Seattle's Supersonics have been sold to investors in Oklahoma City. Who's most responsible?
No city likes the possibility of losing a professional sports team. But leading up to the Sonics' decision to sell, it was clear that Seattle officials and the public were extremely reluctant to invest significant taxpayer dollars to remodel Key Arena as the Sonics had demanded. So now that the Sonics have made their decision, who's responsible? Is it the broken economics of professional sports? Do you blame the owners? Is the City of Seattle responsible--the mayor, the council? Or the state legislature? And when the dust settles, how do you think Seattle will feel the impact of the Sonics sale? Do you believe the new owners will in fact keep the team here, or move it in a year's time?
14 Comments
Amanda said:
I don't blame anyone and think this was the wisest fiscal decision for Seattle. Seattle is not a big basketball city and with our public schools constantly being put on the butcher block and in jeopardy this is a welcome change that we didn't pay for another stadium overhaul.
RS said:
I'm very sad today and think owners, legislators and city support is to blame. No one is blameless. I'm a huge Sonics and Storm fan and think that to not keep the ONLY Seattle sports franchises that have actually won the Championship in their respective leagues is a travesty. Did the Seahawks win the Super Bowl? Have the Mariners ever made it to the World Series? Nope but let's bend over backwards and build mondo expensive stadiums to keep them! Talk about ingratitude to all the joy and success our basketball teams have brought us.
And the press conference today sounded like a big joke. The new owners say they want a basketball team in Oklahoma City but it is unrelated to today's sale. Yeah right. So they will buy this team and struggle to keep it here and meanwhile they will purchase or start a whole OTHER team to play in Oklahoma City? They insulted my intelligence.
Many people may not care whether or not we have professional basketball in Seattle. I, for one, weep.
Nate said:
I didn't care much about the Sonics, so this isn't a huge deal to me. When I did watch a few of the Sonics games last season, I didn't enjoy watching a defense that could be beaten by a college basketball team. But everyone knows that the Seahawks are the main focus of this city now after their amazing success over the past 3 years, and should have brought home the Super Bowl trophy, if the refs didn't get screw us over. Anyways, the Sonics have been very inconsistent over the last 10 years and never made any noise in the playoffs like the Mariners and Seahawks have. My point is how many people are actually die hard Sonics/Storm fans? Close to none. How many die hard Seahawks? A ton.
JM said:
I, for one, am sick and tired of wealthy business people asking middle-class taxpayers to help make them richer. The people who stand to profit from a venture should be willing to take the financial risk. There are so many other, more important, things our community needs to focus on like schools and transportation. As for me, one less sports team in town means fewer traffic jams.
JM said:
Sorry, I hit submit before I finished my comment above. Here's the full comment:
I, for one, am sick and tired of wealthy business people asking middle-class taxpayers to help make them richer. The people who stand to profit from a venture should be willing to take the financial risk. There are so many other, more important, things our community needs to focus on like schools and transportation. As for me, one less sports team in town means fewer traffic jams.
So, I'm not looking for someone to blame. I'm looking for someone to THANK.
John Warner said:
I agree that it is time to call a halt to the tax payers subsidising professional sports. I enjoy the Sea Hawks and Mariners however I believe that we tax payers were sold a bill of goods on both stadiums.
JoAnne Butzerin said:
If there's any blame, it should go the so-called leaders here and in other cities who set the precedent of allowing exploitation of taxpayers by sports teams. Now we are paying for two new stadiums while still paying for the demolished Kingdome!
Teams in Minnesota, LA, Cincinnati, and more--all successfully extorted taxpayer dollars by threatening to leave if they didn't get new stadiums. Of course the Sonics think they can get away with it! Everyone else is!
I am sorry for the fans and for the sport, but glad that a tipping point finally appears to have been reached!
spb said:
It is indeed a sad day in Seattle. Seattle is a huge basketball town, but years of having an incompetant team president has resulted in fewer wins and a diminished fan base. It used to be that Sonics tickets were the hottest items in town.
Of course the Sonics are going to move. Oklahoma City is desperate for a team and that's where the ownership team if from. They will act as if they want to stay in Seattle while making outrageous demands with the sole intent of making it impossible for our city to keep them.
The Sonics have been entertaining fans in Seattle since 1967 and for years were one of the top teams in the league in attendance figures. The tax and revenue they bring the city will be sorely missed.
About the only good I can see coming from this sale is perhaps they'll finally fire Wally Walker. A lot of good that will do us when the team moves to Oklahoma City.
Thanks Howard. I, for one, will not buy another of your overpriced lattes again. I know it won't affect your bottom-line a bit, but it's the least I can do.
Mark said:
I agree with John Warner on the subject of taxing the people, and yes, how much money was "blown up" when we imploded the Kingdome?
My comment has to do with the NBA. Who whatches them? It's not an enjoyable sport anymore. Gone are great athletes who actually praciced together as a true team. Now what we have is braided hair, tatoos, jewelry, and many players that have terrible attitudes--who want millions of dollars on their contracts. I think we need to get back to what was once a great sport.
My regards to all the Sonic fans and players who have no idea where they will be in the near future.
