HUGE NEWS! Clay Bennett & Co. buy Supersonics!

[solitude]

I'd support an old rusty padlock on this thread. May it rest in peace in the cherished mahogony-lined walls of the OKCTalk archives.

[metro]

Remember Stern and part of the NBA relocation committee will be here in OKC tomorrow! Let's be on our best behavior and help clean up anything we can. I know there are tons of those trashy illegal signs in right of ways, etc.

I wish the Chamber had organized some official event for tomorrow's visit to show our support.

[okclee]

I wish the Chamber had organized some official event for tomorrow's visit to show our support.

They already did, it was called the March 4 vote yes for "Big League City".

The reason there hasn't been anything else about this visit is there is no need. The visit is only preliminary, Okc already has this vote in the bag thanks to Clay Bennett and the Yes vote on March 4.

[MikeLucky]

Remember Stern and part of the NBA relocation committee will be here in OKC tomorrow! Let's be on our best behavior and help clean up anything we can. I know there are tons of those trashy illegal signs in right of ways, etc.

I wish the Chamber had organized some official event for tomorrow's visit to show our support.

I almost would rather not have an official event. I would rather portray to the other owners that we are a city that isn't DEPENDENT on the NBA and that our support is in addition to all the other things we have going on. I think it's a better message that we don't have to drop everything to show our support of a team and that our lives are bigger than just a possible NBA team. Maybe that's just me. Is that backwards?????

[Pete]

Tue March 25, 2008
Owners willing to leave Sonics name in Seattle
From Wire Reports
Team name, logo and history could help settle OKC relocation dispute

Sonics chairman Clay Bennett said he's willing to leave the team's name, logo, colors and history in Seattle to settle a dispute with the city, allowing him to relocate the NBA team to Oklahoma City, according to the Seattle Times.

During a breakfast meeting for team sponsors last week in Southern California, Bennett told several sponsors that he wants to negotiate a settlement in which the city retains nearly everything associated with the Sonics except the players and coaches, the newspaper reported.

Sonics spokesman Dan Mahoney confirmed Bennett's statement on Monday.

"That's an accurate assessment," Mahoney told the Seattle Times. Mahoney said the ownership group told the city last month it was willing to leave behind the Sonics name, logo and history.

The NBA commissioner David Stern and representatives from the league's relocation committee are in Oklahoma City Tuesday. The group will tour the Ford Center and hear presentations from local business and government leaders. The Sonics relocation application must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors and will be considered at the April 17-18 meetings in New York.

In its $26.5 million settlement offer, which was rejected and panned by city officials, the ownership group sent a letter to city attorney Tom Carr that read: "We understand the city's desire to reserve the Sonics name for a future franchise and will support the city's effort with the NBA on this issue."

[metro]

State Legislature is getting closer to passing tax rebates for Sonics if/when they move. Also, looks like David Glover hasn't gotten over his 15 minutes of fame yet. He's still out there pounding the media. I think it's funny he lives in the Village which has a higher tax rate, yet is so concerned with OKC's taxes. Maybe he should run for public office if he wants to make a difference. Just my two cents.

http://journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recID=87800

[jbrown84]

Nothing about this new PR disaster of the emails between Clay and the rest of the PBC?

Sonics | Governor says we've all "been lied to" on Sonics | Seattle Times Newspaper

Interestingly, Clay is being defended by, of all people, Margarita Prentice.

Although it proves that they never planned to keep the team in Seattle, I don't know if it will have an effect on this or not. Legally I don't think it has anything to do with the lease agreement. I can see it pissing off enough owners that the BOG vote doesn't go our way. What do you guys think?

[solitude]

Nothing about this new PR disaster of the emails between Clay and the rest of the PBC?

Sonics | Governor says we've all "been lied to" on Sonics | Seattle Times Newspaper

Interestingly, Clay is being defended by, of all people, Margarita Prentice.

Although it proves that they never planned to keep the team in Seattle, I don't know if it will have an effect on this or not. Legally I don't think it has anything to do with the lease agreement. I can see it pissing off enough owners that the BOG vote doesn't go our way. What do you guys think?

Honestly, if I were a Sonics fan who fell for the "They really want to make it work here," I would be pissed. If they can lie like that to Seattle, remember folks, they can lie to us just as easily.

[jbrown84]

But what's their incentive to lie to us? The private emails clearly reveal a desire to have a team here. Nothing is said about wanting to scam OKC out of money (sorry, David) or even about wanting to make money off this team. They just want to have an NBA team for their hometown.

