There has been much hand-wringing over the NBA’s decision to allow the Seattle SuperSonics to move to Oklahoma City in the future. Most of that complaining has been done, predictably, by media and fans of the team. As a casual observer, I offer this: the city of Seattle cannot blame anybody but themselves for allowing the Sonics to leave.
As someone who is devoted to a professional team that relocated (St. Louis Rams) after seeing a team leave (St. Louis Cardinals to the Arizona Cardinals), I can offer a bit of perspective. This has nothing to do with the quality of Seattle as a basketball town or the quality of their fans. I’m certain they are very loyal and dedicated. This has to do with one thing: money.
When new Sonics owner Clay Bennett bough the team, there is no denying his preference was likely to move it to his home state of Oklahoma. But to say he didn’t attempt to keep it in Seattle is looking at the situation with your own biases.
The fact is, the team has a terrible arena and bad lease. Seattle built new stadiums with taxpayer money for both the Seahawks and Mariners after the Kingdome became obsolete, so naturally, the Sonics were next. But that didn’t happen. Bennett wanted a new stadium, and though he wanted more than $275 million in tax money, he also offered to put up $100 million of his own to get a new arena. The state of Washington said, “thanks, but no thanks, we’ll take our chances.”
So Bennett started the process of relocation. Which, as an owner, is his right. If the city of Seattle could not do for him what it had done for other owners of major area sports teams, why should he stick around and play in a dump for less profits when he could go to Oklahoma City and get taxpayer money and large profits to move the team?
For some reason, people still don’t understand that sports is a multi-billion dollar business. It is for the fans, but it’s also not. They are somewhat of a pawn to the people who own these franchises, just as a boss may use his employees as a pawn when threatening to move a major corporation out of a town and taking jobs with him.
This was not a difficult decision for Bennett, nor would it be for much of anyone. Not when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake.
It may not be the right thing to do to the Sonics fans who have loved the team for more than 40 years, but it is Bennett’s right to do it.
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