http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3312136 OKLAHOMA CITY -- Three NBA owners were impressed enough with a presentation Tuesday to believe Oklahoma City should be the future home for the Seattle SuperSonics. To make his relocation request a reality, Sonics owner Clay Bennett now needs to win over at least 13 more of his peers. After a tour of the Ford Center and a presentation from city and state officials, NBA commissioner David Stern said Tuesday a subcommittee of three NBA owners would suggest approval of the SuperSonics' move by the rest of the league. "We made important progress today," Bennett said. "A lot more to be done, but a very important step. I think it was a very successful day and we look forward to the next step." Gov. Brad Henry, Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops and numerous other representatives of the city, state and sports community came out to welcome Stern, New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz, Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon and Los Angeles Lakers vice president Jeanie Buss as Oklahoma City brought out fancy cars and hard facts to woo its first major-league sports franchise. "It was a pretty full presentation and pretty much a tour de force on behalf of Oklahoma that I'd say impressed the members of the committee greatly," Stern said. While the relocation would mean a move to a much smaller market, Stern said he was encouraged by the amount of support from area leaders and fans, and the revenue potential the team would have in a downtown arena being remodeled with $121 million in public funds approved by voters earlier this month. "I think Seattle is actually a terrific market. It just doesn't have an NBA-ready arena of the future that's been agreed to by all parties for many years," Stern said. "It's a very strong market that has in fact supported NBA basketball well over the years. When you come to a place like Oklahoma, you look for the single-team market as opposed to, for example, a market that has three or more professional sports leagues in it." Katz said he was impressed that 62 percent of city voters favored taxing themselves to fund the Ford Center improvements and by the coalition of support among leadership including representatives of Tulsa that the NBA considered a part of Oklahoma City's broader market. "This is wonderful for the league, wonderful for basketball, a strong wonderful ownership group that you have out here that can lead this thing," Katz said. "My hope is that we'll find a settlement with Seattle that will give them the opportunity to have a replacement team. Seattle should have an NBA team, and I think David expressed that in the meetings. We all feel that way. My guess is you haven't heard the end of the Seattle story." Katz, Simon and Buss will meet with the remaining four members of the relocation committee -- San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt, Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison, Chris Cohan of the Golden State Warriors and Ed Snider of the Philadelphia 76ers -- likely by telephone and make a formal recommendation to the rest of the league's owners. All 30 owners will vote on the SuperSonics' relocation request during an April 18 meeting, with a majority needed for approval. The Sonics also have a federal court case scheduled for June to determine whether they can break their lease with Seattle that runs through 2010. On Tuesday morning, City Council members in Oklahoma City approved terms of a 15-year lease with the SuperSonics that would require the team to pay the city $1.6 million annually to use the Ford Center and another $409,000 per year to be able to resell the arena's naming rights. Former Oklahoma state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton voiced concerns to the council that the lease leaves the city in position to pay for any cost overruns on the Ford Center renovations and the construction of an approximately $24 million practice facility funded by the sales tax extension. "It's in black and white there that the city will pay for the cost overruns, and there could be tens of millions of dollars in cost overruns because they've given the team owners free rein to make any changes, whatever they want, during the entire construction period," Stapleton said. "It's just a blank check, that's all it is." City Manager Jim Couch assured Stapleton that the lease would allow the city to make any cuts necessary to keep the project within its budget. Mayor Mick Cornett said it was the city's intent to keep the renovations within whatever funds are raised by the sales tax extension. "We have a very good history of building stuff on time and being financially responsible," Cornett said. "I understand that this is going to take a very high level of scrutiny and we accept that and look forward to once again living up to what we said we would do."