Brian said:
So will the new owners include NHL into their stadium package? It's the only way I would vote yes for new taxes. I hate basketball. I don't care if the Sonics move, I just want hockey.
Mike said:
First off I am sorry to say but I don't think the Sonics are going to stay at all. Having just remodeled the Key 10 or so years ago there is no way they are going to get another 200 million plus to remodel again. It is not going to happen.
Second, I don't think that with all of the expensive transportation, education, health care, and criminal justice costs in the future that the state or Seattle can afford to divert money to wealthy people looking for subsidy. I agree that they shouldn't. However, I am a fan of sports and would like to point out that all of you Seahawk fans sure were absent five or six years ago. Fans are fickle and I agree with an earlier post that the Sonics have provided as much if not more great memories than either the Seahawks or Mariners. (I am a fan of all three)
Unfortunately, the cards worked against the Sonics. The public voting down stadiums only to see them built. Increasing greater social needs. An average product with ineffective management and many other factors worked against them. I will be sad to see them go but not for what they are now but for what they used to be.
Aaron Johnson said:
first , it is not both the sonics and the storms fault that they were put in the position of being sold to the oklahomians, it was those schmucks down at the seattle city council , and our governor who complained over this ridiculus messy issue from the very beginning by saying "if they want them, they need to sit down and talk" , the seattle city council and gregoire are the ones who you should be upset at, Not the sonics.
second, the sonics and the storm hold the other sports teams in washington together, think of what seattle would be like without basketball?
it would be massive chaos for loyal nba fans
you know, like those stinkin' wto riots
and it would not be cool with everyone who loves basketball
i can tell you that
and third, key arena deserves a remodeling
think of all of the good things that could come out of a remodeled key arena
sure there would be more room for the sonics and storm to play in
but there would also be room for hockey to play in as well
and there would possibly be, space for special events, like for concerts,fairs -- you name it
and i'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem to manage remodeling the key arena , everyone loves basketball in seattle, this is the sonics and the storm's home, they have to protect it
T Strid said:
When an enterprise makes money, the management always takes credit, and looks for a bonus. But, when the Sonics loose money, they blame the fans. No, no, no. If the owners lost money on the team in a city as big as Seattle, its the management, not the fans, not the city, and not Key arena. I think its time to wake up. The Sonics are a business. If the business is loosing money, change the managers.
skip kidd said:
I for one do not beleive in subsidies for the rich. As for professional sports and subsidies let the players in each respective sport pay for their own game. I voted against the football stadium and now guess who is a whole lot richer. It is tough enough to pay for schools and highways with out having to support the wealthy. Far to many people don't support their share of the load. The Seattle Super Sonics are an icon, but not at my expense. Without spokes there are no wheels. I vote no to prosports subsidies, let the rich invest in prosports.
No city likes the possibility of losing a professional sports team. But leading up to the Sonics' decision to sell, it was clear that Seattle officials and the public were extremely reluctant to invest significant taxpayer dollars to remodel Key Arena as the Sonics had demanded. So now that the Sonics have made their decision, who's responsible? Is it the broken economics of professional sports? Do you blame the owners? Is the City of Seattle responsible--the mayor, the council? Or the state legislature? And when the dust settles, how do you think Seattle will feel the impact of the Sonics sale? Do you believe the new owners will in fact keep the team here, or move it in a year's time?
I don't blame anyone and think this was the wisest fiscal decision for Seattle. Seattle is not a big basketball city and with our public schools constantly being put on the butcher block and in jeopardy this is a welcome change that we didn't pay for another stadium overhaul.
I'm very sad today and think owners, legislators and city support is to blame. No one is blameless. I'm a huge Sonics and Storm fan and think that to not keep the ONLY Seattle sports franchises that have actually won the Championship in their respective leagues is a travesty. Did the Seahawks win the Super Bowl? Have the Mariners ever made it to the World Series? Nope but let's bend over backwards and build mondo expensive stadiums to keep them! Talk about ingratitude to all the joy and success our basketball teams have brought us.
And the press conference today sounded like a big joke. The new owners say they want a basketball team in Oklahoma City but it is unrelated to today's sale. Yeah right. So they will buy this team and struggle to keep it here and meanwhile they will purchase or start a whole OTHER team to play in Oklahoma City? They insulted my intelligence.
Many people may not care whether or not we have professional basketball in Seattle. I, for one, weep.
I didn't care much about the Sonics, so this isn't a huge deal to me. When I did watch a few of the Sonics games last season, I didn't enjoy watching a defense that could be beaten by a college basketball team. But everyone knows that the Seahawks are the main focus of this city now after their amazing success over the past 3 years, and should have brought home the Super Bowl trophy, if the refs didn't get screw us over. Anyways, the Sonics have been very inconsistent over the last 10 years and never made any noise in the playoffs like the Mariners and Seahawks have. My point is how many people are actually die hard Sonics/Storm fans? Close to none. How many die hard Seahawks? A ton.
I, for one, am sick and tired of wealthy business people asking middle-class taxpayers to help make them richer. The people who stand to profit from a venture should be willing to take the financial risk. There are so many other, more important, things our community needs to focus on like schools and transportation. As for me, one less sports team in town means fewer traffic jams.
