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Nope. I should know. I'm the breaking news master. Kudos to you. And for the topic, I wonder how they're jerseys are gonna look like. And if they'll change their color.
Sonics On The Move: Clay Bennett has told his Sonic supporters that he will file for re-location with the NBA. Bennett would not name the city he will file for, but word is it will be Kansas City, not Oklahoma City. It is believed Kansas is offering a far better tax package and the revenue possibilities seem far greater in Kansas City than Oklahoma City. A lot of the decision process may still be up to the NBA, given the track record the Hornets had in OKC, the Sonics may get steered toward OKC, but it seems if Clay has his choice the Sonics will be playing in Kansas City in 2009.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22193.shtml
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Im not sure if this has been posted yet...
Nope. I should know. I'm the breaking news master. Kudos to you. And for the topic, I wonder how they're jerseys are gonna look like. And if they'll change their color.
wow..that would be a slap in the face to OKC if this happens. We all thought it was OKC when they announced this a few months ago.
I know a couple of life-long Sonics fans who ar gonna be pissed! I feel for them. It really shouldn't come to this. The NBA should step in. The Sonics are Seattle's team.
i dont see it being any better... all of KC is college fans
OKC woult be the better choice imho. But sad to see the Sonics leaving Seattle.
It's a Hoopsworld article, so I won't believe it until I see it elsewhere.
Remember when they reported that it was a fact that Karl Malone officially was signing in San Antonio that afternoon. And meanwhile the press conference was really about Elliott's jersey being retired
Anyway, I am not surprised but I am just skeptical at the source.
It's still Oklahoma City, people. You know what happened, don't you?
[SCENE: Hoopsworld.com corporate offices in Augusta, Maine. WRITER and RESEARCHER are discussing details about this story]
RESEARCHER: ...so that's how I found out.
WRITER: Interesting. I'll be sure to plug that detail in. Hey, before you go, do we have confirmation on where the Sonics are moving?
RESEARCHER: Yeah. Where did he say...O (quickly swallows) KC. (leaves)
WRITER: (to himself) Kansas City, huh? Well, that's new. (types furiously)
Clay is using the "city shopping" technique.
The Hoopsworld writer is likely incorrect by saying Kansas is offering a better tax package because the arena they are building in KC - The Sprint Center - is in Missouri, as is the Truman Sports Complex of Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals.
KC struggled to support the NBA (Kings) and NHL (Scouts) in the 70s and although the metropolitan area has had modest growth, it's not moving up the list in the US rankings. It would be a surprise to see the NBA go there again.
Okay, here is an article from the Seattle Times this week.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...bennett23.html
Bennett says Kansas City is a viable option
By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter
Clay Bennett is looking at potential markets.
After recently floating Las Vegas as a possible new home for the Sonics and Storm, team owner Clay Bennett this week popped by Kansas City and said that city is on his list, too.
Bennett called Kansas City a "viable" option that will be "fully considered" should the Sonics and Storm leave Seattle, according to The Kansas City Star. He was in the city Monday speaking at a luncheon billed as "If You Build It, Will They Come?" sponsored by an economic-development group.
Kansas City, which lost the Kings to Sacramento in 1985, has spent recent years trying to recapture professional basketball. By October, the city expects to complete construction on a $276 million arena, the Sprint Center, but has yet to land a team to play there.
In an interview with The Seattle Times last week, Bennett said he was pessimistic about getting an arena deal that would allow the Sonics to remain in Washington state and he'd begun exploring other markets.
He was more blunt in Kansas City, complaining about the blasé reaction from Seattle fans when the Legislature refused to act on an arena plan.
"No hue and cry, no letters to the editor, nothing by the media or talk on the call-in shows, or no new ideas on how to get it done," Bennett told the Star. "No private ideas on the table."
Bennett has said he'll continue to search for an arena solution in Washington state, and he told The Star "we're going to do everything we can" to get a public vote in August on an arena proposal. Such a vote now seems unlikely because there are no plans to call the Washington Legislature into a special session.
Lawmakers, citing a lack of public support, declined to vote last month on a proposal to provide tax money for a $500 million Renton arena.
Bennett has said if he doesn't get an arena deal by Oct. 31, he'll look to move the Sonics and Storm after the 2007-08 season. It has been widely assumed that the teams would head to Oklahoma City, the hometown of Bennett and other investors who paid $350 million for the teams last year.
But Bennett lately has clouded the picture by suggesting other cities as possible homes.
Last month, he told a group of Seattle business leaders that he was interested in Las Vegas because it could prove more lucrative than Oklahoma. Bennett backpedaled from those comments after a rebuke from NBA commissioner David Stern, but he said the Sonics will consider several options if they leave Seattle.
Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, which will manage the Sprint Center in Kansas City, told the Star, "we're talking to Clay, I'll leave it at that."
If the Sonics move, "the odds-on favorite is Oklahoma City," Leiweke said. "That said, Kansas City is in the mix."
Seattle-area developer Dave Sabey has recently floated the idea of a combined convention center and basketball arena on a 55-acre parcel he acquired in Tukwila. But both Bennett and Sabey say there are no current plans to develop an arena there.
Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
i AGREE SOMEWHAT
THEY TRIED
I believe stern stepped in to
not a bad move
ok that they had it so not as good offer now they will offer more
if they move,would it still be appealling to presti?
dude sam knows they are going to move
he is not stupid
They also reported that Michael Finley was a free agent last year and he was going to sign with Orlando.It's a Hoopsworld article, so I won't believe it until I see it elsewhere.
Remember when they reported that it was a fact that Karl Malone officially was signing in San Antonio that afternoon. And meanwhile the press conference was really about Elliott's jersey being retired
Anyway, I am not surprised but I am just skeptical at the source.
KC's new arena doesn't look that bad.
And they are building a nice urban area around it like Dallas is doing with Victory Park around the AAC. But KC is college basketball territory. The same reason why Kentucky doesn't have an NBA team and Alabama doesn't have an NFL team.
My mom lived in Kansas City for a while and I thought it was a really cool place. A very underrated city. I'd be glad for them if they got a basketball team, but I'd still feel bad for Seattle because I know those fans love the Sonics. Oh wait, they all cheered when Duncan went down in 2005. them, Karma's a ain't it?
I think the Sonics will stay in Seattle. With Durant I think they will get the votes they need for a new arena.
KC is a big cow town. Nice fountains. Very ritzy burbs. They are all KU basketball fans.
I really think Stern is going to 'help steer' he team towards OKC. It is a proven market there, with corp sponsors ready to jump in and a proven arena/surrounding area.
The new arena in KC will house the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. It is being built as a college venue, not a pro one.
OKC has already shown the NBA top 10 attendance and I dont see them walking away from that when all is said and done. KC is nice but I'll blow a freaking gasket if KC....KC, becomes a 3 major sports team town before SA gets our second.
I'm hopeful that they will too. There's a slim chance, but its still a chance. Getting Durant may just be enough to get the town excited enough to build a new arena.
Part of the problem is that Seattle just built two stadiums within the last decade to replace the kingdome.
They'll talk up KC so that it does not seem that OKC was the plan all the way along, but it looks like KC is expecting the NHL, not the NBA.
Much as I'd like to see the Sonics stay in a real city, I would certainly hope the people of Seattle aren't that stupid.
dang thats nice.KC's new arena doesn't look that bad.
And they are building a nice urban area around it like Dallas is doing with Victory Park around the AAC. But KC is college basketball territory. The same reason why Kentucky doesn't have an NBA team and Alabama doesn't have an NFL team.
Wow is this built (past tense). And if no NBA team comes, who in KC uses it?
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