I can understand why they would be pissed, but if it's that important to them, they should be pissed at

1) the legislature for not paying for a new arena, or

2) Howard Schultz for not ponying up the money himself as a local


Clay may not have really wanted to keep the team there, but as Margarita said, he gave Seattle and Washington plenty of chances.

[solitude]

I mentioned this a few posts back, but isn't this "classic thread" due for a padlock? There's over one thousand posts in this thread. It makes it very hard to find specific things.

[betts]

Nothing about this new PR disaster of the emails between Clay and the rest of the PBC?

Sonics | Governor says we've all "been lied to" on Sonics | Seattle Times Newspaper

Interestingly, Clay is being defended by, of all people, Margarita Prentice.

Although it proves that they never planned to keep the team in Seattle, I don't know if it will have an effect on this or not. Legally I don't think it has anything to do with the lease agreement. I can see it pissing off enough owners that the BOG vote doesn't go our way. What do you guys think?

I just hope the other owners think Seattle is being a pain in the neck. Although the e-mails were stupid, especially the one to David Stern, they don't change the fact that the city of Seattle and state of Washington never made any attempt to come up with an arena plan, and they could probably still do so tomorrow and the team would stay. What Bennett et al wanted is immaterial. Had Seattle built an arena, they would have been forced to keep the Sonics in Seattle. When Bennett made the deal with Stern that he would try to get an arena built for a year, obviously the fact that he wasn't interested in trying indefinitely, but would rather move the team here, clued Stern in to the fact that their ultimate hope was to get a team for Oklahoma City. That's a duh. And Seattle was told from day one that they had a year (actually 16 months) to come up with a plan or the team would move. So, what was written in private e-mails had very little bearing on what had to be done to keep the team in Seattle.

[metro]

I've been sifting through the 92 page document today, not even half way there yet, but it doesn't look good for us. We're probably definitely looking at 2010 or beyond now. I was optimistic until I got to page 37

From: Clay Bennett
To: David Stern

We are attempting to make this the most difficult arena development/relocation exercise of all time. Talking with the lawyers and PR folks now to craft a response strategy. Never a dull moment.

Man these guys were buffons for thinking Seattle wasn't smart enough to ask for email records. One of Bennett's consultants from OKC even warned him early on in these email documents. Geez. I'm honestly surprised it's taken so long to make them public.

[Intrepid]

Sounds like somebody doesn't know how to press delete and empty the trash folder.

[metro]

Intrepid, I'm not that tech savvy, but even I know a "deleted" email is never really deleted and can be retrieved. Especially when you work for large corporations say Chesapeake, Sand Ridge, etc. that have massive backup servers, etc.

Only safe communication for something like this would be face to face conversation behind secured closed doors.

You'd think these buffons would know that or have advisors that would. I'm embarrased they are from OKC right now, despite all they've done for us.

It definitely keeps that hick image of OKC continuing. This is not going to be good PR wise for OKC from here on out, regardless of what happens, unless some damaging emails from Seattle's side come out.

[Intrepid]

Intrepid, I'm not that tech savvy, but even I know a "deleted" email is never really deleted and can be retrieved. Especially when you work for large corporations say Chesapeake, Sand Ridge, etc. that have massive backup servers, etc.

I think we ALL know that metro. Thus the

[bornhere]

I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like Seattle's attorneys lobbed a grenade right into the middle of the PBC camp.

First, there's the email in which Bennett, following some of the most hilarious sucking-up I've ever read, flatly lies to NBA Commissioner Stern – to Stern, not to some reporter or citizen or politician – about the partners having no prior conversations about moving the team. Did anyone tell Stern beforehand that this was going to come out?

Then, there's the email in which Brent Gooden discusses with Bennett telling Mayor Cornett what to say to reporters (and citizens) in January, 2007.

And here's Tim Romani, a PBC consultant, discussing with CB in June, 2007 upcoming negotiations with City Manager Jim Couch:

"Our approach will be to ask for the world so you or may not want to pull back on the bit."

So much for the 'act of philanthropy.'

The point I want to make here is that whatever the merits of the lawsuit, these emails may sow distrust among the PBC and Stern and the other owners. They may also send elected officials running for cover - elected officials who are going to be po'd that CB didn't protect them, and in fact allowed embarrassing communications into the court record.

It will be interesting to see if they can hold a united front.

[betts]

I've been sifting through the 92 page document today, not even half way there yet, but it doesn't look good for us. We're probably definitely looking at 2010 or beyond now. I was optimistic until I got to page 37

Man these guys were buffons for thinking Seattle wasn't smart enough to ask for email records. One of Bennett's consultants from OKC even warned him early on in these email documents. Geez. I'm honestly surprised it's taken so long to make them public.

