Ken Behring bought the Seahawks in 1988, and didn't try to move them until January 1996. His reason for leaving was that the Kingdome was falling apart and yes he interestingly tried to use that the facility was unsafe if an earthquake happened, while moving the team to more earthquake prone Anaheim, it was eventually scuttled when the lawyers discovered that they team was locked in and couldn't break the lease until 2005, unless King County approved. it was then that he chose willingly to sell the team. and that is when Paul Allen came in, and lets not forget that Paul Allen's purchase was contingent on a new stadium being approved. it wasn't until after the special statewide election for stadium financing passed, that Allen actually bought the team.
it's almost like the city of Seattle should have understood that to keep teams they have to get new facilities. but then just a decade later they didn't vote for a new basketball arena and then lost their NBA team. had they not approved the stadium for the NFL, it's very probably that Paul Allen stood by his conditions and wouldn't have purchased the team, and then Ken Behring would have just sold to someone else, who probably would have played out the lease and then moved the team after the 2005 season.
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