Seattle playing the New Arena or Move game
Sonics owner grows impatient
"Sonics chairman and principle owner Howard Schultz vowed Wednesday to look at moving or selling the team if the state Legislature fails to earmark $200 million for the Sonics to refurbish KeyArena or build a new home
The Legislature meets until March 9 in Olympia but has not indicated it will hear the Sonics' proposal for a new arena. "With less than a month to go, it's very clear to us that the city and state officials are not showing us the kind of respect we feel we deserve," Schultz said."
The Sports Illustrated article said San Jose city officials have contacted the Sonics and Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Norfolk, Va., and Anaheim, Calif., are also possible destinations.
"Sonics chairman and principle owner Howard Schultz vowed Wednesday to look at moving or selling the team if the state Legislature fails to earmark $200 million for the Sonics to refurbish KeyArena or build a new home
The Legislature meets until March 9 in Olympia but has not indicated it will hear the Sonics' proposal for a new arena. "With less than a month to go, it's very clear to us that the city and state officials are not showing us the kind of respect we feel we deserve," Schultz said."
The Sports Illustrated article said San Jose city officials have contacted the Sonics and Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Norfolk, Va., and Anaheim, Calif., are also possible destinations.
posted by WeRDevos @ 11:29 AM
6 Comments:
At 12:26 PM,
Matt said…
Sonics' owners have done good for the city and the state. Sonics have always been competetive and they deserve consideration for a new arena.
At 4:25 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Schultz is Starbucks. His net worth is $700 million. This should be interesting to see how it plays out.
At 7:15 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I'll find it very hard to believe that the city of Seattle won't get something done for the Sonics. They've been in the NBA finals three times and have won a world championship also.
At 7:19 PM,
Matt said…
I would like to see what the Rate of Return is in investing on a NBA franchise. I expect it to be quite low. That is why owners want somebody else to make the large capital investments.
At 8:19 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I'm interested in finding what thoughts Bill Davidson (Pistons, TB Lightning) thinks. He's managed to get new buildings and win titles both as a local owner (Pistons) and an out of town owner (Lightning)
He managed to get Tampa to fork over $86 million of a $139 million beautiful building with a minimum of controversy.
Then AFTER getting the buildings he went out and won championships with stellar front offices, coaching and low payrolls.
At 9:29 AM,
Matt said…
My hard guess is that he had the capital outlay, and needed huge tax write-offs from local or federal governments or both. His winning championships was done on a smart premises; you cannot go cheap on front office and coaching staff. Remember the old British say: "We are not rich enough to buy cheap stuff."
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