 million proposal.

In April, the team told city officials the franchise would contribute at least $18 million toward arena renovations and called for a resolution by the end of May. That deadline passed with no action taken.

The team said if improvements were made, the Sonics would enter a new 20-year lease with the city; would manage and operate the arena and pay rent to the city at no less than $1 million per year; and would take on all operating risk of the arena, including all operating costs and routine maintenance. In return, the organization would keep all revenues.

Nickels and the Seattle City Council responded with a letter saying that any public contribution to an arena remodel must be put to a public vote and that the public share come from visitor taxes collected countywide.

Seattle-area residents appear frustrated with repeated appeals for taxpayer support of professional sports franchises. A group called Citizens for More Important Things recently announced that it had enough voter signatures to put a measure on this fall's city ballot opposing the Sonics' push for stadium improvements and a new lease.

The Sonics will begin their 40th season this fall.

The Hornets received strong support from Oklahoma City after being displaced following Hurricane Katrina. Half of the Hornets' 36 games at the Ford Center were sold out and average attendance was 18,717 -- the 11th-highest total in the league and about 500 less than capacity.

Michael Thompson, the Hornets' director of corporate communications, said season ticket sales are projected to exceed last year's totals and the team is working on extending agreements with sponsors in the city, which is hosting a major-league sports franchise for the first time.

"That's the mark of a major-league market, is to step up year after year," Thompson said. "Oklahoma City is starting to prove that."

During a visit to a Hornets game in November, Stern said Oklahoma City was "at the top of the list" if an expansion team became available.

The Hornets will play 35 games in Oklahoma City and six in New Orleans this season. Stern has said the Hornets will return to New Orleans for the 2007-08 season.

"It doesn't change anything," Thompson said. "Our goal, our plan from Day One has been to return to New Orleans."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Well this is interesting. The thought was that despite all the talk, the Hornets were destined for OKC.

[Franklinnoble]

Does anyone in Seattle care if they leave?

The Kings are threatening to move from Sacramento, and I could care less. I think it's more important for civic leaders not to get bent over the barrel for the sake of subsidising a multi-million dollar sports franchise that has questionable economic impact, at best.

[miami_fan]

I wonder how much this has to do with the relationship between the city and Schultz as opposed to the relationship between the city and the Sonics.

[Young Drachma]

David Stern probably had a big hand in ushering this one in. Wonder if the Kings will move back to KC, with that new arena going up and OKC being taken.

[Schmidty]

I don't like Seattle at all, but I think this is a damned shame. Their fans deserve much better. At the same time, the people around here really only support the Mariners, and the Seahawks (when they're winning), so I guess it's kind of their own fault.

[Desnudo]

Does anyone in Seattle care if they leave?

The Kings are threatening to move from Sacramento, and I could care less. I think it's more important for civic leaders not to get bent over the barrel for the sake of subsidising a multi-million dollar sports franchise that has questionable economic impact, at best.

Not being a Seattle native, my view may not be entirely accurate, but pro sports in general in Seattle are sort of viewed with a collective meh. Unless things are going well, in which case said team will sell out for a while. The only thing that really matters in this town is UW football and even that isn't much to write home about since the Dawgs have stunk it up so much recently.

Of course the Oklahoma City Sonics will never have a mascot to the match Sasquatch or Ichiro firing t-shirts into the crowd, so that'll be missed.

[path12]

The Sonics have been down, but Seattle has become a pretty good sports town generally IMO. I think though that after building Safeco and Qwest fields that there was some public fatigue to feeling held hostage again by a pro sports franchise. That said, the ownership is by no means blameless -- they've run this team on the cheap since they got here, let a very popular former player turned coach leave for Portland, haven't really done much as far as winning goes, and has been incredibly ham-handed in their negotiation attempts.

So, I'm sorry to see them leave even though I'm not a big NBA fan, because I do see professional sports franchises as a valuable thing for a city, and I grew up with them as a kid. But there's no way they were going to win a vote for a new arena, and there's no way they're gonna draw more than a dozen people a game next year now.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Won't miss 'em. I'm tired of private business with the hand out for subsidies. See 'ya. If they even leave that is. Either afford the stadium or upgrades on your own or get your fukkin' league (like the NFL) to help finance.

