KTAR.com: Why the outcome of the Coyotes case is about more than hockey

What if a franchise in any professional sport could just move without the league rules stopping them?
Dan Weiss of KTAR asks the broader question of the bankruptcy proceedings involving the Phoenix Coyotes.

Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge in downtown Phoenix began listening to arguments that may ultimately determine the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes in the Valley of the Sun. As evidenced by the scant gathering at Saturday's "Save the Coyotes" rally (Winnipeg by the way had 36,000 people show up for their "Save the Jets" rally before they eventually moved to Phoenix!) and the general apathy expressed towards our local NHL entry over the last few years, it appears that few heads will turn whether the Coyotes stay or go.

This is an interesting point, but fan interest is such a minor component in owner interest in staying in a given market, but his point is well taken. Some markets are just not interested in a given business, to the degree that the business has failed.


Weiss goes on to the broader point facing major league sports:
But there's a bigger issue in play that transcends the Coyotes, Jerry Moyes, Jim Balsille, Phoenix, or Southern Ontario, and that's whether a bankruptcy court has the right to tell a professional sports league that its governing laws are flawed regarding the processes and procedures as to who can purchase a franchise and whether it can be relocated. Is there any wonder why the commissioners of the other three major leagues, the NFL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball, all came out in overwhelming support of the National Hockey League Monday? It's not because they like Gary Bettman or think he's doing a bang-up job of growing the game in the United States. It's because should Judge Redfield T. Baum eventually award the Coyotes to Mr. Balsille and allow him to circumvent the NHL's by-laws regarding ownership and franchise relocation and move them to Hamilton, he would essentially be granting a possible "get out of jail free" card to every professional sports owner in North America who is unhappy in their current situation. Ultimately, that could have the potential to create a virtual anarchy across the sporting landscape by individual ownership against their respective leagues.

Imagine being trapped in making a franchise work in a city where it clearly is not. Now you have two things stopping you, Bob Johnson, from relocating; your leases, and your league rules.
By-laws be damned, I'm moving to Southern Ontario (or Kansas City, Seattle, San Jose, Vancouver)?
Really?
Well, yes, that is a possible outcome. As Mr. Weiss points out, 15 NBA teams borrowed money for operations this year. How many of them would sell and move if they could?
What does the sudden lack of scarcity do to a product?

The fact is that no matter how this case pans out the NBA and the City of Seattle have both advised us that scarcity is not what it was. So, Bob Johnson putting his Bobcats up for sale in the worst economy in decades "wants between $325 million and $350 million".

$350 million? Not in a million years.
If any owner of a sports franchise can move without the league say-so then more teams are free to move. More teams being able to move increases the lack of scarcity, driving its price down. Sure, Clay Bennett had a point that there are only 30 NBA franchises, but being able to fold up your tent and move at any time your lease allows increases risk to the community, and lowers the value. Another team will show up in a couple years in a top 15 media market.

Read Dan Weiss' full story here!
Have a great day,
Mike Baker
Sent from my iPhone
Visit me here:
http://ManyWordsForRain.blogspot.com

Seattle PI: A new NBA team here?

Reported in the Seattle PI today, front page, above the fold was a story titled A new NBA team here?
Guys with little else to do right now, that happen to be newspaper reporters, were noted sports columnist Art Thiel, and former Sonics Beat reporter Gary Washburn.

This is the time that I expected stories to come out, to quote myself from Saturday, September 13, 2008:

The reality for the city, Hunter, Chris Gregoire, Rossi, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Brian Robinson, is that the first NBA season without the Sonics in Seattle is Tuesday, October 28th, one full week before election day. This is in time to be right in front of the majority citizens that vote by mail.

The first NBA preseason game is October 5th (I had to look it up). The sports columnists, reporters, journalists, bloggers, sports radio, will have nothing much to cover in the two weeks leading up to that because the Seattle Seahawks have a bye week the prior Sunday. That is two weeks without meaningful local NFL coverage. The Seattle Mariners season officially ends September 28th. The NBA, and the missing team story, will fill the hole in the sports section at some point during that period. What else are they going to write about?

