Sonics are coming back

[MonkeesFan]

Seattle given OK for new basketball, hockey arena - NBA - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Fantasy Advice

I am happy for their fans but the question is that will the Sacramento Kings move to Seattle?

However I think Seattle should just have a expansion team instead of moving a team to Seattle but then again it would uneven in the division with 6 teams while the others have 5 teams in the divison

[OKCisOK4me]

Just guesstimating cause I don't skim articles... We're still looking at 2+ years, right? Technically, it'll never be the Supersonics cause they still will be without KD, lol, and that will be their biggest gripe cause they see what this team down here is doing. Not to say that it would have gone the exact same way there but they're hard up for dreams in the Pacific NW and harp on the "what ifs"...

[MonkeesFan]

Just guesstimating cause I don't skim articles... We're still looking at 2+ years, right? Technically, it'll never be the Supersonics cause they still will be without KD, lol, and that will be their biggest gripe cause they see what this team down here is doing. Not to say that it would have gone the exact same way there but they're hard up for dreams in the Pacific NW and harp on the "what ifs"...

Yeah but the Thunder-Sonics is going to be a great rivalry for sure.....

[OKCisOK4me]

Oh, no doubt. It'll be like an intercontinental, USA vs. the USRR post Cold War who's gonna push the button first reaction battle series...

[MonkeesFan]

Oh, no doubt. It'll be like an intercontinental, USA vs. the USRR post Cold War who's gonna push the button first reaction battle series...

Yeah, exactly!

[Jake]

Seattle wouldn't receive an expansion team without another one being added with them. To make an even 32 teams.

[OKCisOK4me]

Seattle wouldn't receive an expansion team without another one being added with them. To make an even 32 teams.

Kansas City, word up!! If Mark Cuban couldn't hold back a team settling in here, then there's no way Chicago can do anything about Missouri. KC could handle the task...

[Jake]

Kansas City, word up!!

That's exactly what I was thinking. The Sprint Center would hold a team nicely.

Add one team to the Eastern Conference (Kansas City) one to the Western Conference (Seattle)

[MonkeesFan]

That's exactly what I was thinking. The Sprint Center would hold a team nicely.

Add one team to the Eastern Conference (Kansas City) one to the Western Conference (Seattle)

Correct me if I am wrong, did Kansas used to have a basketball team before they moved to Sacramento? If so, it would be nice to bring back the old name and colors back in Kansas where they belong, what was the team name?

[Spartan]

Kansas City, word up!! If Mark Cuban couldn't hold back a team settling in here, then there's no way Chicago can do anything about Missouri. KC could handle the task...

KC is the most over-saturated sports market ever

[Bellaboo]

KC is the most over-saturated sports market ever

Denver is also, the Nuggets and Rockies rarely sell out.

[bluedogok]

Denver is also, the Nuggets and Rockies rarely sell out.

Most cities don't sell out every baseball, basketball or hockey games, there are too many home games in a season (baseball-81, basketball-41, hockey-34, football-8) compared to football. My office is two blocks from Coors Field and there is a good crowd every home game. During the World Series run in 2007 my co-workers said that it was nuts the last month of the season and playoffs. Plus in these markets outside of the northeast you have people from everywhere who brought their team allegiances from there they grew up. Most of my co-workers who grew up outside of Colorado are fans of their hometown teams, most want the Denver teams to do well but whenever "their team" plays a Denver team you know where their allegiance lies.

Even when teams do have a "sell out streak" like the Red Sox claim, in down years like this one they are getting creative with "selling" tickets and just because all of them are "sold" doesn't mean the attendance is at capacity. Many of the stadiums are overbuilt for the regular season, they are built to maximize opening day and the playoffs. UT is having to do promotions and discounted tickets now that their stadium is over 100,000 seats and the team is struggling. Most baseball stadiums would be better suited to be in the 25-30,000 range in most markets. Overbuilding and ticket prices lead to empty seats, look at how many empty seats were in Yankees Stadium during the latest playoff run. When the new stadium was built and pricing set is when everything was still flying high, since the economic meltdown all those corporate priced seats have gone empty. That leads to the problems that a market like KC faces, not enough corporations willing to foot the bill which is the model that all sports are built on now. All of pro sports are built on TV money and price inflated corporate sales and not of the everyday fan. At all these new stadiums between PSL's and ticket prices the same seat (roughly) in a new stadium costs 2-4 times more than the seat in the previous stadium. At some point that kind of increase is not sustainable. The thing that would kill the current model is if corporate sales were not tax deductible.

[OKCisOK4me]

KC is the most over-saturated sports market ever

I can't help their unemployment rate. They have 2 major league teams..and IM not gonna include MLS in that. With their MSA there is no reason they can't handle the task. Then again...what do I know? Wishful thinking I guess!

[dankrutka]

I can't help their unemployment rate. They have 2 major league teams..and IM not gonna include MLS in that. With their MSA there is no reason they can't handle the task. Then again...what do I know? Wishful thinking I guess!

Did you read the study above? Yes, it's wishful thinking and there's a detailed study to prove it.

[Snowman]

Seattle wouldn't receive an expansion team without another one being added with them. To make an even 32 teams.

Most everything that has been said is that there is no way the league is expanding anytime soon, if they get a team it is moving from somewhere else.

[kevinpate]

... if they get a team it is moving from somewhere else.

If there is a fan base and group of city officials out there that care less about supporting their current team than Seattle would be willing to support bringing in that team to become the resurrection of the Sonics brand ... so be it, and best wishes to both of those cities.

