Sonics owner tells NBA he wants to move team to Oklahoma City

[jitterbug13]

Sounds like when the Hornets moved to New Orleans. They had all the support in Charlotte but the owner wanted a new arena. Imagine how the owner felt when he had to temporary moved them to OK City after Katrina.

[Kevin]

Shinn felt great. Oklahoma City bought 12K season tickets for a temporary team that wasn't playoff material. We also had an attendance average around 18K over the years the Hornets were here.

[PeppyGPhiB]

I'd rather have an NHL team here. Maybe once the Sonics are gone we can think about starting fresh with a new team... Of course, we'd have to build them an arena too.

[jitterbug13]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Shinn felt great. Oklahoma City bought 12K season tickets for a temporary team that wasn't playoff material. We also had an attendance average around 18K over the years the Hornets were here.

They probaby did better in Oklahoma City than they are doing in New Orleans. They did well in Charlotte, but Shinn pi$$ed off the whole city. That's why they left Charlotte.

Now only if the Bobcats can win some games....

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by jitterbug13

They probaby did better in Oklahoma City than they are doing in New Orleans. They did well in Charlotte, but Shinn pi$$ed off the whole city. That's why they left Charlotte.

Now only if the Bobcats can win some games....

The Hornets did better in OKC than the majority of teams in the NBA do in much larger cities. I guarantee that a Sonics ticket in OKC will be a tough ticket to get ahold of once they move here.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Kevin

The Hornets did better in OKC than the majority of teams in the NBA do in much larger cities. I guarantee that a Sonics ticket in OKC will be a tough ticket to get ahold of once they move here.

I think Oklahoma City is a pretty nice place.

It's OK, to coin a phrase.

Reality is, though, that whenever a team is "new" to an area, it generally does very well.

After a couple of years of average to dismal performances the luster wears off.

Then the owner demands a new arena with luxury skyboxes, the parking franchise, concession profits and, of course, doesn't want to spend a penny of his/her/their own -- or they'll take their team and go home. Home will be the next city willing to spend a lot of money to have a major sports franchise -- whether the long term sports dollars to support the team are there or not.

I also know that it's easy to be critical when you live in a city with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL as well as a couple of more minor professional teams.

Of course I'm also a little jaded because I lived in Baltimore when Bob Irsay literally sneaked his team (The Colts) out of town in the middle of the night to move to Indianapolis.

[Tom Earp]

With the new Sprint center in K C, I truly do not know if they/we will support either a new NHL (Possibly the Raptors) or A NBA Team?

Had National Ice Hockey and NBA Teams and they both moved.

While there is only so much money that can be paid out by the fans, The Chiefs are by far the biggest draw! Then the lowly Royals where they do not have a fan base even in SW Mo!

Be nice to have both teams in a new great arena, I do not know if they would last with the money grubbing owners!

As above poster said, it is blackmail by the owners!

[Rudey]

Owners will push for a new stadium every 5 years. They'll generally ask for something that is larger. What that means is a stadium that has less seats but more luxury boxes. They'll also push for bigger portions of sales from things like concessions. How will they finance it? By forcing the city to issue public bonds. At the same time, the public sees no benefit, traffic becomes an issue, other businesses suffer, etc.

So let them move. In fact, encourage them to move.

-Rudey