Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  81 responses

Seattle Trying to Bring Back an NBA Team


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

The city of Seattle has never recovered from losing their beloved Sonics in 2008. Since the team was highjacked and taken to Oklahoma City, there’s been scant talk about bringing a team back, but nothing truly substantive took root. Until now.

The Seattle Times unearthed revealing documents that show a serious effort to start up a new NBA team in the city, with plans to build a new stadium very soon:

A wealthy San Francisco hedge-fund manager and officials in the Seattle mayor’s office have been working behind the scenes for eight months to bring an NBA team back to the city as early as next fall and build a new arena, according to emails and documents that reveal a far more concerted effort than previously known. A Dec. 13 agenda for a meeting between the parties shows they were talking about details such as a “Review of Basic Deal Structure,” “Financing Issues,” including “City Debt Capacity,” and “Security for Public Financing.”

The documents, released Friday to The Seattle Times under a public-disclosure request, also provide the first glimpse of how the largely unknown hedge-fund manager, 44-year-old Seattle native Christopher Hansen, approached the city about his desire to buy an NBA team and build an arena south of Safeco Field. In an initial email laying out his vision, Hansen told city officials an arena could be built with minimal impact on taxpayers.

According to the published report, there’s talk of possibly relocating the Sacramento Kings to Seattle.

This is all obviously very early stages. But there are some encouraging signs here for passionate NBA fans in the Seattle area.

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  • http://Www.slamonline.com TADOne

    And LA Huey…your name was not highlighted for me to click

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    I could care less if the Hornets leave for Seattle because I haven’t even been to a hornets game for me to miss anything.

  • http://www.hearwithmyear.tumblr.com yayanbautista

    TADone, the truth of it is, it all came down to timing, craftiness, and the failure of man AKA howard shultz. because the sups had such a long history, i know that there is an ebb and flow. there is no team that is going to just stay good. it takes rebuilding after a team is dismantled or are no longer winning the way that they did. during those years, is when there is always going to be a slump in attendance, this can’t be avoided…no matter how loyal a fan base is, no one wants to see a losing team. howard shultz was frustrated and in that moment he decides to sell to an oklahoma business man…please keep in mind we had no power over who he decided to sell to. on top of that, bennett was crafty…he made promises to do everything he could to keep the team here, even though him and stern had been talking about relocating a team to okc behind everyone’s back. bennett was crafty enough to really dismantle the team in those last years when we drafted durant and westbrook…he knew as good as they were, rookies were not going to make a winning team at that moment, he dismantled the team to make us look even worse in our last years in hopes of justifying a premeditated move to okc.

    as for the arena…its hard for me to say this as a die hard sports fan, but when you come from a real city, with real issues, you start to realize that sometimes, life is bigger than throwing a ball around. the city of seattle had just built new state of the art stadiums for the seahawks/sounders and the mariners. all of that was on the backs of tax payers. Bennett wanted to have nothing to do with funding a new arena for his new team because he already had one planned out in okc so again, we as seattlites were faced with the hard decision of funding a new arena, or worrying about our burgeoning public school populations or expanding our public transportation to serve the needs of this rapidly growing community…can you blame us for saying no to a wealthy business man who wants you to pay for his arena so he can charge you 12 dollars for a hotdog. its always going to look like okc wants a team more…and thats because there is literally nothing going on over there except for raising livestock. we over here, simply have more to factor in and that’s why we weren’t able to come up with an arena solution in the one-two year window that bennett (supposedly) gave us.

    it hurts me to see that the kings are first up on the chopping block…it seems so hypocritical of us to be taking another team in the same fashion, just more up front and without all of the stern-bennett shadiness. i would rather have the hornets because it seems like they don’t need that team as bad as sac fans need the kings. again, blame stern for setting this precedent. this whole situation has been bitter-bitter-sweet. i’m glad durant is getting to shine, he deserves it, i just wish it was in green and gold. i want a team so bad so my kids can go to games with me like i did with my parents, but not at the cost of a loyal fan base losing that right in sac town. whatever happens, i hope it’s the best possible situation for everyone…stern and bennett owe that to everyone for all the shenanigans they’ve pulled on us out here.

    and if anyone ever questions the support of super sonics fans, they’ve obviously never had their ears blown out at key arena…people should really think about what they know and have experienced before making judgements…just saying, the world isn’t black and white people.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVlT35QobMk

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/post-up-23/ Allenp

    I don’t think most owners want to build their own arenas in any sport. The one I can think of off hte top of my head who did it is Jerry Jones. Anybody know another one?
    But, to be clear, I think if an owner wants to move his team, he should move it. It’s his team. How are you going to tell a businessman where he has to operate his business? Fans don’t own teams, that’s a delusion they’ve allowed themselves to be sucked into.
    Technically there is nothing wrong with moving a team. Once fans realize that option is on the table, it should temper their commitment to a private business.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/post-up-23/ Allenp