Well, Mr Thiel and Washburn have made great use of their downtime between baseball season and whatever it is that is being called football right now. I was worried that the kind of story that would be written would rip down any real hope, or present such an incomplete story that the average reader would dismiss future efforts out-of-hand.
Thankfully, this is not the case.
The dynamic duo did a reasonably thorough job of stating the basic parts of the tax elements, and the needed quotes from the three legs that an NBA deal is set on: political figures, ownership, and David Stern.
Many of the details I have speculated about here, or re-reported from a variety of places.

Let's take a look at the meaty bits from the report.

A new plan to divert a portion of hotel-tax money from the state convention center to a remodel of KeyArena could help Seattle begin pursuing a replacement NBA team as soon as 2010.

That is pretty solid: tax revenue, Key Arena, replacement team as soon as 2010. My early guess was 2011, I would feel good about being wrong there.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Thursday "positive" talks have gone on between the league and a potential ownership group headed by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who led an ill-fated plan to save the Sonics earlier this year.

Stern, and Ballmer have talked according to Stern. This really should put to rest the fretting some fans have been doing about this situation.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis confirmed the talks, and said he was optimistic that this time around the city's request for state authorization will meet little resistance when the Legislature convenes in January.

"It should be noncontroversial, because it's a city-only tax that already exists and will not be an increase," Ceis said of the latest attempt to find a long-sought public portion of a proposed $300 million renovation for a building currently deemed financially obsolete by the National Basketball Association.

"If we can get our funding package together this session, we can start to work with the Ballmer group on identifying a team for Seattle, but probably not until 2010."

Stern, speaking to reporters on his annual season-tipoff conference call, made his first public comments on Seattle since the Sonics left.

"I don't want to mislead, so I will say that we have had some contact and we're aware of what's going on," he said. "I'd rather not deal with the specifics of it at this time, but we have had some positive contact."

While no city official has talked to Stern, Ceis said standard procedure always has been for Stern to go through the owner, or potential owner. He confirmed that Stern and Ballmer have talked, and Ballmer conveyed the new funding plan for the public portion of the remodel.

That is your deal right there. The city has insulated a funding resource from as many people that thought they had a right to say no about it. Until there is an official source for the money you are not going to get solid responses from David Stern, and why should he.
Here is the tax:

The tax under consideration is different from the so-called stadium taxes from King County that the Sonics, as well as the University of Washington, pursued in recent sessions to fund their sports building projects.

A 7 percent tax on all hotel bills within the city long has been dedicated to convention center operations. The city, which is still negotiating with the hotel industry and center officials on the proposal, seeks to divert one-tenth of the revenue to Seattle Center and the KeyArena project.

Ceis said that growth in hotel-room rentals over the past 10 years is generating enough revenue for the diversion to produce over a 15-year period the $75 million necessary to finance construction debt without compromising convention center operations.

There is more than was planned, nobody gets hurt, and he didn't mention that the tax really can't be used for anything else, not for schools, not for lost puppies. It doesn't come from there and the hotel owners that are impacted by its application don't want it going there. That's a general fund responsibility, this isn't general fund money. It's the law.

The settlement, which paid off the $34 million in construction bond debt remaining from a remodel completed in 1995, included a provision for another $30 million to the city by 2013 if an NBA team had not moved to Seattle. But the city had to have an NBA-ready arena, or the funding committed for one, by Dec. 31, 2009.

For practical purposes, that means the pending session in Olympia will be last chance for any funding requiring state authorization.

Asked why the city didn't come up with this idea while the Sonics were still in town, Ceis said the focus was on finding revenue that didn't require state approval. Even though this revenue still requires a legislative OK, the source is strictly city taxes, not county, and provides an upgrade for a city-owned building that helps draw tourists to city hotels.

"It's the path of least resistance, and there's no competition for the funds," he said.

At the time of the settlement, which was widely criticized as insufficient for the loss of a 41-year civic institution, the city defended itself in part by saying it was necessary to repair the damaged relationship with the NBA in order to have a shot at another team. The $30 million penalty gave the NBA and Bennett a financial incentive to help fill the void.

Ceis said that if the $300 million funding were in hand, the city would firm up the remodel plans that would allow Ballmer to pursue a team. He stressed that the city would not go forward with the remodel until an ownership group secured a team.

