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Tuesday, July 18, 2006 · Last updated 12:10 p.m. PT
Sources: Sonics sold to Oklahoma City
Seattle city officials say they'll work to keep franchise
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER
The Seattle Sonics, the city's first major professional sports franchise, have been sold to an ownership group in Oklahoma City, sources close to the team say.
The National Basketball Association team has scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m today and wasn't commenting publicly before then. Mayor Greg Nickels planned to speak to reporters at 4 p.m.
The city plans to hold the Sonics to their lease, which expires in 2010, said Nickels' spokeswoman Marianne Bichsel.
The owners of the Sonics have said they've lost millions of dollars in recent years because their venue is too small and outdated and the lease terms are unfavorable.
They had threatened to sell the team after their lease expired in 2010 unless the city gave them a larger cut of any revenue and $220 million in taxpayer-funded remodeling of KeyArena. Since then, they have held informal discussions with leaders in Bellevue and Renton about potentially building a new arena in one of those cities.
Earlier this month, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels offered Sonics owners a deal to settle their demands for KeyArena renovations and a more lucrative lease - and it was up to team owners to seal professional basketball's fate in Seattle, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said at the time.
Team officials never responded to several offers made by Nickels' office in response to Sonics' owners demands for more lucrative lease terms and major arena renovations, Bichsel said.
"This is a business decision on the Sonics' part and we very much were working with them on the goal of keeping them in Seattle. We presented them with three different offers, proposals, that we felt could get them where they wanted to be in terms of renovating KeyArena and other issues. And we got no response on any of these offers." "These offers will still stand for the new owners," she said.
As a courtesy, Gov. Christine Gregoire, who has been in contact with team leaders throughout the morning, will to wait until after the Sonics 3 p.m. news conference to issue her statement, said her spokeswoman Holly Armstrong.
"At this point she has been clear that she felt that the Sonics current owners have been open and transparent with her and there was never a question that they were looking for a solution," Armstrong said.
Although there is already a new arena in Oklahoma City awaiting an NBA team, Seattle officials haven't yet given up on keeping the team here under the new ownership, Bichsel said. "We're going to be talking with them about that lease and about terms of a future lease to see what their intentions are. We don't know at this point what the new owners' intentions are. I'm not going to presume that until we've had conversations. But what I'm saying we'd like to keep the Sonics here."
The Sonics joined the NBA for the 1967-68 season, and in 1979 won the NBA championship.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/277945_sonics18ww.html
Sources: Sonics sold to Oklahoma City
Seattle city officials say they'll work to keep franchise
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER
The Seattle Sonics, the city's first major professional sports franchise, have been sold to an ownership group in Oklahoma City, sources close to the team say.
The National Basketball Association team has scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m today and wasn't commenting publicly before then. Mayor Greg Nickels planned to speak to reporters at 4 p.m.
The city plans to hold the Sonics to their lease, which expires in 2010, said Nickels' spokeswoman Marianne Bichsel.
The owners of the Sonics have said they've lost millions of dollars in recent years because their venue is too small and outdated and the lease terms are unfavorable.
They had threatened to sell the team after their lease expired in 2010 unless the city gave them a larger cut of any revenue and $220 million in taxpayer-funded remodeling of KeyArena. Since then, they have held informal discussions with leaders in Bellevue and Renton about potentially building a new arena in one of those cities.
Earlier this month, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels offered Sonics owners a deal to settle their demands for KeyArena renovations and a more lucrative lease - and it was up to team owners to seal professional basketball's fate in Seattle, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said at the time.
Team officials never responded to several offers made by Nickels' office in response to Sonics' owners demands for more lucrative lease terms and major arena renovations, Bichsel said.
"This is a business decision on the Sonics' part and we very much were working with them on the goal of keeping them in Seattle. We presented them with three different offers, proposals, that we felt could get them where they wanted to be in terms of renovating KeyArena and other issues. And we got no response on any of these offers." "These offers will still stand for the new owners," she said.
As a courtesy, Gov. Christine Gregoire, who has been in contact with team leaders throughout the morning, will to wait until after the Sonics 3 p.m. news conference to issue her statement, said her spokeswoman Holly Armstrong.
"At this point she has been clear that she felt that the Sonics current owners have been open and transparent with her and there was never a question that they were looking for a solution," Armstrong said.
Although there is already a new arena in Oklahoma City awaiting an NBA team, Seattle officials haven't yet given up on keeping the team here under the new ownership, Bichsel said. "We're going to be talking with them about that lease and about terms of a future lease to see what their intentions are. We don't know at this point what the new owners' intentions are. I'm not going to presume that until we've had conversations. But what I'm saying we'd like to keep the Sonics here."
The Sonics joined the NBA for the 1967-68 season, and in 1979 won the NBA championship.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/277945_sonics18ww.html