[Hawk405359]

Yeah, KC shared it initially with Omaha, and then got it in their own right. As far as I know, it was a pretty clear failure, which is why they moved to Sacramento.

[MonkeesFan]

Yeah, KC shared it initially with Omaha, and then got it in their own right. As far as I know, it was a pretty clear failure, which is why they moved to Sacramento.

Hmm....thinking that is a failure, maybe they should not move back, I mean look at Los Angeles, there was the Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angles Rams, they both moved out of Los Angles since it did not work out and now since Los Angeles is getting a new football stadium, the Raiders or Rams might move back to Los Angeles and it might not work out again although I would like to see the Rams move back where they belong but this is probably a bad example though....

[Just the facts]

It probably won't happen by the recently elected Jacksonville Mayor has put an NBA team at the top of his wish list, and he doesn't seem too interested in keeping the Jags around. He actually sent them a lease termination notice awhile back. Meanwhile, the Jags will be playing 4 home games in London over the next 4 years.

[MonkeesFan]

It probably won't happen by the recently elected Jacksonville Mayor has put an NBA team at the top of his wish list, and he doesn't seem too interested in keeping the Jags around. He actually sent them a lease termination notice awhile back. Meanwhile, the Jags will be playing 4 home games in London over the next 4 years.

I do not see the Jaguars moving for some reason

[BoulderSooner]

It probably won't happen by the recently elected Jacksonville Mayor has put an NBA team at the top of his wish list, and he doesn't seem too interested in keeping the Jags around. He actually sent them a lease termination notice awhile back. Meanwhile, the Jags will be playing 4 home games in London over the next 4 years.

he did not send them a lease termination notice ... they have an iron clad lease until 2030 ..

[Just the facts]

he did not send them a lease termination notice ... they have an iron clad lease until 2030 ..

Yes he (the City) did. It is only 'iron clad' if both sides abide by the lease.

Jacksonville mayor to Shahid Khan: City has no intention of terminating Jaguars' lease | firstcoastnews.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After receiving a letter from the City of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan on Thursday asking the city to withdraw a lease default letter, Mayor Alvin Brown promptly wrote back and said the city does not want to terminate the Jaguars' lease.

"Let me be crystal clear: the City of Jacksonville has absolutely no intention whatsoever of terminating its lease with the Jacksonville Jaguars," Brown wrote in a response to Khan.
...

"Immediately upon our advising the City of our recommended selection, your lawyer delivered to the Jaguars organization a default letter putting in motion a termination of our lease," Khan wrote.



...

Khan had said if the lease default letter was not withdrawn, it could put the Jaguars future in Jacksonville in jeopardy.

"If the default letter is indeed only the sentiment of your lawyer and not your thoughts toward the continued activities of the Jaguars in Jacksonville, I would request that the default letter of May 25, 2012, be withdrawn immediately," Khan wrote in the letter.

"Failing withdrawal of the default letter I must assume the City intends to proceed with the default and termination of our lease. As previously stated we are not in a position to take any action to "cure" a nonexistent default."

[SoonerDave]

Yes he (the City) did. It is only 'iron clad' if both sides abide by the lease.

Jacksonville mayor to Shahid Khan: City has no intention of terminating Jaguars' lease | firstcoastnews.com

First, that story's opening paragraph is a nightmare of bad English (or, hopefully, just bad cutting and pasting, followed by shabby editing.) I had to read the thing four times to realize what it meant.

The Jags organization picked a management company to handle the operations of the stadium per a modification to the selection process in their lease with the city. Apparently, the city attorney was unaware of the change in the selection process, and decided the Jags hadn't given proper notice or involvement per their original lease terms. So, apparently in a fit of legal snittery, the city attorney fired off an ill-advised letter back to the team telling them their selection was tantamount to a lease default. The Jags owner told them to withdraw the default letter, or they'd infer the city wasn't serious about the Jags long-term, and the mayor as well as the city attorney realized they were both unaware of the lease change that precipitated the Jags picking a new management company. The major forwarded a fairly abject apology and the attorney withdrew the default letter. So, in reality, neither side has issued any ultimatums to the other.

The whole thing, if you read all the letters, appears to have been a monumental communication goof (and an embarrassing dropping of the ball by the City's general counsel for not being up to speed on everything) that became a mushroom cloud of nothing. But it sure highlights the fact that there are edgy feelings between the team and the city as they struggle with attendance issues and waning fan support.

[dankrutka]

First, as was said, there will be no NBA expansion any time soon. So, Seattle has to get a team from somewhere else. There's a possibility that their arena could not have a tenant for a while so welcomming the Sonics back is jumping the gun. It could be 10-15 years before there's an opportunity to get an NBA team (or they could the Sonics in 2 years). Second, Kansas City is one of the most oversaturated sports markets in the country. That would be a terrible place to start a team with significant chance of failure. Third, Thunder up!

[SoonerDave]

Sure seems like everything I read indicates the Jags aren't happy in Jacksonville, and Jacksonville isn't just doing handsprings over the Jags. Very much a case, I think, of a city that just wasn't a right fit for the NFL from the get-go. Really a good cautionary tale for folks in OKC that think an NFL team should be our next pro sports objective...

On the NBA in KC: KC is a really good football town (with a lousy team), a decent but somewhat struggling baseball town, and I'm not at all sure how well the NBA would fit there, especially given that it has already failed there once before (granted it was a while back).

If they did expand the NBA, which I think is really unlikely right now, I'd bet dollars to donuts they're realign the conferences and put OKC in a better geographic fit than having to traverse the west coast teams. Heck, they may opt to do that anyway