Sorry, I hit submit before I finished my comment above. Here's the full comment:
I, for one, am sick and tired of wealthy business people asking middle-class taxpayers to help make them richer. The people who stand to profit from a venture should be willing to take the financial risk. There are so many other, more important, things our community needs to focus on like schools and transportation. As for me, one less sports team in town means fewer traffic jams.
So, I'm not looking for someone to blame. I'm looking for someone to THANK.
I agree that it is time to call a halt to the tax payers subsidising professional sports. I enjoy the Sea Hawks and Mariners however I believe that we tax payers were sold a bill of goods on both stadiums.
If there's any blame, it should go the so-called leaders here and in other cities who set the precedent of allowing exploitation of taxpayers by sports teams. Now we are paying for two new stadiums while still paying for the demolished Kingdome!
Teams in Minnesota, LA, Cincinnati, and more--all successfully extorted taxpayer dollars by threatening to leave if they didn't get new stadiums. Of course the Sonics think they can get away with it! Everyone else is!
I am sorry for the fans and for the sport, but glad that a tipping point finally appears to have been reached!
It is indeed a sad day in Seattle. Seattle is a huge basketball town, but years of having an incompetant team president has resulted in fewer wins and a diminished fan base. It used to be that Sonics tickets were the hottest items in town.
Of course the Sonics are going to move. Oklahoma City is desperate for a team and that's where the ownership team if from. They will act as if they want to stay in Seattle while making outrageous demands with the sole intent of making it impossible for our city to keep them.
The Sonics have been entertaining fans in Seattle since 1967 and for years were one of the top teams in the league in attendance figures. The tax and revenue they bring the city will be sorely missed.
About the only good I can see coming from this sale is perhaps they'll finally fire Wally Walker. A lot of good that will do us when the team moves to Oklahoma City.
Thanks Howard. I, for one, will not buy another of your overpriced lattes again. I know it won't affect your bottom-line a bit, but it's the least I can do.
I agree with John Warner on the subject of taxing the people, and yes, how much money was "blown up" when we imploded the Kingdome?
My comment has to do with the NBA. Who whatches them? It's not an enjoyable sport anymore. Gone are great athletes who actually praciced together as a true team. Now what we have is braided hair, tatoos, jewelry, and many players that have terrible attitudes--who want millions of dollars on their contracts. I think we need to get back to what was once a great sport.
My regards to all the Sonic fans and players who have no idea where they will be in the near future.
So will the new owners include NHL into their stadium package? It's the only way I would vote yes for new taxes. I hate basketball. I don't care if the Sonics move, I just want hockey.
First off I am sorry to say but I don't think the Sonics are going to stay at all. Having just remodeled the Key 10 or so years ago there is no way they are going to get another 200 million plus to remodel again. It is not going to happen.
Second, I don't think that with all of the expensive transportation, education, health care, and criminal justice costs in the future that the state or Seattle can afford to divert money to wealthy people looking for subsidy. I agree that they shouldn't. However, I am a fan of sports and would like to point out that all of you Seahawk fans sure were absent five or six years ago. Fans are fickle and I agree with an earlier post that the Sonics have provided as much if not more great memories than either the Seahawks or Mariners. (I am a fan of all three)
Unfortunately, the cards worked against the Sonics. The public voting down stadiums only to see them built. Increasing greater social needs. An average product with ineffective management and many other factors worked against them. I will be sad to see them go but not for what they are now but for what they used to be.
first , it is not both the sonics and the storms fault that they were put in the position of being sold to the oklahomians, it was those schmucks down at the seattle city council , and our governor who complained over this ridiculus messy issue from the very beginning by saying "if they want them, they need to sit down and talk" , the seattle city council and gregoire are the ones who you should be upset at, Not the sonics.
second, the sonics and the storm hold the other sports teams in washington together, think of what seattle would be like without basketball?
it would be massive chaos for loyal nba fans
you know, like those stinkin' wto riots
and it would not be cool with everyone who loves basketball
i can tell you that
and third, key arena deserves a remodeling
think of all of the good things that could come out of a remodeled key arena
sure there would be more room for the sonics and storm to play in
but there would also be room for hockey to play in as well
and there would possibly be, space for special events, like for concerts,fairs -- you name it
and i'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem to manage remodeling the key arena , everyone loves basketball in seattle, this is the sonics and the storm's home, they have to protect it
When an enterprise makes money, the management always takes credit, and looks for a bonus. But, when the Sonics loose money, they blame the fans. No, no, no. If the owners lost money on the team in a city as big as Seattle, its the management, not the fans, not the city, and not Key arena. I think its time to wake up. The Sonics are a business. If the business is loosing money, change the managers.
I for one do not beleive in subsidies for the rich. As for professional sports and subsidies let the players in each respective sport pay for their own game. I voted against the football stadium and now guess who is a whole lot richer. It is tough enough to pay for schools and highways with out having to support the wealthy. Far to many people don't support their share of the load. The Seattle Super Sonics are an icon, but not at my expense. Without spokes there are no wheels. I vote no to prosports subsidies, let the rich invest in prosports.