    Also, the people in washington were smart not to buckle and build the Sonics a new stadium and it seems a tad ludicrous to compare building a stadium to financing scholarships for illegal immigrant college students and figure that the stadium should win.
    On one hand you have a proposal that will allow illegal immigrants to earn merit based rewards for working hard in school, immigrants who are likely in the country after being brought here as children.
    On the other hand you provide a multi-millionaire with a tax write off so he can overcharge for the benefit of watching grown men play a game in a building you own.
    Hmmmm…. tough choice there.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLAT9x0pjUc&feature=related nbk

    Jerry Jones is the only owner I can think of too. But he didn’t even foot the whole bill, from Wikipedia, “To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city’s sales tax by 0.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding,[13][14] and Jones covered any cost overruns”

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/post-up-23/ Allenp

    Look at all the money on a building to watch people play a game!
    Effing ridiculous.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLAT9x0pjUc&feature=related nbk

    yeah it’s pretty absurd.

  • http://caseyvaughn.com AlbertBarr

    Just to add to the conversation: In Sacramento the city and the other parties trying to keep the Kings have framed the new “arena” as more than just a place to throw around a ball. It is an entertainment complex that will be built in the heart of downtown where currently there is nothing. It will bring in so much more than just the continuance of the Kings as our BBall franchise. So, in the case of here we stay, it isn’t just “let’s get the money to build a bball arena” its “lets build a modern entertainment complex for our top 20 TV market city that can allow us to compete for all of the big time acts, conferences, sports and events a modern city should strive to participate in”. I have been light on the details recently but the arena issue seems to be moving forward in a positive direction in SAC. I didn’t know we were back to chopping block status for the Seattle Vultures to prey upon.

  • http://caseyvaughn.com AlbertBarr

    Oooo, if Seattle does poach our team that should be their new name “The Seattle Vulture’s”

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2011/01/post-up-23/ Allenp

    Most of these teams and stadiums are like status symbols for cities. They mean a particular city has “arrived” and it’s a major player. That’s why New Orleans wants to keep the Hornets so bad because they don’t want to be known as a city that can’t support to professional teams economically even though that’s exactly what the city is. It’s funny.

  • Ryan.T.

    For anybody with questions about the relocation of the Sonics. It’s a long movie, but great @ the same time: http://youtu.be/s9Dp20ydm1E

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    NO needs to get their priorities straigt.

  • LA Huey

    My bad, TADOne. I was trying to link the sonicsgate website. Probably the same thing Ryan just linked.

  • http://anyoldthing Ugh

    A 44 year old unknown hedge fund manager buying a sports team and moving it to Seattle? He should buy and the Pistons and call the stadium the GFC Arena.
    Seriously, this has disaster written all over it.

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    i would obviously rather have a Vancouver team but Seattle definatley deserves one just as much, i really wish the best because i once had a team RIPped away from me too… but ironically Sac town is growing on me… hornets should flirt with the idea of a new yellow and green jersey

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCbDnPDBff4 LakeShow

    Don’t mean to be a d*ck, VanCity, but I think Seattle “deserves” one more-so. They have a championship, retired jerseys of legends in the sport, a history of winning, and is in a slightly larger market with more basketball prospects coming out of the area than most. I’m probably just being a d*ck though. Sorry…

  • Kieran in Dallas

    Ugh,

    This “unknown” hedge fund manager is building the arena. Other investors is buying the team(s). Know your facts.

  • Kieran in Dallas

    The money Sac is talking about using is the parking revune currently being use to pay for police salaries, fireman salaries and other city workers pay and other things. Do you really think Sac will approve this and mortage it’s future without a plan to replace the revenue source. I don’t know.

    I want the Sonics back, but would rather see Sac stay and NO come to Seattle.

  • burnt_chicken

    This thread is awesome. I learned A LOT about the Sonics, and have some thoughtful musings on the amount of money dumped into stadiums/arenas to mull over. Thanks, guys. PS, as a CLEVELAND BROWNS fan, yeah, I get it…

  • http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=pawtucketymca Gametimeweezy

    No Seattle Supersonics is a travesty. It was when it happened and still is…

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    ^lakeshow i see/ respect where u are coming from but its not like Van. didnt have potential… the manager sucked at the time and if u think about it we were only 1 draft off from Tim Duncan plus it was during a crap time economically… and everything u said up there is stuff that Vancouver never even had a chance to accomplish- we had shareef adur blah blah, a YOUNG mike Bibby and a big guy in bryant reeves.as far as a “winning record” factor do u think the clippers would have been a thought to relocation if Blake never joined the scene? but we will never know UNTIL the day hopefully we can both get our way (although seattle more likely than VAN) :( and this city is def. ready for a team, i work at footlocker and we sold every single vancouver grizzly snapback in 2hrs or so, we had to order more and we had to hold some for customers as well. WE ARE READY but the city is too afraid to admit it…

  • kantankruz

    Stern will pay back Seattle, this is how he does it:

    1. Chris Paul Trade with New Orleans
    2. Hornets obtain extra draft pick (TWolves)
    3. Hornets Suck
    4. Hornets win lottery
    5. Hornets Have Pick 1 & 3 in the stacked 2012 draft.
    6. Hornets get Anthony Davis and say Harrison Barnes (example).
    7. Horents resign Eric Gordon
    8. Seattle build new arena
    9. NBA gives Seattle the Hornets
    10. City of Seattle forgives and forgets
    11. Seattle loves David Stern
    12. Sonicsgate guys make another brilliant doco.
    13. Sonics and Thunder build THE BEST rivalry in ALL OF SPORTS!