What Ceis is not saying is that the law that this funding was part of, and Safeco Field that the University of Washington wants, wasn't changed until March, and didn't go into effect until July 1, 2009. The source was there, but not available to Seattle to use.
Senate Bill 6638
Passed by the Senate March 13, 2008
YEAS 43 NAYS 6

Now, bring in the undertaker:

Since the NBA has no current plans to expand domestically, the only option would be to relocate a team from another city.

As many as half the teams in the NBA may have had operating losses last season, and some of the smaller-market teams have been in financial trouble for a while, including Memphis, New Orleans and Milwaukee. The Sacramento Kings also have been stymied in securing public funding for a replacement building for Arco Arena.

Unless a team is at the end of its lease, the Ballmer group would be in the same position Bennett was in Seattle -- an out-of-town owner attempting to pull away a team under contract with its city.

Ceis said that if a team is secured, the city has provisions to do the remodel before arrival, or to work around a six-month NBA regular season.

Matt Griffin, a Seattle real estate developer and Ballmer friend who served as his spokesman in the earlier attempt to save the Sonics, confirmed by phone Thursday night the group's awareness of and interest in the city's new initiative, but said little about the potential pursuit of a team.

"The first thing has to be the funding," he said. "We told the mayor in April that we were interested in keeping KeyArena from becoming a white elephant that drags down Seattle Center and lower Queen Anne.

"We can't take step two before we take step one. Once the funding happens, we can roll up our sleeves and take a look at what needs to be done."

A new NBA team here?
Tax diversion plan could give city the money for KeyArena
By ART THIEL AND GARY WASHBURN
P-I REPORTERS

That's right, Seattle will likely take a failing franchise from another city, a city that will be a smaller market, that may have been placed in that market by design of David Stern's plan to have his teams be the big show in smaller towns. Well, some of those towns simply can not afford David Stern's NBA, even when they supply a new building.

What David Stern wanted in Seattle was a building that can support a franchise. Hopefully the lesson beyond the building, that will be the second relocation to a remodeled building, is that it isn't always the newness of the building, but the community and businesses that support it. Not being able to make the NBA work here for the Sonics has everything to do with the NBA's business model of growing beyond its habitat and always expecting the place to be more plentiful.
If there is a bubble economy, it is the NBA, and doing anything for them beyond a remodel is foolishness. So, unless you have a much bigger reason to build a new and bigger building, don't build one.

I rank the possible related team by who is most likely to come here after 2010:
Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, and Milwaukee Bucks have been walking the tightrope for as long as I can remember, I think they stay. The Sacramento Kings are more likely to be the team to get to Las Vegas.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker
Sent from my iPhone

Brian Robinson says "Good Morning"

Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics, at SonicsCentral.com , says, in not so many words, that the City of Seattle is talking but he does not see them doing, that he hears them say they are wanting but wonders if that will translate into action.
Robinson says, as has been reported here, and reported here, that the state task force (Local Financing Options for King County, Joint Task Force) is supposed to meet again this month. That task force is chaired by Ross Hunter. It is unlikely that Hunter, or any other politician running for office this November will want to be very public about this subject. The task force has a report out date of December 10th, I expect the month between the election and that report date to be the period of heavy lifting.

As Robinson says, the city needs to have its plan together before that legislature starts up. Robinson says that he has met with Dino Rossi.

The reality for the city, Hunter, Chris Gregoire, Rossi, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and Brian Robinson, is that the first NBA season without the Sonics in Seattle is Tuesday, October 28th, one full week before election day. This is in time to be right in front of the majority citizens that vote by mail.

The first NBA preseason game is October 5th (I had to look it up). The sports columnists, reporters, journalists, bloggers, sports radio, will have nothing much to cover in the two weeks leading up to that because the Seattle Seahawks have a bye week the prior Sunday. That is two weeks without meaningful local NFL coverage. The Seattle Mariners season officially ends September 28th. The NBA, and the missing team story, will fill the hole in the sports section at some point during that period. What else are they going to write about?

I suggest that before the memory of the settlement between Clay Bennett and Greg Nickels, agreed to by the city council, becomes newspaper fodder at the end of September, beginning October, that the politicians get their shit together.

