Should Sonics come to OKC?
Should the Sonics be forced to fulfill their lease at Seattle’s KeyArena? Or should Clay Bennett be able to take the team that he and an Oklahoma-based investment group bought for $350 million in 2006 and move them here to Oklahoma City?
Bring them to Bricktown. Seattle has had its chance to keep its’ team and didn’t do anything in order to do so. Oklahoma has wanted a professional team for years and has done everything necessary to acquire one.
We have passed laws to renovate our stadium, and we have gladly been the temporary home for the New Orleans Hornets.
While the arrival of a new NBA franchise in the OKC area will spice up urban development, state revenues and the overall economy of Oklahoma, it would also mean the departure of the same significance in Seattle. With new jobs becoming available at the Ford Center and all around Bricktown, there is a loss of jobs and a dwindling of excitement in Seattle.
Most would say that it’s about time there was a professional team in Oklahoma, especially when Seattle voted against laws that would have improved Key Arena and tax increases for maintenance knowing full well that they would lose their team. So why is there such a commotion on when the team is coming? Is it this year, next year, the year after?
“The Sonics will be in Oklahoma, it’s just a matter of when,” Bennet said in an e-mail to fellow owners and investors.
Now that the team has been sold and ideas of bringing them to Oklahoma City have been revealed, Seattle fans and ex-owners are throwing a fit. The city of Seattle has different plans, with many lawsuits pending in support of keeping the team in Seattle for two more years.
If the city can keep their team in KeyArena it would allow them the possibility of making a compromise on stadium renovations and tax increases, which would then allow the city to make a new deal for SuperSonics to stay in Seattle for good.
The only thing is they don’t deserve their team. The Sonics are 24th in the league in attendance, averaging 13,840 fans with just one sellout this season.
When the Hornets were in Oklahoma for the short stint, there was an average of 18,718 fans in the stands each night. We were ninth in the NBA with 17 more sellouts than the SuperSonics.
We need a pro team and our city needs new life. This is what we have been waiting for. Something like this could open the door for a number of new business and economic opportunities, more ideas of urban expansion and community development.
It will bring more money for the state, and maybe some more professional sports teams. Ultimately, if this deal is realized it will put OKC on the map.
We will be in the big leagues, with cities like Dallas, St. Louis, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.
The only thing we do know is that Sonics fate will be decided soon. Let’s just hope the NBA is on thier way to Bricktown next season.
—Daniel Martin
Staff Writer
