Bennett To Seattle: See Ya!!

Seattle SuperSonics Owner Clayton Bennett issued a statement Friday that he has informed the NBA of his intention of moving the team to Oklahoma City. The statement comes two days after the Wednesday deadline he had set for city leaders to come up with a proposal for a new arena. Bennett’s statement said in part; “On behalf of the owners of the Seattle SuperSonics and Seattle Storm, I am disappointed that our efforts over the last fifteen months to foster the development of a new multi-purpose arena in the Greater Seattle area were not successful. From the beginning, it has been my absolute hope and expectation that we would be able to secure the necessary governmental commitments to build a successor venue to Key Arena. Even though our proposal for a new state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility to be built in Renton was thoughtfully developed by a world-class team, was financially reasonable and was realistically attainable, we were unable to persuade the Washington Legislature to vote on our bill. The region is still in need of a modern building, not just for the Sonics and Storm, but also for the broad commercial and quality of life benefits such facilities provide.

We now understand and respect that there is very limited public support for such a public investment. As we stated on July 18, 2006, and have stated on many occasions thereafter, Key Arena is not a viable modern venue for the NBA and if a successor facility is not identified by October 31, 2007, we would evaluate our options, which would include relocation. Given the clear lack of public, political, and business support for a new multi-purpose arena, plus the enactment of Initiative 91 as a City of Seattle ordinance following a public vote authorized by the Seattle City Council itself, and the significant operating losses the businesses are now incurring, we have no option but to commence the NBA relocation process.

Today we notified Commissioner Stern that we intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the City, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination, or at the end of the lease term.”

As we reported earlier a group of Seattle investors wrote Bennett offering to purchase the team. The cartel is headed up by Dennis Daugs who is managing director of Lakeside Capital Management LLC. The group revealed Friday that they have sent Seattle’s owner Clay Bennett a proposal to purchase the team and keep it in Seattle. Bennett is from Oklahoma City, and has repeatedly threatened to move the team there if city leaders do not come up with a new arena. Haugs is a former minority owner of the team, Bennett has had no comment as of this writing. The group would also like to purchase from the Bennett group the WNBA team the Seattle Storm. Bennett made no mention of the group in his statement.