[Toomany10pins]

Am surprised no one has brought this topic up. Looks like an arena just south of Safeco will become a reality and bring back an NBA team and more importantly IMHO an NHL team. Sounds like most of it will be privately financed by Chris Hanson (sp?) a Seattle native that lives in SF. Also sounds like the mayor and Seattle city council are pretty much behind this.

While the NBA is pretty much dead to me and will be as long as Stern is in charge, I'd be happy for those NBA/Sonics fans like my brother and nephew that will have that option of having a team to see and root for. What really gets me excited is the possiblity of an NHL team coming here. We'd have an instant rivalry with Vancouver BC. While I'd go to minor league hockey game once in a blue moon the NHL is such a higher level of play. I think the Seattle area is a natural fit for NHL and would do well here based on how well the minor league hockey draws in this area.

Thoughts?

[Lonnie]

Do you have any kind of links to this stuff?

[Toomany10pins]

http://seattletimes....9_arena05m.html

http://seattletimes....6_arena10m.html

This post has been edited by Toomany10pins: 10 February 2012 - 12:07 AM

[Lonnie]

Toomany10pins, on 10 February 2012 - 12:04 AM, said:

http://seattletimes....9_arena05m.html

http://seattletimes....6_arena10m.html

Thanks! I don't get stuff like this in Colorado Springs.

[Toomany10pins]

Not a problem Lonnie.

[M's Watcher]

As a former Sonics season ticket holder from the glory days of the Championship season, I am excited at the prospects of the return of an NBA team to Seattle. It is a chance for the current mayor and city council to establish a legacy. However, even though the name can be had with a returning team, they won't be the Sonics. Stealing a failing franchise from Sac-town, they will be the Kings. No, not the ones with the crowns. Just like the County, they will be the Kings, as in MLK, with his silhouette emblazoned across the chest of every player. Now how would that sit with Sonics fans? Probably not well, but how does one deal with the history of the franchise? It would be a messed up combination of the Sonics/OKC Plunder, and Rochester/Cincinnati Royals/KC /Sac Kings. Somehow the new Kings seem strangely fitting. After all, the County changed its name to honor MLK, long after it has been named after William R. King, the 13th VP of the US. But WR King had slaves, so he was bad, so we should erase that bit of history. Oh, wait a minute, George Washington had slaves, too. Don't give Gov Gregoire any ideas before she leaves office.

What to do with Key Arena? Simple. Turn it into Nickelsville as a grand homeless shelter, a permanent monument to the former mayor who lost the Sonics.

[Huindekmi]

I'm of two minds here.

1) It'd be nice to have the Sonics back. That could even provide a nice little boost to the local economy.

2) Can't help but feel like we the people will get screwed in the deal. And I can't help but feel like we'll be screwing Sacramento in the process.

We lost the Sonics because the NBA chose to play its little stadium extortion game. "Yeah, we know you upgraded the arena to our specs just 10 years ago, but its no longer any good. Build us a new one or we'll leave town!". Now they are doing the same thing to Sacramento. Arco Arena was build 20 years ago. 15 years ago, Stern and the NBA were heralding it as a shining example of a great arena for a small-to-medium sized market. Now... it's garbage. Tear it down. Throw it away. Build something newer, better, shinier.

So, now we may build a new arena with *only* $200M of public money. And despite the demand that the team have a 30 year lease, how much do you want to bet that the NBA will be back in 15-20 years saying "This place is a hellhole. We need something better or we're moving to XXXX!"

There's a big part of me that wants NOTHING to do with the NBA extortion machine.


As far as the Key Arena... it seems to be doing OK as a venue for the Storm, the Rat City Rollergirls and concerts. It's not making tons of money, but it is breaking even. Despite still paying down the debt from the last NBA demanded remodel.

[Lonnie]

Huindekmi, on 17 February 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

I'm of two minds here.

1) It'd be nice to have the Sonics back. That could even provide a nice little boost to the local economy.

2) Can't help but feel like we the people will get screwed in the deal. And I can't help but feel like we'll be screwing Sacramento in the process.

We lost the Sonics because the NBA chose to play its little stadium extortion game. "Yeah, we know you upgraded the arena to our specs just 10 years ago, but its no longer any good. Build us a new one or we'll leave town!". Now they are doing the same thing to Sacramento. Arco Arena was build 20 years ago. 15 years ago, Stern and the NBA were heralding it as a shining example of a great arena for a small-to-medium sized market. Now... it's garbage. Tear it down. Throw it away. Build something newer, better, shinier.

So, now we may build a new arena with *only* $200M of public money. And despite the demand that the team have a 30 year lease, how much do you want to bet that the NBA will be back in 15-20 years saying "This place is a hellhole. We need something better or we're moving to XXXX!"

There's a big part of me that wants NOTHING to do with the NBA extortion machine.


As far as the Key Arena... it seems to be doing OK as a venue for the Storm, the Rat City Rollergirls and concerts. It's not making tons of money, but it is breaking even. Despite still paying down the debt from the last NBA demanded remodel.

I was listening to some coverage yesterday when I heard this: The city still owes $69M on the Kingdome.

How??? Maybe it was a reporting mistake.

[Huindekmi]

Remember the season the ceiling tiles started falling down? The city ended up paying something like $50M to fix that. And there was more paid for a partial renovation to keep the Seahawks owner happy for a time. When the dome came down, the city still owed close to $100M on the dome.

[lisa mariner]

Just heard the announcement of some of the other investors joining Chris Hansens group ....
Two of them are not only pillars of the Seattle community, for all intents and purposes, they are my employers. I now have absolutely no doubt that this deal will get done