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Return of the Sonics?

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Nasty Style

Well-Known Member
There has been a proposal from a guy (Chris Hansen) to build a new arena for an NBA team in Sodo (south Seattle), next to Safeco Field (Mariners) and Century Link Field (Seahawks). It's an awesome deal but for whatever reason the gov. here is making this very difficult. Supposedly there will be a vote today in the city and county council. I'm hoping that the Sonics will come back so I can go to the games in my Jazz gear! If anyone is interested, I will keep this updated with the latest news.
 
Nasty Style said:
There has been a proposal from a guy (Chris Hansen) to build a new arena for an NBA team in Sodo (south Seattle), next to Safeco Field (Mariners) and Century Link Field (Seahawks). It's an awesome deal but for whatever reason the gov. here is making this very difficult. Supposedly there will be a vote today in the city and county council. I'm hoping that the Sonics will come back so I can go to the games in my Jazz gear! If anyone is interested, I will keep this updated with the latest news.
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Please do, NBA is better with the Sonics.
 
Nasty Style said:
There has been a proposal from a guy (Chris Hansen) to build a new arena for an NBA team in Sodo (south Seattle), next to Safeco Field (Mariners) and Century Link Field (Seahawks). It's an awesome deal but for whatever reason the gov. here is making this very difficult. Supposedly there will be a vote today in the city and county council. I'm hoping that the Sonics will come back so I can go to the games in my Jazz gear! If anyone is interested, I will keep this updated with the latest news.
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When you say the gov. is making it difficult do you mean he isn't promising tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer money to build the arena?
 
Gameface said:
When you say the gov. is making it difficult do you mean he isn't promising tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer money to build the arena?
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Chris Hansen and his group (Steve Balmer and the Nordstroms) are going to put in $300 million of their own money.
The city and county contributions are capped at $125 million with an NBA team, $200 million if an NHL team is also acquired, between 25 and 40 percent of the estimated $490 million total cost. That makes for one of the best public-private arena deals in recent memory, and far better than the 80/20 public/private split Clay Bennett demanded before stealing the team away to Oklahoma City and a 100-percent-sales-tax-financed arena. Taxes and rent from the arena itself are guaranteed to cover the annual debt service, with the teams obligated to make up any shortfall, so the city and county would be repaid in full. It's really a rare deal.
They're also going to purchase the franchise/s (NHL) with their own money.
 
Brown Notes said:
Would the hockey team be expansion or will they steal one?
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It's too early to tell. Wayne Gretzky was in Bellevue (east of Seattle) just last week, he's the owner of the Coyotes... The NHL is very interested in moving here and expansion hasn't been ruled out either. But it might happen in Bellevue. Bellevue is actually a pretty big city, it has many more and taller buildings than SLC.

The NBA team is way too early to tell as well but "rumors" around here are that it might be the Kings.
 
The MOU (memorandum of understanding) passed the county council 6-3! Next up: the city council. That vote should happen sometime in the next couple weeks. As the radio guys have said "we're going into halftime with the lead."
 
I don't have a link, but I read this afternoon that 8 of 9 city council members want a change in the memo of understanding to promise that some money pumped into the project will be used for public transportation upgrades.
 
nightmare3983 said:
I don't have a link, but I read this afternoon that 8 of 9 city council members want a change in the memo of understanding to promise that some money pumped into the project will be used for public transportation upgrades.
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I heard something like that on the radio. What it basically boils down to is that the Port of Seattle and others are using the politicians in their back pocket to squeeze every penny they can out of Chris Hansen. They want him and or the profits to pay for roads and bridges that "benefit the public" but everyone knows they are roads that benefit the port. There's all sorts of this kind of crap going on that's delaying it.
I'm all for improving traffic, it absolutely sucks here, but I want it to actually benefit the public.
 
I'm all for it! I think people would punch me if I said I was a Sonics fan before Jazz :S, I lived there when i was 5-8 and my school gave me free tickets and I went to games. I also used to walk around the park by Key Arena a lot. <<I think it was Key Arena.
 
asian_roger said:
I'm all for it! I think people would punch me if I said I was a Sonics fan before Jazz :S, I lived there when i was 5-8 and my school gave me free tickets and I went to games. I also used to walk around the park by Key Arena a lot. <<I think it was Key Arena.
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Awesome, so when my dream of moving to Seattle finally becomes a reality there may just be NBA basketball there.
 
Brown Notes said:
Please do, NBA is better with the Sonics.
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Create a Soncis team and 1 other team in Vegas. Then send either the Twolves or memphis to the E.C. Then restructure the divisions into 4 x 4 team divisions.
 
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