I am guessing that Brian Robinson will get asked, and he is likely to "point fingers", that is the leverage he has right now.

Oh, and a fine hello from Brian Robinson to Brad Keller (seen below).


Brad Keller, seen here preparing to stab Seattle in the back.
Get out of town, jackass!
http://sonicscentral.com/blog/?p=2086

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Bring the NHL (or NBA, or . . . ) to SEATTLE

With the official end to the possible return of the franchise formerly knows as the Sonics back to Seattle and Key Arena a vacuum is created.

Seattle is the 14th largest broadcast media market as measured by Markets are Designated Market Areas, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, and are sorted by their rank in the 2008-09 television season..

As we look down the list we see the largest media market without an NBA team is Seattle at #14, followed by St. Louis at #21.

The advantage the NBA has in the Seattle market is political leanings (you have to hammer the nail a few times to get it to lean that way) and the public desire of a billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer. If there are other billionaires that want the NHL here, it has not become a very public discussion.
For the rough cost of remodeling the Seattle Center's Key Arena the city of Pittsburgh (at #23) through its Sports & Exhibition Authority. Seattle's Key Arena rebuild would have cost about 300 million had it broke ground this year. Pittsburgh's new arena will cost about 290 million as it actually does break ground this year.

Will the NHL fans in Seattle get together with the NBA fans, or not? Will the NHL beat the NBA to the Seattle market?

Below are the top 75 television markets.
Rank Designated Market Area (DMA) TV Homes % of US
1 New York 7,433,820 6.495
2 Los Angeles 5,654,260 4.940
3 Chicago 3,492,850 3.052
4 Philadelphia 2,950,220 2.578
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 2,489,970 2.175
6 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 2,476,450 2.164
7 Boston (Manchester) 2,409,080 2.105
8 Atlanta 2,369,780 2.070
9 Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) 2,321,610 2.028
10 Houston 2,106,210 1.840
11 Detroit 1,926,970 1.684
12 Phoenix (Prescott) 1,855,930 1.622
13 Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota) 1,822,160 1.592
14 Seattle-Tacoma 1,819,970 1.590
15 Minneapolis-St. Paul 1,730,530 1.512
16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 1,546,920 1.352
17 Cleveland-Akron (Canton) 1,524,930 1.332
18 Denver 1,524,210 1.332
19 Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn 1,466,420 1.281
20 Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto 1,399,520 1.223
21 St. Louis 1,249,820 1.092
22 Portland, OR 1,175,100 1.027
23 Pittsburgh 1,156,460 1.010
24 Charlotte 1,122,860 0.981
25 Indianapolis 1,114,970 0.974
26 Baltimore 1,102,080 0.963
27 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle) 1,080,680 0.944
28 San Diego 1,066,680 0.932
29 Nashville 1,016,290 0.888
30 Hartford & New Haven 1,014,990 0.887
31 Kansas City 937,970 0.819
32 Columbus, OH 925,840 0.809
33 Salt Lake City 919,390 0.803
34 Cincinnati 915,570 0.800
35 Milwaukee 905,350 0.791
36 Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And 858,050 0.750
37 San Antonio 818,560 0.715
38 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 779,430 0.681
39 Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk 741,420 0.648
40 Birmingham (Ann and Tusc) 739,750 0.646
41 Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York 738,880 0.646
42 Las Vegas 728,410 0.636
43 Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws 718,020 0.627
44 Albuquerque-Santa Fe 689,120 0.602
45 Oklahoma City 687,300 0.600
46 Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem 685,110 0.599
47 Jacksonville 674,860 0.590
48 Memphis 673,770 0.589
49 Austin 667,670 0.583
50 Louisville 667,230 0.583
51 Buffalo 631,120 0.551
52 Providence-New Bedford 622,580 0.544
53 New Orleans 602,740 0.527
54 Wilkes Barre-Scranton 594,570 0.519
55 Fresno-Visalia 574,900 0.502
56 Little Rock-Pine Bluff 567,060 0.495
57 Albany-Schenectady-Troy 556,750 0.486
58 Richmond-Petersburg 550,240 0.481
59 Knoxville 547,930 0.479
60 Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt) 537,810 0.470
61 Tulsa 529,540 0.463
62 Ft. Myers-Naples 509,530 0.445
63 Lexington 503,260 0.440
64 Dayton 483,790 0.423
65 Charleston-Huntington 479,750 0.419
66 Flint-Saginaw-Bay City 465,790 0.407
67 Roanoke-Lynchburg 461,420 0.403
68 Tucson (Sierra Vista) 456,030 0.398
69 Wichita-Hutchinson Plus 450,930 0.394
70 Green Bay-Appleton 444,210 0.388
71 Des Moines-Ames 432,410 0.378
72 Honolulu 429,940 0.376
73 Toledo 425,890 0.372
74 Springfield, MO 421,960 0.369
75 Spokane 416,630 0.364