The one thing you never hear about is when a city caves, the team gets a sweet asset (subsidized stadium or lease), then owner sells shortly thereafter after seeing the team reap the increased value to the asset. Hmm, does the owner ever cut a part of that check back to the city. Not.

And while I understand the whole economic spin off theory, at some point the size of the subsidy is just too much.

Hey, this is America - sink or swim on your own baby.

[Schmidty]

So, I'm sorry to see them leave even though I'm not a big NBA fan, because I do see professional sports franchises as a valuable thing for a city, and I grew up with them as a kid. But there's no way they were going to win a vote for a new arena, and there's no way they're gonna draw more than a dozen people a game next year now.

No offense, but this paragraph pretty much sums up why I say the things I do. I come from the midwest, and there is absolutely no way this would happen. Same thing goes for the rest of the area east of the Mississippi.

Barring a few instances (Texas, Mariners, Oakland), there just really isn't much passion for professional sports.

[path12]

No offense, but this paragraph pretty much sums up why I say the things I do. I come from the midwest, and there is absolutely no way this would happen. Same thing goes for the rest of the area east of the Mississippi.

Barring a few instances (Texas, Mariners, Oakland), there just really isn't much passion for professional sports.

No offense taken, but I do recall the Twins stadium vote failing a few times, as I believe happened in Milwaukee as well. And Seattle has spent nearly a billion dollars on two fantastic stadiums.

[Schmidty]

No offense taken, but I do recall the Twins stadium vote failing a few times, as I believe happened in Milwaukee as well. And Seattle has spent nearly a billion dollars on two fantastic stadiums.

Very good point.

Luckily, I'm from Michigan, and don't really think of Minnesota very much. :)

[miami_fan]

Didn't the city offer the Sonics the choice of either renovating Key Arena or building a new one? For some reason, I remember reading something similar to that.

[LloydLungs]

Well this is interesting. The thought was that despite all the talk, the Hornets were destined for OKC.

Since around February, I have been very comfortable that the Hornets were returning to New Orleans. Then, with the awarding of the '08 All Star game to New Orleans, more solid statements from the NBA (Joel Litvin: "The decision has been made") and finally the firing of pro-OKC team president Paul Mott, it became 100% clear for anybody closely following the whole saga.

It's done -- New Orleans gets its team back barring another horrendous disaster (which would now likely force the Hornets to go somewhere else besides OKC). Oklahoma City will get the Sonics, likely in 2007-08 -- Clay Bennett's preposterous claim that they intend to keep the team in Seattle is laughable. Here's an Oklahoma businessman who has been crusading for an NBA team in OKC for a long time, since before Katrina. He's been trying to talk George Shinn into selling majority interest in the Hornets ever since the storm. Realizing that wasn't going to happen, he bought the Sonics, and there is NO WAY Clay Bennett bought an NBA team so they could play in *Seattle*.

They will keep the charade up for a little while, so as to try and keep the 2006-07 season from being an attendance catastrophe in Seattle (probably won't work), and also to keep OKC from cooling on the Hornets support too soon (probably will work, although a slightly earlier-than-expected return to New Orleans wouldn't shock me).

Ultimately New Orleans was saved by its horrible owners -- the NFL would have been more than happy to move the Saints to Los Angeles with a new owner, but they didn't want San Antonio and certainly didn't want the idiot Benson running an L.A. franchise. And David Stern did not want Shinn in OKC to ruin THAT market along with the other two he's already screwed up (and I guarantee OKC will be a very solid NBA market).

I'm not surprised at all the way it's worked out, just a bit surprised how early this Sonics thing has happened.

[vex]

You know that Paul Allen already owns the Blazers, right? Anyway, I think that, from the standpoint of the NBA, moving a team from Seattle to Oklahoma City would be really, really stupid, bad stadium deal or no bad stadium deal. The only reason the NBA would allow this is as a threat to the city to cave in, and when the alternative is Oklahoma City, that's really no threat.

You know that OKC was 11th in ticket sales this past season, right?

[Schmidty]

You know that OKC was 11th in ticket sales this past season, right?

There is always excitement when a team first debuts in a city, so that means absolutlely zero to me.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I hate to take a shot at my favorite team, but...

