From Seattle: Why the Sonics Are Halfway Out the Door
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by user Andersed
Here's why the Sonics won't be playing in the Seattle area much longer, thanks to today's surprising sale to a group of businessmen from Oklahoma City.
Frayed relations with the city government - This is the primary issue. The City Council Chief, Nick Licata, said a few months ago that the Sonics had "zero cultural value", a statement that was not only borderline racist, but also quite incendiary. Today the mayor said in an incredibly meaningless and general interview that the Sonics were an important community asset. Basically, the Sonics' local ownership wanted a sweetheart new arena deal from Seattle. Both sides were in rough financial straits.
Ownership's public falling out - A few years ago, Howard Schultz and a large group of Seattle-area investors bought the team in a reputed move-preventing effort. Schultz, also well-known as chairman of Starbucks, was a visible and emotional force at games. The organization drafted local guy Luke Ridnour and brought in Nate McMillan as coach. Then McMillan left, they began public pleas for a new arena deal, and the team flopped mightily. Now the owners have sold the team to outsiders.
The Oklahoma City part isn't an accident - Schultz and his buddies tried for a couple years to sell the team to a local individual or group, in vain. Of course they wanted the Sonics to stay in Seattle, but they couldn't afford the tough situation any longer. Now they've sold them to businessmen from Oklahoma City, who allowed for a year to "try out" Seattle. Let's not kid ourselves: they couldn't move the Sonics immediately, but allowing a year to try it out allows more time for the Hornets to vacate and arena plans to be laid. The city of Seattle won't negotiate any differently with this new group. The odds of a deal are tiny.
The fans don't seem to care that much and moving seems like a foregone conclusion - I'm basing this on my own circle and contact with media outlets. One of my friends in the car plays basketball and is a much bigger basketball fan than me, but he was more concerned that Seattle would only have two major sports than that the NBA was leaving town. The sports radio DJs talked as if the move was inevitable. People around here have discussed this possibility in very real terms for months now, as the negotiations between the city and Sonics deteriorated and petered out.
I can't predict when the Sonics will leave. It just seems like a very, very likely possibility. The team has a storied history in the city and won Seattle's only professional sports title (1979). But their recent fall from grace is stunning in its swiftness. Less than two years ago they nearly beat the Spurs in the NBA Western Conference semis, despite losing two key elements and battling officiating bias. Nate McMillan was Mr. Sonic and the wunderkind coach. The team played exciting team basketball and captivated a city with rich basketball pedigree.
Seattle's high schools and the University of Washington are programs on the rise. Perhaps the Sonics deserve credit for their recent resurgence (witness the last two #6 draft picks: Seattle natives Martell Webster and Brandon Roy, who each committed to the UW) but perhaps the UW's recent success has hurt the Sonics. I would much rather attend a UW game, even though I will attend a different college, than a Sonics game.
In a couple years, I might not have that option. I'm not sure if I'm even sad, though it's unfortunate for Seattle's many Sonics fans. Just when things might be looking up for the oncourt squad, too. It should be an interesting year.
An update: Today (Thursday) I saw several people wearing various Sonics items and looking a little sad. The sports radio guys continued to talk as it if was a foregone conclusion. There's no reason for new owner Clay Bennett, who was instrumental in bringing the Hornets and the NBA to OK City, to buy the Sonics and keep them there forever. Obviously his intent is to move them.
Former owner Howard Schultz, who was king here a couple years ago, has been vilified by nearly everyone. However, it seems like most Seattlelites are sad because they're losing a professional sports team, not because they're losing the storied and important Sonics. The franchise, though it won our only pro championship, isn't adored.
Basically, this seems like a problem with the NBA. Seattle is the nation's 15th largest market. Oklahoma City is 47th. This specific situation just doesn't seem to work for Seattle. How weird would it be for an expansion team to come to Seattle in a few years? The Charlotte Bobcats set a precedent of sorts.
Who to blame? I'm not sure. Mostly professional sports for getting to this point, where teams fundamentally lose money every year but the buyers still make a huge profit when they sell the team. Where players make ridiculous sums of money. Where city governments are way too involved in a thoroughly private enterprise. Where neither an owner nor a city can afford an arena.
I could go political, because Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels hasn't gotten much of anything done while in office, except to push the homeless out of sight (but not out of existence). Neither have many Seattle mayors. There isn't one person in the city government passionate enough about the Sonics to try to keep them here. It's a business loss, that's how they see it. Not a cultural loss (see above). That's the wrong way to look at a sports team. This is fast turning into another rant.
The only hope: a suburb like Bellevue (across the lake from Seattle) steps in to save the team, in the mold of Auburn Hills.
Date
Tue 07/18/06, 7:40 pm EST