From: Clay Bennett
To: David Stern

We are attempting to make this the most difficult arena development/relocation exercise of all time. Talking with the lawyers and PR folks now to craft a response strategy. Never a dull moment.

Actually, if you look at the date on the above quoted e-mail, it was August 13, 2007. The legislature had already long since turned down the arena request, and this followed the much mourned interview with Aubrey in the Journal-Record. I believe this was Clay Bennett's attempt at self-deprecating humor about the situation created by Aubrey, combined with everything else that had happened over the past year. He was crafting a response strategy to Aubrey's comments in the Journal-Record. That's why I don't think the newspapers have picked up on this particular e-mail. It's really innocuous if you think about the date and the context.

[Nixon7]

Never a dull moment seems to be a favorite phrase of the ownership group. These emails are interesting. What is Stern's reaction going to be? Will he feel betrayed by Clay?

[betts]

Never a dull moment seems to be a favorite phrase of the ownership group. These emails are interesting. What is Stern's reaction going to be? Will he feel betrayed by Clay?

Bennett was a fool to lie to Stern. Stern would have been a fool to believe him. When Bennett stated, on the first day he owned the team, that Seattle had a year to build an arena or the team would relocate, Oklahoma City as an option was already out there. Who in their right mind thought that the group hadn't at least discussed the possibility. If nothing else, by the time Bennett wrote that e-mail, in August of 2007, the Seattle legislature had already declined to even consider an arena, and nobody else but the Muckleshoots was calling.

Shoot, what was going to happen to the Sonics was keeping at least three sports related websites in OKC and Seattle busy. Who in their right mind ever thought the Sonics' ownership wasn't at least thinking about ] a possible move, and, at that point, it was a rational thing to do, given the unlikelihood of staying.

Bennett should have apologized profusely for Aubrey to Stern and moved on. Hopefully, at the time, Stern was rolling his eyes when he read the e-mail. I would have been.

[DavidGlover]

Here is how the money was spent and who contributed. Clay Bennett spent $385,000 on campaign. $18.80 per YES VOTE, opposition spent 100x less per vote 18 cents. Full accounting here.

[DavidGlover]

Metro would be a smart consultant for these guys: "Only safe communication for something like this would be face to face conversation behind secured closed doors." When lying to the public and then officials have to lie for you - don't let anyone find out. Good one Metro-guy/girl. Funny when I told you guys about this everyone seemed like they didn't care. Anyone here about Cornett or Couch testifying?

[DavidGlover]

jbrown84 said "Nothing is said about wanting to scam OKC out of money "

I guessed you missed this comment from the consultants to help negociate this deal for the Sonics - "OUR APPROACH WILL BE TO ASK FOR THE WORLD" uh that is with regard to how much they can get out of OKC. Good try.

[kevinpate]

Not the least bit uncommon of a negotiating tactic, whether it is a pro ball consultant, or an atty prosecuting, or one defending, or a mom seeking mercy, or someone on the street ... ask for more than one reasonably expects, in the hope the middle ground will be at least close, if not more favorable, than one will accept.

Should it be that way is a separate question from the fact that it is that way. From lease agreements to vehicle and clothing and jewelry MSRP, it's all a shell game in one form or another.

Do I think if Seattle had stepped up the team would have stayed, sure, it's just business Charlie, nothing personal,l just business.

Do i think they hoped Seattle would not step up. well, emails or no emails .... duh

[okcpulse]

David,

From the beginning I felt Clay Bennett buying the Super Sonics was a serious mistake from a media standpoint. We live in a country where the national media will back a coastal city in a heartbeat before siding with a prairie dwelling metro area. And I have always cared. Clay Bennett has some serious explaining to do, because he just made Oklahoma City look very bad. Do me a favor and stop acting like I have no judgement.

[bornhere]

We live in a country where the national media will back a coastal city in a heartbeat before siding with a prairie dwelling metro area.

I disagree with that. The national media, being headquartered in NY and DC, tend to pay more attention to what happens there, but nobody 'backs' Seattle over OKC or vice versa. This is another example of the continuing persecution complex that makes our city look small and provincial.

Right now, the only person I see that Bennett may have to explain things to is Stern (and, of course, the federal court). I can't imagine him being held accountable by anyone in this city.

But there is certainly some possibility for other kinds of fallout. Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I wonder if enough turned up in those emails to rationalize making Oklahoma City a codefendant in the suit.