If a team does end up in Oklahoma City permanently, it won't be the worst NBA destination in recent memory. I don't think any move could be nearly as bad as the Grizzlies getting stuck in Memphis. Memphis is not the right place for pro basketball. From what I'm hearing about this past season, Oklahoma City is light years ahead in terms of support and general interest in the NBA. If Memphis could get a team, OKC certainly deserves one.

[stkelly52]

Right now the Sonics still have 3 years left on their lease with Seattle. Everything I am hearing is that the city is going to force them to live up the that. Seems like a long time for a lame duck team to me.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I'm sure you'll see the lease bought out. They're gone next year. Ticket sales will go in the toilet. It's over. And the comment above that to actually believe Bennet who has been crusading for an OKC team wants to give Seattle a try is preposterous is right on the money. People on radio in KC are already planning the welcoming party.

I also heard that Seattle City made 3 offers, one that included a serious refurbishment of the arena and Seattle Center, but required Schultz to put in 50 million of his own money (which he clearly recoup down the road). His response: "I don't think the city (a public entity by the way) ought to be disclosing 'confidential' negotiations."

[Johnny Slick]

You know that OKC was 11th in ticket sales this past season, right?And Milwaukee led major league baseball in attendance for several years in the 1950s. Do you really think that Milwaukee is a better baseball town than San Francisco or Atlanta or Houston?

Once the novelty wears off, the unfortunate fact that Seattle is a mid-major market and Oklahoma City is tiny will come to hurt the "Sonics" and the NBA in general.

[Johnny Slick]

I'm sure you'll see the lease bought out. They're gone next year. Ticket sales will go in the toilet. It's over. And the comment above that to actually believe Bennet who has been crusading for an OKC team wants to give Seattle a try is preposterous is right on the money. People on radio in KC are already planning the welcoming party.

I also heard that Seattle City made 3 offers, one that included a serious refurbishment of the arena and Seattle Center, but required Schultz to put in 50 million of his own money (which he clearly recoup down the road). His response: "I don't think the city (a public entity by the way) ought to be disclosing 'confidential' negotiations."I predict that Seattle is going to be really, really jerkish about this. If the Sonics even try to skip town, expect lots of litigation from the city. It's what we did when the Pilots left (and were eventually awarded the Mariners to appease us) and when the Seahawks tried to leave. It will get very, very ugly very, very quickly, and the end result will likely be the city of Seattle ending up with a (possibly new) franchise that we don't really want, the NBA with a huge black eye, and a team in Oklahoma city that the fans will support for 5-7 years before reality sets in.

What's going to happen then? Do the Oklahoma City Sonics become the St. Louis Sonics (which would at least be a positive move)? Or do they become the vagabond Sonics: the Wichita Sonics for a few years, then the Vancouver Sonics, then the Buffalo Sonics, then the Troy Sonics... you get the idea. Whichever city is dumb enough to finance a new stadium for them on their own gets the team, no matter how small the host city is. This is a potentially horrible scenario for the NBA and the only real way they can stop it is to help subsidize a stadium in the city the team is in right now. And of course, Stern doesn't want to get in the habit of doing *that* because new stadia are supposed to be one of those expenses the league or its constituents doesn't have to pay for.

By the way... Seattle fans are big-time frontrunners, but this is in large part because of the way they've been treated by their teams. It took a long, long time for baseball in Seattle to grow because of the Pilots debacle, the horrible way the Mariners were run under Danny Kaye, and the penny-pinching, franchise-moving ways of George Argyros. By the time the team got an owner who was willing and able to invest in the team and the city it was very nearly too late. The Seahawks sold out every single non-strike game except one between their inception in 1976 and the 1992 season when they finished 2-14 and, what is worse, talk began to circulate that owner Ken Behring wanted to move the team to Oakland. They actually did pack up and leave but were ordered back. If Hawks fans seem to show little loyalty now, remember this and ask yourself: why should a city feel loyal to a franchise that shows no loyalty to them?

The Sonics, ironically, are probably the team that's seen the least of this chicanery, although Schultz has been complaining and threatening to sell for so long that it IMO eroded what good feeling he had with the city of Seattle. Ask the city of Miami what it feels like when an owner does this year after year after year and then justifies its mediocrity by blaming the fans. Heck, the Marlins haven't even been mediocre a couple years in the past decade and they still can't draw flies.

