Seattle SuperSonics sold to an OK City group

[sammyc521]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...icssold18.html

Quote:

The Sonics have been sold to a group from Oklahoma City led by businessman Clay Bennett, according to multiple sources. It was believed that the Storm, the WNBA franchise owned by the same group, was part of the package. Team officials had said recently that the two teams would be considered a package and not be separated in a sale. A news conference to announce the details of the sale is scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

I'm sad...

[SPTO]

Well that is sad. Seattle has been around for a good 30+ years but OKC has proven it can be a viable NBA market. It sucks how owners crying out for sweetheart deals can sulk and eventually take away the fans' pride and joy like that.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Well there goes Seattle having an NBA franchise. The city didn't want to pony up.

I'm sure the new owner will say he wants to keep the team in Seattle but he'll just be blowing smoke.

Michael "Fat Bastard" Heisley said he was committed to keeping the NBA in Vancouver when he bought the team and then moved the franchise to Memphis.

[Dregur]

Quote: Originally Posted by asianflow

Well there goes Seattle having an NBA franchise. The city didn't want to pony up. I'm sure the new owner will say he wants to keep the team in Seattle but he'll just be blowing smoke. Michael "Fat Bastard" Heisley said he was committed to keeping the NBA in Vancouver when he bought the team and then moved the franchise to Memphis.

The problem I had with the current ownership group was instead of, I don't know, ponying up half the money for a refurbished arena, it was rather insulting to go, "We'll pony up 18 of 250 million, and you guys can pay the rest." I mean, what the hell kind of deal was that? I'm also sure there were buyers in the Washington Area that wanted to buy the team too, the ownership group just doesn't care about the Seattle fans at all.

Go Seahawks!

-The Grinman

[Rasco11]

I'm absolutely crushed too! Heck, deep down, I thought Portland would go before them. I grew up in Seattle and still go to Sonic games when I get back in town. They had a better fan base than people think. It sucks that the arena lacked the corporate suites, modern amenities, and was somewhat difficult to get to. The truth is the Seattle Center where it is located is nowhere near the "thriving" area it used to be. It's a tough call, but asking the taxpayers to build a third new stadium in 10 years is asking a bit much! I still believe there were other options whether it was moving to Tacoma, Renton, or Bellevue...guess we'll never know. It will be extremely hard to forgive Howard Shultz for this one...no more Starbucks for me thank you. I'll stick to the Shell Station special.

[OSUG1]

I'm happy

Go OKC Sonics!

[sammyc521]

Quote: Originally Posted by asianflow

Well there goes Seattle having an NBA franchise. The city didn't want to pony up.

Well, that's a lie. Don't let Stupid Stern's comments fool you.

The City proposed 3 seperate deals that would have allowed for major renovations to the 10-year old arena. City's Proposed offer that was never responded to - Date May 2006

Option #1
City pays $50m for upgrades
Sonics made an additional $8.0m

Option #2
City pays $112m for upgrades
Sonics pay $37m for upgrades
Sonics make an additional $15-18m

Option #3
City pays $148m for upgrades
Sonics pay $49m for upgrades
Sonics make an additional $20.0m

In each option, the Sonics keep all revenues for premium seating, advertisement, naming rights, ticket sales, merchandise sales & concessions

The city would just get ticket taxes and parking fees.

The Sonics would pay less than $1.7m a year for rent.

Sounds like the City did enough but Schultz wanted to lie and get his money elsewhere.

[dieselboy]

Sounds like they are trying to keep the team in Seattle...