Sonics, Sonics and more Sonics
I had a telephone conversation with a Seattle City Councilman for the first time earlier today, and I hung up the phone with a better understanding of just how toxic the situation has become up there.
During our 10 minute conversation, Councilmember Richard McIver made it clear that he wants to keep the Sonics in Seattle. He also made it clear that they are in no way interested in building a new arena.
My direct question: “Is there anything else you guys can do to try to get a deal done?”
McIver: “I think there’s some things I hope the Mayor’s office is working on. I believe if they chose to stay there might be some opportunity at doing some remodeling of the existing facility, provided that they’re willing to put a substantial stake in it. I think we will be willing to do something in that way as long as we’re in a partnership.”
OK. Let’s review. Not only has Clay Bennett said a countless number of times that he’s not interested in a renovated facility, but not once has the ownership group said anything about putting up their own funds. Sounds like irreconcilable differences to me.
But then I press the issue and ask McIver in these exact words: “What’s the climate of the civic leaders in the area? Are you all completely against a new arena? Are renovations the only way you guys see fit?”
McIver: “I think that’s all that you’re going to see in Seattle. ”
Now, McIver, it’s worth noting, is the Chair of the Finance and Budget Committee, which according to the Council’s Web site, “makes recommendations on legislative matters relating to the financial management and policies of the city and its agents.”
From what I gathered of his explanation, much of the reason why McIver is against a new building is because it doesn’t make sense for long term economics.
“My basic premise, and one that I think even Oklahoma needs to be worried about, is if you build a new stadium and you have a 30 year bond and you have leases that last about 10 years. Then you find that the facility is determined to be not adequate. So over a 10-year lease, you still have a 20-year payment left on a facility.”
McIver makes great points, and, without having talked with them (yet), I’m sure his fellow Councilmember’s agree with him, especially considering Seattle recently built Safeco and Quest Fields for the Mariners and Seahawks. This thing is not going to get done before Oct. 31. The best solution I see for Seattle is NBA commissioner David Stern stepping in. But that still might not do much. Seattle is tired of paying for arenas. Nothing Stern can do about that.
I do, however, think Seattle’s political leaders are now ticked at the ownership group and are going to try to get them to stay for the heck of it. Aubrey McClendon’s comments had a lot to do with it. Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley points that out in his piece today. There’s also a good story in the Times about whether or not the city can hold the Sonics to their lease. All worth reading.
- Darnell Mayberry
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Comments
Very good points Mickey,
There is more to this than building an arena for the team though. Seattle is still cleaning up from an earthquake that made transportation issues very much at the top of our wish list. There is also the way that all of these things were brought about. Howard Shultz is more to blame than Clay Bennett, but the way Bennett is going about this makes him just as guilty. How would the fine folks of Oklahoma like to wake up one day and find the Sooners have been sold, and that they are moving to San Francisco unless they get 500 million in ransom. I know that is very far fetched, but that is the way this whole thing has played out for Seattle. We have a larger city here, but that does not mean we don’t love our Sonics, we just have different “needs” at the moment. Also we have done business with guys bigger than Bennett, and when he bought the team it was clearly transparent what was going to happen, and future comments have simply proven us correct. Our Mayor is not our favorite person at the moment because our whole city is being turned into condos. But even as a huge fan who has been through the thick and thin of Sonics over the years, I have to back him up, because this is a very obvious extortion effort, just done legally and in the public eye. There are quite a few options for a new arena, but they have been nixed by this end or yours because of the manner in which this was all brought about. What really irks a lot of us up here is that we like OKC, and the people too, but if what we see is the representation of your practices there, then OKC is nowhere near the good end of a horse. Look at Mickeys numbers, they are all accurate as heck, and if you think that you can afford all of the luxury’s that a team like this needs then good luck. The team may move there, but that is no proof that it will succeed. When the team leaves there later on because of “financial” reasons brought about by the NBA system, remember the moniker and stigma of being called thieves and whatnot will stay forever. Take the team, leave the name, and be careful what you wish for. Good Luck Soonic’s!
What is missing in all of this is the big picture. All we are hearing is what Clay wants and nothing about what anyone else wants. Well if Clay had bought a used car he sure can take it anywhere he wants but he bought a franchise and with that comes a set of laws and contracts that he is bound to. Those include the LEAGUE deciding what teams it wants where and the LEAGUE looking out for THEIR best interests. What Clay wants has the same impact as a 16 year old telling their parents what kind of car they demand. It is not that kids decision it is the parents. What this interview is missing is that McIver is speaking as a Seattle City Councilmember. Seattle did not build Qwest or Safeco, those were built by the county. Seattle has a little over 500,000 of the more than 3 million people in this Greater Seattle Area. A new events center is going to be built by the county and not the city because the entire region benifits from the team and the facility needs to be funded with tourist dollars like the others are and not on the backs of the city taxpayers. The article is right in once sense, a new deal is nog toing to be done by Oct 31st, but that is a self imposed deadline by Clay and the league has already made it clear they are NOT going to approve a move as long as A) The team is bound to a lease. and B) there is movement on the arena front (and there is). You will notice that the ONLY party talking about a move is Clay. Electeds in OKC are not talking about a Sonics move, they know the Hornets will be back. The league is not talking about a Sonics move, they know they will never allow it. So that is why no one but Clay is talking about moving this team because it just isn’t going to happen.
Um Mickey Vancouver BC is not the biggest city on the west coast, um ever heard of LA and if you ment to say NW , Seattle is still bigger than Vancouver. get your facts stright!!!
The interesting part of all this is what will David Stern do. The NBA has already let a team move from Vancouver ( the largest City on the West Coast) to mid market Memphis. If he allows the Sonics to move to mid market OKC the NBA risks becoming a midmarket league with teams in Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, New Orleans, Charlotte and OKC. Considering the NBAs attempt to move to China leaving Seattle, the main entry point for China into the US, and neighbor Vancouver, with the largest Chinese population on the West Coast, it appears to be a major conundrum for Stern.
Can you say National Hockey League? Can you say irrelevant?
By leaving Seattle the NBA will have abandoned a market with 7 million people within 130 mile radius of Seattle. This does not include Portland which is 140 miles away.
Is this what the NBA and David Stern want to happen?
Will they actually allow it to happen?