[Desnudo]

My initial, selfish reaction was "sweet, traffic won't be as much of a pain at my exit 40 days a year anymore."

[LloydLungs]

Right now the Sonics still have 3 years left on their lease with Seattle. Everything I am hearing is that the city is going to force them to live up the that. Seems like a long time for a lame duck team to me.

Clay Bennett is loaded and Seattle will get a nice payday as part of a buyout after next season. I would suspect that's how it will go down, but we will see. The real world doesn't operate like FOF and lame duck teams don't play multiple seasons in a lame duck city. Something will be worked out, and probably already has been worked out behind the scenes to some extent. All that's left is the cynical posturing from Bennett (and Shinn) to milk as much money as possible out of the current arrangements in Seattle, OKC, and New Orleans before the obvious conclusion is reached -- the 2007-08 OKC Sonics and New Orleans Hornets.

Regarding markets, OKC is a small market but I think it will be a good one. Really solid corporate support, and the NBA loves NBA-only markets even though they're small. Now, the 05-06 Hornets were a perfect starter team for a new city -- young, fresh, no spoiled brats, surprising playoff contention for most of the season. This is not really the norm for the NBA (Mashburn and particularly Baron Davis' poisonous attitudes ruined the 2003-05 stretch in New Orleans). It will be interesting to see how OKC deals with their first lousy malcontent-ridden team (whenever it may happen, and it will)... but I think they'll be alright.

[Johnny Slick]

Will the payday be large enough for Seattle to build a new basketball arena with it to attract the Trailblazers? Because seriously... outside of that, I think you underestimate the City of Seattle's willingness and ability to litigate.

[LloydLungs]

Will the payday be large enough for Seattle to build a new basketball arena with it to attract the Trailblazers? Because seriously... outside of that, I think you underestimate the City of Seattle's willingness and ability to litigate.

Well, maybe I do -- I had the impression that the city had determined that the team's demands were too much and were thus not particularly interested in keeping them around.

I guess I'm unsure what's in it for the city of Seattle to fight Bennett on this, because they ARE going to leave town. Would it rather keep a completely unsupported lame duck team around until 2010, or would it rather just accept a hefty buyout after next season? I realize this is an oversimplification, but my educated guess is that Stern has the clout to make sure something is worked out so that he will not have a wheezing, flailing franchise sitting in Seattle over multiple years just waiting for the legal go-ahead to bolt.

I could be wrong -- it would be unprecented in pro sports, but I certainly could be.

[Johnny Slick]

Well, maybe I do -- I had the impression that the city had determined that the team's demands were too much and were thus not particularly interested in keeping them around.

I guess I'm unsure what's in it for the city of Seattle to fight Bennett on this, because they ARE going to leave town. Would it rather keep a completely unsupported lame duck team around until 2010, or would it rather just accept a hefty buyout after next season? I realize this is an oversimplification, but my educated guess is that Stern has the clout to make sure something is worked out so that he will not have a wheezing, flailing franchise sitting in Seattle over multiple years just waiting for the legal go-ahead to bolt.

I could be wrong -- it would be unprecented in pro sports, but I certainly could be.I would not be surprised at all to see Seattle play hardball because I think they realize that the longer this gets drawn out the more likely the team will stay put without the city having to pay for a new stadium. See: the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago White Sox, the Mariners and Seahawks in this town. Unless Greg Nickels decides that the town simply does not want basketball - and the popularity of the Washington Huskies indicates that's not true - I see the city stretching this out as long as possible.

And if they do stay on without an agreement, expect things to get *really* ugly. The NBA is only around 25 years removed from seeing 5,000 people show up a night in Detroit and Chicago. Expect some of that action from a city that is already (unfairly in some aspects IMO) antagonized against the Sonics in general and the old ownership group in particular. If this guy really wants to move this team, he's going to be eating a lot of money to do so.

[Young Drachma]

The Sonics will move, this is not in doubt.

Seattle should try to get an NHL team. Lord knows, it'd make a better market than say...Phoenix.

[LloydLungs]

I would not be surprised at all to see Seattle play hardball because I think they realize that the longer this gets drawn out the more likely the team will stay put without the city having to pay for a new stadium.