NO FRICKEN DOUBT....instead the city let them go and paid 3 times the money for the Texans... Pathetic. DD
Seattle is a world-class city, it's got stuff going for it other than the Sonics, I'm not surprised that they refused to be held hostage by the NBA, given that they have two hugely popular sports franchises to take up the slack, who are both playing in new stadiums. Meanwhile, wannabe cities like OKC are willing to fork over buckets of cash for the assumed cachet of being a major-league sports city. Nice but I wouldn't sign a free agent contract to play in OKC for a zillion dollars. If I'm Kevin Durant I'm on the first plane out of town in 3 years. Stern is also allowing a huge potential problem here with the Hornets now stuck in New Orleans. I suppose they could move to St. Louis but that's not that attractive of an alternative to me at least, and you're stuck in a small market competing for third place with the Blues after the Rams and Cards.
Well, same thing can be said for San Antonio, and look where they are at now. The location really doesn't matter much unless you are LA or NY. Team will attract free agents with a chance to win or a large cap space.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3310713 I actually thought Sonics would be a decent name in OKC, considering Tinker Air Force base is there. But, good for Bennet actually leaving the name/records for the Hornets to pickup in a few years. That and I dislike the Sonics, so a new name would help remove the Kemp/Glove stigma. I live in Oklahoma, so I'll gladly buy tickets to some games when they finally play here. (not season tickets, because it is nearly a 2 hour drive to OKC) And yes, this is completely unfair to the people of Seattle. Good, I really hate the Sonics/Seahawks.
I disagree. Orlando has been a popular destination for a lot of players, as has Miami, and Phoenix for whatever reason. Conversely, lots of cities have had negative effects for some players - Utah has been an unpopular destination for a lot of players, as has Toronto. As far as San Antonio goes - it's not a huge city but it's a franchise with a fair amout of tradition in a city that is twice as big as OKC. Sure it's a one-horse town but if you are asking me whether i'd rather live in or visit SA vs. OKC I'd pick SA 10x out of 10.
Actually, not as much, no. Part of the rivalry is going into those cities and playing in front of their fans, and hopefully beating their team down in front of them. If it was the San Diego Mavs, or Orange County Jazz or something, it just wouldn't have the same feel to it. Seattle is where the Rockets and Sonics had some epic battles, and OKC will be a part of that tradition. It's a sad day. And my condolences to the fact that you are an Okie. That's TRBL turribul
I don't think St. Louis is up there in terms of consideration for an nba team anymore. I believe Kansas City is now above them due to the new Sprint Center and I think they have a greater desire for a team at this point in time that STL. This news sux because basically the City of Seattle are playing hardball and David Stern doesnt really give a sh&t. He knew what the outcome would be when Clay Bennett purchased the team and I guess so did everyone else. This is crap for Seattle.
IIRC there was a clause in the ABA merger that prohibited an NBA teamin St. Louis for some reason, or perhaps it's just this deal: [rquoter]n the summer of 1976, with the ABA at the point of financial collapse after nine years, the six surviving franchises (the Virginia Squires went bankrupt immediately after the final season) began negotiating a merger with the NBA. But the senior circuit decided to accept only four teams from the rival league: the Nets (the last ABA champion), Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs. The NBA placated John Y. Brown, owner of the Kentucky Colonels, by giving him a $3.3 million settlement in exchange for shutting his team down. (Brown later used much of that money to buy the Boston Celtics of the NBA.) But the owners of the Spirits, the brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, struck a prescient deal to acquire future television money from the teams that joined the NBA, a one-seventh share from each franchise, in perpetuity. With network TV deals becoming more and more lucrative, the deal has made the Silnas wealthy, earning them $168 million as of July 2006, according to a Los Angeles Times report. (The NBA nearly succeeded in buying out the Silnas in 1982 by offering $5 million over eight years, but negotiations floundered when the siblings demanded $8 million over five.) The current TV deal gives the Silnas $14.57 million a season; on June 27, 2007, it was extended for another eight years, ensuring another $100 million-plus windfall for the former Spirits owners. [1][/rquoter] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirits_of_St._Louis
Talk about never having to work again. What a friggin' sweetheart deal for the Silnas family. Hundreds of millions in perpetuity and they don't have to do crap.
According to the 2006 US Census Bureau figures, San Antonio's the 7th largest city in the country, trailing only (in order) NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, PHX, and Philly.