USA Basketball: Rules, Rule!

Over the past few years the NBA has made rule changes to effect the game, to add movement, reduce contact of offensive players, and make defense something defined by having possession of the basketball or not.

I prefer the international floor, the key in particular. The NBA has that half-circle the NBA has is supposed to keep defenders from diving under players driving to the basket. The international floor does not need anything like that because the width of the key at the baseline is 19-feet wide. The NBA key is 16-feet wide. Making defenders take an extra step from outside the key to defend the basket opens up that driving lane without that need for referees making split-second calls on a defender's feet inside or outside that half-circle. Change the shape of the NBA key to the international key, get rid of the half-circle.

I also prefer the hands defense of the international game.
I prefer the contact that is allowed in the international game, the body surfing in the NBA is pathetic.
I prefer the goal tending rule of the NBA, the length of quarters.
I prefer the talent level in the NBA.

I just watched USA v. China in the Olympic Games. Watching Team USA defend the point guards bringing the ball up was great to watch. Wade stripped his man with the ball and had a break away dunk. That same contact that allowed for the strip would have cost Wade a foul in the NBA. Isn't that Fantastic!
The rules that allowed Gary Payton to be the NBA defensive player of the year 12 years ago do not exist today, and the NBA is not better for the change.
Combine those things and that is what I would prefer to watch and play.
http://www.usabasketball.com/rules/rules.html

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Possible NBA relocation candidates - Seattle Times

SEATTLE - Here is a partial list of team, their leases, their economic and ticket selling support. The close we get to an arena solution, the closer we get to having this list be meaningful. The Griz and Bobcats look like the most likely.
I would prefer an expansion team, and I am not having any trouble taking the Griz back to the great northwest. I thought Vancover was screwed over by the NBA and Heisley.
I would like to point out that the Hawks would sooner sell off it's money losing hockey team. Maybe hockey is a money loser, maybe just there, maybe not here, maybe they do sell and move to Seattle, or maybe it is a money loser here. Maybe.

p.s. All of these markets are bigger than Oklahoma City.
See the list here.

Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Percy Allen Explores Seattle's Chances with NBA

SEATTLE - Percy Allen of the Seattle Times has a story published today that explores the chances of Seattle landing another NBA team to replace the one the politicians let get away. A few things of note from the story, though you should read the entire article, are these:

Save Our Sonics is working with the City of Seattle Mayor's office to help secure funding for the rebuild of Key Arena, by leveraging public support. Part of that effort will have to be keeping public interest in support going while a team is not here. In order for a city, like Seattle, to have a chance at getting an NBA team you have to have three things: committed business support (Ballmer, Griffin, SCI); an arena and public interest (see SOS not above); and the support of the NBA (see NBA statement on the settlement between Seattle and the PBC).

Other cities that are, or were, going after NBA teams have had arena deals fail, or no commitment from a potential buyer of an NBA team.
Las Vegas - no arena
San Jose - no arena
Kansas City - no owner, "settling for NHL"

Some in the story put Seattle at the top of the NBA list. Making sure we are at the front of the line depends on following through on financing of the Key Arena rebuild, and your support of it completing, while keeping the three parts together over the next 18 to 24 months.

To quote Bill Murray from the movie What About Bob, "Baby steps, I'm at elevator".

Step #1. (as always): fund Key Arena, encourage people that decide this funding to support your interests.

