It’s finally here Oklahoma City!
It is official, after 41 years the Seattle Sonics are relocating to Oklahoma City. Clay Bennett and the NBA have made it official to move Seattle’s NBA franchise to Oklahoma. When Bennett purchased the Sonics and its sister franchise in the WNBA, the Storm, for $350 million, he agreed to make a “good faith” effort to keep both teams in Seattle. Did anyone truly believe that a group of Oklahoma City investors would want to keep the teams in Seattle? The attendance in Seattle has been staggering and the city has shot down numerous attempts to fund a new arena (being that the Key Arena is on its last legs). The Sonics are going through a rebuilding phase drafting young prospects and building their team around Kevin Durant. We all saw how passionate Oklahoma City was towards the Hornets last year so we know the attendance will be through the roof from the beginning.
The total amount of money spent by Clay Bennett to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City:
City of Seattle, June 2008: $45 million
Additional money, 2013: $30 million
Relocation fee: $30 million
Losses, 2007-08 season: (est) $20 million
Losses, 2006-07 season: (est) $20 million
Moving fees: (est) $15 million
Legal fees: (est) $2 million
Grand Total of $162 million!
Cost of renovating Key Arena is estimated at about $300 million so we start to see where this relocation makes $ense. Bennett had indicated many of times that he had no interest in breaking out his check book to help renovate the arena because all along he had no interest in doing anything to keep the teams in Seattle.
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July 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Yea we all knew Oklahoma City would be the final destination. Great fan base just waiting for a professional franchise to come to town. This is a college based city eager for a NBA team. I think the Bennett is a snake but a good business man. Why waste your money and talent to wash away in the Seattle rain?