  • kantankruz

    I must also add, Seattle was screwed by just about everybody else as well as Clay Bennett. Shultz, Seattle’s Mayor etc etc!

  • http://dodgers.com Joey E.

    you guys see the blazers/okc game? sonics fans behind the okc bench. it looked like the fans in the pic because they had sonics flags. they were cheering for the blazers

  • Justin G.

    Vancouver got just as ripped off as Seattle did. While Seattle does have history and all that, Vancouver was never really given the chance to try and create some of their own. Hell, right from the start the NBA insisted the franchise needed to have 12500 season tickets sold even though Minnesota and Orlando had trouble just getting 10000. Neither Toronto or Vancouver was allowed to have a top 5 pick in their first year and they weren’t allowed to have the first pick in their next three years either. They weren’t even allowed to spend their full salary cap amount in the first two years either. What the hell kind of expansion rules are those? Bring in Michael Heisley who said he would buy the team with no plans to relocate and the first thing he does upon completion of the sale is look for a new city to move them to. Throw in the weak Canadian dollar and the lockout which alienated a lot of fans and this team had no chance. Six years is not long enough for an expansion team to show whether it can be successful or not and even David Stern has said his two biggest regrets during his time as Commissioner have been what happened to Seattle and Vancouver.

  • JP7

    if seattle gets a team they need to get gary payton to coach and sign jamal crawford, that would please the fan base. vancity dont need no team, even tdot dont need no team, why jus to watch all the good teams blow em out and try compete with the other wack teams. vancouver failed and toronto wont stop failing, nobody wants to live there its too cold, thats why america sopped where they stopped and sold em that cold ass land for the cheap cheap lol ever since vince cater, when was the last time the raptors had a dude thatll cross you up, dunk all crazy and do filthy moves? guy, andrea and calderon, really? no guy. if ur a losing team you gotta at least have swagg, like the wizards maybe who jus beat the raps and had wayyyy more highlights. the raps cant afford swagg lol seatac wuddup tho lets make this happen

  • Justin G.

    Wow, JP7 is making a play for biggest fool on this site. The Seed, you have competition! Too cold? I guess Minnesota, Cleveland, New York, to name but a few are a vacationer’s dream this time of year huh? Vancouver gets maybe a few snow days a year (I live in Victoria so I know), mostly rain but today was sunny and 9 degrees. Not exactly “too cold” to have a basketball team. After Vince Carter, you may remember Chris Bosh putting the team on his back and getting them to the playoffs in back to back years with, admittedly, a very poor team around him. Losing teams don’t have swag because they’re LOSING! You look like an idiot if you walk in like you’re all that and haven’t even won 5 games yet. Yes, Washington paid back the Raps for their blowout loss to those same Raptors (still without Bargnani) a few nights ago. Way to go

  • JP7

    look i live in cnanda, i love the raptors, i honestly do, theyre all we got, but they suck, always and forever.they dont even look like an nba team, its like a gimic, oh lets give canada a team yo we’ll hella fans lol theyre faulty from top to bottom. andrea bargain-yani is an outside shooting 7 footer wit no d, hes no dirk and lightning duznt stike twice. calderon consitently gets burned by strong, quick, swagged out young black men. derozen got decent dunks but no handle or j. bayless is like a slow learner or sumn, barbosa is consistently inconsistent, like i dunno man, im tired of the raps breakin my heart, and this thread is posed to be bout seattle so you know the raps suck if we jump from seatac to downtown vancity and end talkin bout the raptoronis, brian colangelo needs to leave town asap

  • JP7

    james johnson is skinny fat, amir johnson is slow in the head, jamal maglore airballs freethrows on the regular, anthony carter is 47+ some odd yrs old, rasul butler has never made a jumpshot, like im choked guy, im harsh choked. the only guy whos a solid dude is linas kleiza, hes good to go.

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    smh… except at u Justin G i agree, i live in vancouver exactly so i know its 1: not “too cold” for a team what kind of excuse is that? 2: a true fan stays behind their team good or bad, so ok the Raptors (for example) are not the Miami heat or apperently even washington, but as a fan i will stick behind them thru the ups and downs… and u dont think shareef adur raheem didnt have potential for the Vancouver Grizzley organization? and james johnson is a solid defensive player, ed davis can be like a marcus camby in the future, and imagine the team when they get AndreaB back AND a centre in Jonas Valenchunas… smh

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