Percy Allen's column at Seattletimes.nwsource.com

I think that it is fair to say that Howard Schultz's lawsuit against Clay Bennett's PBC ,and now the NBA, could help make sure that Seattle is at the front of the line for the next expansion team or relocation. The case may ensure that the line that looks like one city, Seattle, stays a list of one city.
If the league did expand it would most likely be two teams to keep the Eastern and Western Conferences the same number. That is just not going to happen before an existing team is available for sale and relocation. An owner that wanted to relocate to Seattle but not sell to SCI (Ballmer, Griffin) would have to pay the 150 million dollars that SCI has committed to rebuilding Key Arena.
Have a great day,
Mr Baker

Sent from my iPhone

Nellams says 18 months for arena rebuild

SEATTLE - Tuesday morning on 950 KJRam radio Tom Carr from the Seattle Center was interviewed by Mitch Levy (listen to the podcast here).
Mr. Carr stated that the settlement the city has agreed to with Clay Bennett's Oklahoma City (PBC) ownership group does not involved the case Howard Schultz has against Mr. Bennett. Mr. Carr said that if Mr. Schultz won his case that the settlement would go away, provided that the remedy of returning the team to Mr. Schultz to resell to an honest committed ownership group was granted by the judge in this case, Judge Marsha Pechman.
It is possible that the Sonics could relocate back to Seattle next year, a long shot, but it is possible. A trial date has not been set for the Schultz case.
Meanwhile the NBA has stepped in as a defendant with Mr. Bennett. They are claiming the remedy proposed by Schultz, if acted on by the judge, would not be within the NBA league rules.
Seattle Times has posted the court file: NBA's motion to intervene (PDF)
Percy Allen of the Seattle Times has written a story on the case and the filing (posted here).

Yesterday morning on 950 KJRam radio Robert Nellams from the Seattle Center was interviewed by Mitch Levy (listen to the podcast here).

Mr. Nellams is the director of the Seattle Center. He stated that there was a priority to rebuild while the team was playing in the building, now that they are gone he said the time required is 18 months. I recall that it was going to take two years to accomplish the same thing with the team in the building.
Let's do some scheduling, the money from the state of Washington, if approved, will not happen until next spring, 2009. Let's add 18 months to that: Winter of 2011, almost the season opener. they may be able to have the inside ready for basketball, I do not really know.

See the Seattle Center "Century 21" page here.

Welcome Lost Children of Sonics Fandom (that's near Greenlake)

SEATTLE - The franchise is gone, and the baton of blame has been passed around from the Mayor of Seattle, to the State of Washington, back to the mayor, and wrapped up in a settlement with Clay Bennett and David Stern and passed back to the state. That's the short story, very few details are meaningful now.

Currently, the City of Seattle is ready to collect revenue generated from Sonics activity in and around Key Arena and spend 75 million dollars toward the public portion of Key Arena in a sizable rebuild. The city will spend some money on infrastructure on the structure no matter what else happens. The major rebuild is depending on the State of Washington to authorize the City of Seattle to collect hotel and motel taxes within the city of Seattle and direct that revenue toward the Seattle Center. This would provide another 75 million dollars to the Key Arena rebuild.

There is a private contribution from a group the calls its self the Seattle Center Investors. They plan to contribute 150 million in private funds, an NBA basketball team, cost over runs.

From NBA.com

NEW YORK, July 2, 2008 -- NBA Commissioner David Stern has issued the following statement:

“We are pleased that the Sonics and the City of Seattle have settled their litigation. While the decision has been made to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City, the NBA continues to regard Seattle as a first-class NBA city that is capable of serving as home for another NBA team.

In order for this to occur, a state-of-the-art NBA arena must be funded and constructed in the Seattle area, a subject that has been extensively debated -- but not ultimately acted upon -- by local political and business leaders over the past four years. We are pleased that the City remains committed to addressing this fundamental requirement for the return of NBA basketball to Seattle and we hope that other elected officials critical to a solution will support the City’s efforts.

We understand that City, County, and State officials are currently discussing a plan to substantially re-build KeyArena for the sum of $300 million. If this funding were authorized, we believe KeyArena could properly be renovated into a facility that meets NBA standards relating to revenue generation, fan amenities, team facilities, and the like.