I think Seattle's delusional if that's what they're thinking -- the situation is different in this instance because Clay Bennett is involved. And yes, it will take a lot of money to get out of the lease, but I think he believes he can make it all back in OKC. Eventually it's going to dawn on Seattle that it can either accept a generous buyout now or lose the team later for nothing, after going through multiple lame duck seasons that won't be beneficial for anyone.

[JHandley]

Unless Greg Nickels decides that the town simply does not want basketball - and the popularity of the Washington Huskies indicates that's not true


Don't discount that the reason Husky basketball is popular right now is because the UW football team is truly awful. If the football team were even able to compete for bowl games, the basketball team wouldn't be getting nearly the support they are enjoying now. It was pretty much a perfect combination for the basketball team, their upswing coincided with the football team's collapse.

[JHandley]

Dola-

It isn't a matter of Seattle being able to support basketball, baseball or football. The sport is irrelevent. Seattle is a college sports town and it's for the reasons that Johnny Slick mentioned in a previous post. The pro sports teams have always threatened to move and the UW is stuck here.

I have lived in Seattle for just over 5 years and there is an arrogance (for lack of a better word) about the people who live here. They can't imagine why in the world anyone would want to live anywhere else once they've lived here. I tend to agree, after moving here I don't want to live anywhere else. However, that attitude permeates to the teams here as well. The people here were outraged that Neuheisel interviewed for the 49'er's job. They couldn't believe that the head coach for the UW football team could possibly be interested in doing anything else for the rest of his life. This is why when a team threatens to move, it causes such a distrubing reaction among the locals. It eats at them that the team could possibly want to live somewhere else.

[Desnudo]

Are people really disturbed about the Sonics moving? The City of Seattle, sure since they had that sweet lease arrangement. Does anyone else really, truly care? Sports just aren't that important in this town and the NBA is probably at the end of the list. It's something I like about the city, actually.

[JHandley]

Desnudo, I've been asking myself that same thing all day. Where are the hardcore Sonics fans? Where are the Sonics fans period?

I was listening to Mitch in the morning on 950 on my drive into work this morning and he had Schultz on. He asked Schultz why he didn't let the issue go to the voters like the legislature suggested it should and his response was "Because we couldn't get the support of elected officials". In other words, they didn't want it to go to a vote because they'd lose. So, because he knew the voters would never approve his proposals, if he couldn't railroad it through the politicans, he was screwed.

As an aside, I was in Starbucks a few weeks ago and there was a sign in the window that read "No public money for new stadiums". For those who don't know, Howard Schultz is the chairman of Starbucks. The poor guy couldn't even get his employees to support the idea.

[Desnudo]

Desnudo, I've been asking myself that same thing all day. Where are the hardcore Sonics fans? Where are the Sonics fans period?

Probably fired out of the end of a t-shirt cannon.

[Cap Ologist]

I heard the Sonics wanted to move just to get away from their newest superfan, Holdencaul, but that could just be rumor.

[path12]

Are people really disturbed about the Sonics moving? The City of Seattle, sure since they had that sweet lease arrangement. Does anyone else really, truly care? Sports just aren't that important in this town and the NBA is probably at the end of the list. It's something I like about the city, actually.

Other than those who have been calling sports radio today, I haven't run across a single person today who supports the idea of building them a new arena. I really think it's a case of the Sonics being third in line to play the 'hold the city hostage for a new arena' card, plus the general incompetence of how the team has been run in the Wally Walker era.

I also think that the sheer arrogance of pretending that this new ownership is going to come in and make a good faith effort to keep the team here is beyond insulting to the general intelligence of the fanbase.

[path12]

Dola, I thought I've read that the city has actually been losing money on the Sonics' lease also instead of it being a sweet deal for them.

[vex]

David Stern has called it the worse lease in the league.

[path12]

Well, the lease isn't great, but I don't think it's great for either side. And it was in place when Schultz's group bought the team, so they can't claim ignorance about that....

[path12]

Dola, one problem is that it's on public land. There's no parking revenue, etc available in the area. Neither the city nor the team get any of that, the lots that are around are all private.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Some more thoughts.

Schultz really wanted to keep the team in Seattle, and had no desire to move the team. I truly believe that. When he knew no sweet deal was coming from the city, he clearly decided there was no way he was going to be they "guy" to move the team. Therefore, he was selling for sure. And all he wanted from the buyer was to make him look good by pretending to be interested in staying, especially so Schultz could say, "see, I tried."

