Don’t bring the NBA back to Seattle unless there is an NHL franchise driving the moving van. Call it a contingency plan. Or a safety net. Call it arena insurance.
There are groups of people still working hard to bring the NBA back to Seattle and they should be commended. And there are many fans who’d love to see pro basketball back in town despite how things went down (and out) with the Sonics last year. What isn’t as apparent is a voice in state government who will help lure the NBA back to town by upgrading KeyArena and a crumbling Seattle Center.
But if by some miracle the state legislature passes a bill funding a new or upgraded arena, it would be wise to secure a professional hockey team as co-tenant. While there are diehard fans who will support the team, there is no guarantee an NBA team would be welcomed back in the form of sellout home games and record attendance. For those kinds of numbers you need the casual and fringe fans. And I’m afraid those folks feel screwed.
A new Seattle NBA franchise won’t replace the Sonics. That team was sold to Clay Bennett and Oklahoma City for pennies on the dollar. Oh, they might have the same Sonics name and colors, but a new Seattle NBA franchise might as well call itself the Bobcats. Who knows, it might even be the Bobcats. As fast as the NBA could deliver a team, it could just as quick engineer another quick escape, leaving Seattle with an empty arena and renewed search for anchor tenants. A pro-hockey team would hedge our bet.
A non-scientific, half sober study of Seattle sports blogs and comment boards see growing enthusiasm for an NHL franchise and a solid embrace of the MLS Sounders FC, which has partially filled the gap left by the Sonics. Seattle fans have grown a bit of an inferiority complex – supporting only the teams and players that truly show the desire to be, and remain, in town. We’ve come by it honestly after watching a parade of hall of famers (Griffey, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, etc.) decide Seattle wasn’t the place for them. We saw our first MLB franchise the Seattle Pilots hightail it out of here after one year. The Mariners spent the first 20 years of their existence looking for a better city in which to play. We even had the treat of watching the Seahawks load up the trucks and actually move to California before being forced to return. Then there were the nearly two years we had to endure Sonics owner Clay Bennett telling us how Seattle fans were the worst fans in the NBA.
So, it isn’t a stretch to say it’ll take a lot more than for an NBA team than to waltz into town, put on the green and gold and expect a warm hug from Seattle fans. A generation of fans might come and go, along with a whole lot of time, before the wounds inflicted by NBA commissioner David Stern, the Sonics and the City of Seattle are fully healed.
Again, Seattle fans will need to know an NBA team really wants to be here. Look at the stunning early success that the Sounders FC is enjoying. Part of it is because there is a large international contingent in Seattle and significant soccer fan base. It could also be argued that another key to the Sounders success is that they’ve shown that want to be here and have fully embraced the community. Sappy? Sure it is, but when you’re asking people to fork out big money to support your team in this economy, it’s the little things that matter.
There are those who believe an NHL team can’t survive in this market. One reason being the sports ticket dollar is already stretched thin as are corporate sponsorship dollars. Again, take a look at the Sounders. They’re doing better than OK. So are minor league hockey teams the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips. I think the money is there, pro-franchises just have to work for it. It’s no longer good enough to publish you’re 1-800 number, sit back and wait for the phones to start ringing. Plus, hockey sells itself. Watching hockey live is one of, if not the, best spectator sports on the planet.
Of course getting the chance to watch pro hockey in Seattle requires a new arena or a drastically revamped KeyArena. There are a number of bills that could provide funding for an upgraded KeyArena and Seattle Center. If any one of them succeeds, former Sonics owner Clay Bennett will have to fork out another $30 million if the NBA doesn’t put a new team in a new KeyArena by 2013. That was part of the deal that allowed Bennett to break his lease and skip town with the team for $45 million.
Assuming funding is found and pro hoops return, one has to look no farther than Charlotte to find a cautionary case study in how a city will react if given a second chance at an NBA franchise. Charlotte Hornets fans had the rug pulled out from under them when in 2002 the team moved to New Orleans because owner George Shinn couldn’t get his new arena built. It didn’t help that Shinn was a pariah in the community … hmm, sounds familiar. Shinn reportedly didn’t want to pay his star players market value, opting instead to trade them. Plus, Shinn was mired in sexual assault civil trial. The fans took out their displeasure with the Hornets owner, quit going to games and attendance bottomed out before the team rode out of town.
Almost immediately, Charlotte was awarded an expansion franchise and the Bobcats played their first home game in 2004. Charlotte built its sparkly new arena for the Bobcats, but it wasn’t the fan magnet that owners tell us new arenas will definitely be. The Bobcats ranked 24th in the league in home attendance last season and already were on the Forbes magazine list of Top 10 Franchises Most Likely to Move.
There are a number of differences between Charlotte and Seattle and what happened there won’t necessarily happen here if the NBA returns. For one, the Seattle SuperSonics were the city’s first modern day pro franchise. They won a championship and there is a deep-rooted nostalgia for the Sonics. While the Sonics were a 40-year franchise before it moved, the Hornets were in Charlotte for less than 20 years.
But it’s worth thinking about and deciding whether or not building a multi-use arena for hockey and basketball would make good business sense. It’ll give you a 50/50 chance that at least one team can carry the water if the other one falls flat on its face.