Assuming the funding can be committed, the league is willing to work with the City on the design and construction of the re-build to facilitate this result. Under these circumstances, if an opportunity arose in the future for an NBA team to be located in Seattle, we would support that team playing its home games in a re-built KeyArena, if it wished.

However, given the lead times associated with any franchise acquisition or relocation and with a construction project as complex as a KeyArena renovation, authorization of the public funding needs to occur by the end of 2009 in order for there to be any chance for the NBA to return to Seattle within the next five years.

We are pleased that Steve Ballmer has expressed the continuing willingness of his group, Seattle Center Investors, managed by Seattle developer Matt Griffin, to be a part of the solution for returning NBA basketball to Seattle. The NBA will keep SCI and the City informed if opportunities arise in the next five years for franchise sale, relocation and/or expansion. Under the circumstances outlined above, the NBA would be happy to return to the City of Seattle.”

Okay, who are the Seattle Center Investors again?
From Seattle.gov

City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor

NEWS ADVISORY

SUBJECT: Statement by Mayor Nickels on the settlement of the City's lawsuit with the Seattle Sonics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
7/2/2008 5:00:00 PM FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358

Statement by Mayor Nickels on the settlement of
the City's lawsuit with the Seattle Sonics

Today, I am announcing a settlement with Mr. Bennett and the Professional Basketball Club. Our goals for the settlement were two: To protect the taxpayers’ investment in KeyArena and have a long-term future for professional basketball.

In exchange for terminating the lease two years early, Mr. Bennett has agreed to settlement package with a payment up to $75 million to the City of Seattle. Under the agreement, $45 million will be paid to the City immediately. That covers rent and loss of tax revenue, and allows us to pay off outstanding debt on KeyArena.

Our agreement calls for Mr. Bennett and his co-owners to pay an additional $30 million in 2013—if the NBA has not approved a team to play in Seattle.
The NBA was an important part of our negotiations—agreeing that a renovated KeyArena can be a competitive NBA facility. This is a crucial point for us. A KeyArena with professional basketball is a cornerstone for a vibrant Seattle Center.

The NBA has committed to helping us secure a future team—informing us of any sale, relocation or expansion opportunities.

Committed local ownership is critical—and we are grateful that Steve Ballmer and his group, represented here by Matt Griffin, are working to secure a new team.

The city is ready to do its part. Local investors have stepped up. Now, the State Legislature must act. If it fails to approve public funding next year to remodel KeyArena, we will lose our rights to that $30 million payment if we do not get a team.

I believed all along that enforcing our lease would create time for a better deal. We now have that deal.

The Sonics name and history stay in Seattle. Seattle is a natural home for professional basketball—loyal fans, and a rich, 40-year tradition.

Working together, we are now in the best position to continue that legacy in Seattle.



Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm

Better yet, contact the mayor on this page HERE!

Wait, you still don't know who Seattle Center Investors (SCI) are?

From the SeattlePI.com Reporter, Greg Johns.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Nagging question: Fix KeyArena?

City hopes it can finally get the Legislature on board

Friday, July 4, 2008
Last updated 1:07 a.m. PT

By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER

Even as the team formerly known as the Sonics begins packing for a one-way trip to Oklahoma, the story line of the NBA's long-term prospects in Seattle seems to have come full circle.

We're back to this. The region needs a new arena. Without a state-of-the-art facility, there will be no pro basketball franchise in Seattle again.

Whether it's a renovated KeyArena, which NBA Commissioner David Stern suddenly says would be just fine, or a brand-new palace, which Sonics Chairman Clay Bennett briefly pursued, no new ownership group is going to emerge without a modern building to host its team.

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Steve Ballmer and his three local partners remain interested in buying another NBA team to eventually wear the Sonics' green and gold, according to Seattle developer Matt Griffin, but won't even begin scanning the waters until a firm financing plan is in place for a KeyArena makeover.

"Without that, you're going into any negotiation with one arm tied behind your back," said Griffin, who'll continue serving as spokesman for the group that also includes Costco Chief Executive Jim Sinegal and software mogul John Stanton.