However, by selling it to out of town guys, it is clear that although he escapes being the driver of the team as it leaves, he did pave a very nice road for them to leave on.

[Johnny Slick]

Another consideration is that as bad as KeyArena is compared with the rest of the league, it was just renovated in 1995. It's not that the Sonics are 3rd in line for public handouts, they're 1st and now 4th in line. One has to wonder why they agreed to such a terrible lease/renovation just 11 years ago if it was just going to be like this.

I think that more to the point, the team hasn't been able to get out of mediocrity and as such attendance is way down from the heyday with Payton and Kemp. Some of the drop is unwarranted: there's a sense in the city that the team operates on the cheap, despite evidence to the contrary. It doesn't help that when the team chooses not to, say, overspend on Jerome James or sign a quick, too-high deal with Rashard Lewis, they couch it in terms of not being able to support the larger salary than just admitting that those guys aren't worth the cash they're asking for. This city is still angry that Detlef Schrempf was let go "to save cash" back in the late 90s (forget that he was basically done when he left the Supes). The last thing the Sonics needed to do was fuel that fire.

Anyway, I refuse to count the team out yet. For one thing, I don't think New Orleans is big enough to support a basketball team post-Katrina, feelgood situation or no. The fact is, Oklahoma City was a bigger market even before the hurricane, and sports fans don't have other teams in OKC to split their money between. If the Hornets stay in Oklahoma like they should, I'm not sure the Sonics relocate to Kansas City. Or P. Rico.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Your last scenario truly is the only hope. Only the Hornets going to OKC first would prevent (at least in the near future) the Sonics from leaving. I guess that it is still a slight possibility. Given a good enough deal (if it will even be there), the team might then hang in there.

[LloydLungs]

Look for Shinn to complete an agreement with New Orleans-based minority ownership by opening day of this season. The only chance the Hornets stay in OKC is another catastrophe, and even then it appears rather dicey now.

[path12]

Look for Shinn to complete an agreement with New Orleans-based minority ownership by opening day of this season. The only chance the Hornets stay in OKC is another catastrophe, and even then it appears rather dicey now.

Considering NO has the All Star game in 08, I'd be shocked if Stern didn't make Shinn go back there.

[Johnny Slick]

Stern has zero power to compel Shinn to go anywhere.

[albionmoonlight]

Stern has zero power to compel Shinn to go anywhere.

I think that it is an open question as to how much formal power a sports league has over its members (see all the litigation between Al Davis and the NFL). However, it would be foolish to suggest that the NBA does not have a lot of informal power over its owners. If the majoirty of owners want a team in City X, or does not want a team in City Y, they can certainly put certain pressures to bear on owners who refuse to go along.

What is amazing to me is that Seattle is in danger of losing its team. My impression of the Northwest is that it is very affluent (Microsoft, etc.). It seems that there would be lots of money around to keep a team there.

[JHandley]

I think that it is an open question as to how much formal power a sports league has over its members (see all the litigation between Al Davis and the NFL). However, it would be foolish to suggest that the NBA does not have a lot of informal power over its owners. If the majoirty of owners want a team in City X, or does not want a team in City Y, they can certainly put certain pressures to bear on owners who refuse to go along.

What is amazing to me is that Seattle is in danger of losing its team. My impression of the Northwest is that it is very affluent (Microsoft, etc.). It seems that there would be lots of money around to keep a team there.

Rich people get rich and stay rich by not spending money in investments that have no chance to make money.

The story from Schultz (and the rest of the league) was that if the Sonics sold out the entire season, if they received maximum sponsorship money and sold every suite, if they earned every single dollar possible, they would still lose money due to the lease they had on Key Arena. It's possible that that's just a story for leverage, but it seems very plausible based on the fact that the only groups interested in buying the Sonics were out-of-town interests.

[rkmsuf]

what's the big deal if the sonics move?

[Desnudo]

what's the big deal if the sonics move?

The main concern is over losing the WNBA team. They've managed to paper over that fact so far, but it'll come to light soon enough.

[JHandley]

Ozzie Guillen has expressed considerable concern over the loss of the Storm.