There are groups of people still working hard to bring the NBA back to Seattle and they should be commended. And there are many fans who’d love to see pro basketball back in town despite how things went down (and out) with the Sonics last year. What isn’t as apparent is a voice in state government who will help lure the NBA back to town by upgrading KeyArena and a crumbling Seattle Center.
But if by some miracle the state legislature passes a bill funding a new or upgraded arena, it would be wise to secure a professional hockey team as co-tenant. While there are diehard fans who will support the team, there is no guarantee an NBA team would be welcomed back in the form of sellout home games and record attendance. For those kinds of numbers you need the casual and fringe fans. And I’m afraid those folks feel screwed.
A new Seattle NBA franchise won’t replace the Sonics. That team was sold to Clay Bennett and Oklahoma City for pennies on the dollar. Oh, they might have the same Sonics name and colors, but a new Seattle NBA franchise might as well call itself the Bobcats. Who knows, it might even be the Bobcats. As fast as the NBA could deliver a team, it could just as quick engineer another quick escape, leaving Seattle with an empty arena and renewed search for anchor tenants. A pro-hockey team would hedge our bet.
A non-scientific, half sober study of Seattle sports blogs and comment boards see growing enthusiasm for an NHL franchise and a solid embrace of the MLS Sounders FC, which has partially filled the gap left by the Sonics. Seattle fans have grown a bit of an inferiority complex – supporting only the teams and players that truly show the desire to be, and remain, in town. We’ve come by it honestly after watching a parade of hall of famers (Griffey, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, etc.) decide Seattle wasn’t the place for them. We saw our first MLB franchise the Seattle Pilots hightail it out of here after one year. The Mariners spent the first 20 years of their existence looking for a better city in which to play. We even had the treat of watching the Seahawks load up the trucks and actually move to California before being forced to return. Then there were the nearly two years we had to endure Sonics owner Clay Bennett telling us how Seattle fans were the worst fans in the NBA.
So, it isn’t a stretch to say it’ll take a lot more than for an NBA team than to waltz into town, put on the green and gold and expect a warm hug from Seattle fans. A generation of fans might come and go, along with a whole lot of time, before the wounds inflicted by NBA commissioner David Stern, the Sonics and the City of Seattle are fully healed.Again, Seattle fans will need to know an NBA team really wants to be here. Look at the stunning early success that the Sounders FC is enjoying. Part of it is because there is a large international contingent in Seattle and significant soccer fan base. It could also be argued that another key to the Sounders success is that they’ve shown that want to be here and have fully embraced the community. Sappy? Sure it is, but when you’re asking people to fork out big money to support your team in this economy, it’s the little things that matter.
There are those who believe an NHL team can’t survive in this market. One reason being the sports ticket dollar is already stretched thin as are corporate sponsorship dollars. Again, take a look at the Sounders. They’re doing better than OK. So are minor league hockey teams the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips. I think the money is there, pro-franchises just have to work for it. It’s no longer good enough to publish you’re 1-800 number, sit back and wait for the phones to start ringing. Plus, hockey sells itself. Watching hockey live is one of, if not the, best spectator sports on the planet.
Of course getting the chance to watch pro hockey in Seattle requires a new arena or a drastically revamped KeyArena. There are a number of bills that could provide funding for an upgraded KeyArena and Seattle Center. If any one of them succeeds, former Sonics owner Clay Bennett will have to fork out another $30 million if the NBA doesn’t put a new team in a new KeyArena by 2013. That was part of the deal that allowed Bennett to break his lease and skip town with the team for $45 million.
Assuming funding is found and pro hoops return, one has to look no farther than Charlotte to find a cautionary case study in how a city will react if given a second chance at an NBA franchise. Charlotte Hornets fans had the rug pulled out from under them when in 2002 the team moved to New Orleans because owner George Shinn couldn’t get his new arena built. It didn’t help that Shinn was a pariah in the community … hmm, sounds familiar. Shinn reportedly didn’t want to pay his star players market value, opting instead to trade them. Plus, Shinn was mired in sexual assault civil trial. The fans took out their displeasure with the Hornets owner, quit going to games and attendance bottomed out before the team rode out of town.
Almost immediately, Charlotte was awarded an expansion franchise and the Bobcats played their first home game in 2004. Charlotte built its sparkly new arena for the Bobcats, but it wasn’t the fan magnet that owners tell us new arenas will definitely be. The Bobcats ranked 24th in the league in home attendance last season and already were on the Forbes magazine list of Top 10 Franchises Most Likely to Move.
There are a number of differences between Charlotte and Seattle and what happened there won’t necessarily happen here if the NBA returns. For one, the Seattle SuperSonics were the city’s first modern day pro franchise. They won a championship and there is a deep-rooted nostalgia for the Sonics. While the Sonics were a 40-year franchise before it moved, the Hornets were in Charlotte for less than 20 years.
But it’s worth thinking about and deciding whether or not building a multi-use arena for hockey and basketball would make good business sense. It’ll give you a 50/50 chance that at least one team can carry the water if the other one falls flat on its face.
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