Two weeks ago, Griffin was on the witness stand in U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman's court being grilled about his group's role in the city's plan to force Bennett to sell the Sonics. The experience wasn't pleasant, but being dragged through the mud didn't diminish the quartet's interest in pursuing a pro basketball solution in Seattle.

"The good thing about the body is it doesn't remember pain very well. It's the reason we do a lot of things the second time," Griffin said with a laugh. "We're ready to work the problem. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but we're ready to work it."

So fire up the political debates, the battles over public vs. private money and the Citizens for More Important Things against sports fans who place tremendous value on the entertainment provided by professional athletics.

Bennett's basketball team might be gone, but questions over what comes next are just beginning.

City of Seattle leaders are still hoping to leverage a KeyArena solution out of the Legislature. If a financing plan can be committed during next year's session, Ballmer's group -- now dubbed the Seattle Center Investors -- remains willing to foot half the projected $300 million renovation costs.

Just don't expect a replacement NBA team to hurry into Seattle on the wings of Bennett's departure.

"Realistically, we're looking at a couple of years at the earliest," Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said.

Brian Robinson, chairman of the Save Our Sonics fan group, said it's going to take some people time to even decide how much emotion they want to invest into a push for a replacement.

"The next step is for people to kind of deal with their grief and decide if they want the NBA here again," Robinson said. "I'm not thrilled with the decision to let the team go. But I do understand the logic is to increase the chances of getting a team in the next five years."

It's possible that a long-term solution might not even include KeyArena. Dave Bean, a local businessman, continues teaming with former Sonic Fred Brown on an effort to promote a privately financed arena in the region that could house both pro basketball and hockey.

Bean said their B2 firm has done further site analysis and investor searching in the past few months and hopes to step more to the fore now that the Sonics are gone.

"What this does is perhaps accelerate the process for all parties involved," Bean said. "We're going to continue to go down our private road and see what develops. We've been making progress, but we do have some concerns about the direction Mayor Nickels is talking about, going back to Olympia for public funding and refocusing on KeyArena.

"That's not our plan. I guess it's going to get down to who can deliver a suitable facility to the NBA and do it in a way that makes the most sense. We think we've got a much better approach with no tax dollars."

But Bean's ambitious project remains an admitted long shot, given the plan requires both NBA and NHL tenants to pencil out financially. Not to mention, he and Brown are swimming against the political stream, as city leaders are invested heavily in trying to salvage KeyArena.

"They've given our product zero recognition, but that's fine," Bean said. "We understand that game. We're going to keep doing our thing, and we're happy with the progress we've made over the last three months."

Bean believes Seattle's vibrant market and size make his proposal possible and that Stern will be interested once the pieces are in place.

"The NBA is very facility-driven," he said.

He'll get no arguments there from Griffin, but Ballmer's partner indicates his own focus is almost exclusively on a KeyArena solution.

"You never say never," Griffin said. "But my interest shrinks considerably when it's not Seattle Center. One of my reasons to get involved is I worry about the Center being empty."

Ultimately, it might take some interesting partnerships to get pro basketball back to the city. City Councilman Nick Licata, viewed as an obstructionist to previous KeyArena proposals, sounds willing to work toward a solution.

"The best thing right now is the NBA is willing to help Seattle get a team," Licata said. "That wouldn't have happened if we'd gone the straight court route (and not settled with Bennett).

"Quite honestly, the road may get a bit rougher as we approach the state Legislature," he said. "There may be some differences of opinion there. The devil is always in the details, but we'll see how it works. We have to present something that makes sense to the Legislature, just like it makes sense to the council and public. I think we can do that."

King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer said the city will even need to look at Bennett as a potential ally toward getting a replacement.

Bennett will owe the city $30 million if a new team doesn't come to Seattle by 2013, assuming the Legislature also approves a tax plan for KeyArena by the end of next year.

"This region is going to need to work with him if it wants another team," said von Reichbauer, a staunch sports fan who helped broker a Seahawks solution between Ken Behring and Paul Allen in 1997 that resulted in Qwest Field's construction.

"He's one of the youngest members of the NBA Board of Governors. He's going to be there awhile."

P-I reporter Greg Johns can be reached at 206-448-8314 or gregjohns@seattlepi.com.

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