City of Seattle to get new Sports Arena

[poeman]

Get Seattle back on the map!

They would capture the Vancouver market too

[fallacy]

I moved to Seattle the last year the Sonics played there. It is my understanding that in the transaction of the Sonics leaving Seattle they ended up keeping the rights to the name and the history. The reason the Thunder became the Thunder was because of this.

Seattle kept the name, not the history. They have to have a team playing in seattle by next year to get their history back or it is permanently OKC"s, just like the Lakers kept all of Minnesota's history

[Triple M]

I hope they get a team just for the atmosphere of a Sonic vs. Thunder game.

Will it be thunderous or supersonic???

[Triple M]

Looks to me like the NHL was key here. Seems like a great fit for hockey. I'm surprised they haven't been there for 20-30 years instead of trying Atlanta... twice

You mean when the NHL was a success in Atlanta twice before bad owners sold the teams to out of town buyers despite the fan attendance? There's no surprise there. All Atlanta needs is a good owner for a NHL team. So far Atlanta hockey fans have been the losers in that regard.

I agree with this. When teams move it is mostly due to bad ownership and not because there isn't local fan support. As an Expos fan it sucked that we lost our team but I hate when people say we can't support a team due to the bad attendance numbers over the last half decade when it was other reasons that killed the team.

[Sothron]

Looks to me like the NHL was key here. Seems like a great fit for hockey. I'm surprised they haven't been there for 20-30 years instead of trying Atlanta... twice

You mean when the NHL was a success in Atlanta twice before bad owners sold the teams to out of town buyers despite the fan attendance? There's no surprise there. All Atlanta needs is a good owner for a NHL team. So far Atlanta hockey fans have been the losers in that regard.

I agree with this. When teams move it is mostly due to bad ownership and not because there isn't local fan support. As an Expos fan it sucked that we lost our team but I hate when people say we can't support a team due to the bad attendance numbers over the last half decade when it was other reasons that killed the team.

As a die hard Atlanta fan in all sports I agree with you. I was a season ticket holder with the Thrashers for several seasons and saw the thousands of people that came to the games despite the franchise being run by the most inept ownership ever in sports history. When I was a kid my dad would take me to Atlanta Flames games and it was packed then. It was never the fans fault. It was the ownership that wouldn't spend a penny on the team and then sold it to out of town buyers without a shred of concern over local fans. Whenever I see any team leave I know it isn't the fans, it was the bad ownership that resulted in the move.

[Canucklehead]

the Seattle Superhornets

[Mr. Natural]

There's still alot of good markets devoid of NBA and NHL teams on the west coast. I'd like to see NHL teams relocated to Seattle and Portland and NBA teams relocated to Seattle and Vancouver.

[RunSunRun]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

[Parataxis]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

To 40 teams????

That would only be workable if you went the Euro-football route, and had a senior division and a jr division, with relegation (which nobody spending a third of a billion dollars on a team would accept).

Also, once you have most markets with a team, it makes it much more difficult for a team to hold the local gov't to ransom over building a new arena.

[CompanyofWolves]

http://www.king5.com/live-stream/pop-up ... 48999.html

Press conference begins shortly.

[Smirk]

Just to inform the people who don't know what the hell they are talking about...

The Hornets will announce a buyer All Star weekend. The owner will either be Tom Benson or a group led by Gary Chouest (that includes Mike Dunleavy Sr).

Both are local. Both will not move the team.

A new lease will be voted on in the new La Legislative session starting March 12 that will extend the lease an additional 10 years with technically no opt out clause.

So, it won't be the Hornets. Sorry.

[Mountain]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

I know Montreal is a big city, but there's no chance for a NBA team to move there. Nobody like basketball over there, it's just Hockey, Hockey and Hockey.

[Ettorefm]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

I know Montreal is a big city, but there's no chance for a NBA team to move there. Nobody like basketball over there, it's just Hockey, Hockey and Hockey.

.
I don't think this is a good reason. The MLB and the NFL have a bigger appeal than the NBA to americans (even the NHL in some markets), and many cities still have their NBA fans.
.
You have the Giants, the Jets, the Yankees, the Mets, the Rangers, the Buffalo Bills and still the Knicks games sell out all the time.
.
You can even say that NY is the biggest market, so there's space for everyone. Let's talk about a smaller market
.
New Orleans is a tiny, tiny market. The City itself is almost irrelevant, and they have both the Saints and the Hornets. If NEW ORLEANS can have two major sports teams, Montreal or Vancouver can have it too, even though they might prefer Hockey
.
The population of Texas statistically prefer the NFL and the MLB over the NBA - I'll get the data in a few minutes - and they still have 3 NBA teams

[Ettorefm]

Also, I'm all up for expansion. There are so many markets that could have NBA teams.
.
I hate relocation. Just feels wrong

[darthkiller]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

might as well drop atomic bombs on washington dc, makes as much sense as your suggestion

[LakeState]

Looks to me like the NHL was key here. Seems like a great fit for hockey. I'm surprised they haven't been there for 20-30 years instead of trying Atlanta... twice

A Seattle-Vancouver rivalry would be cool. The Coyotes or Atlanta should move to Seattle. Hornets should move to Seattle too.

[Moonbeam]

So, did anything come out of the press conference?

[RunSunRun]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

might as well drop atomic bombs on washington dc, makes as much sense as your suggestion

I think people are interpreting this as suggesting every city should have an NBA team or something. I was just highlighting that expansion should be considered over continually shuffling franchises around unless the situation is dire enough to warrant relocation. I am NOT suggesting that the NBA expand by 10 teams, come on now,

2 teams in the next 10 years or something, that wouldn't be bad considering population growth and what not. I'd probably put Pittsburgh and Seattle at the top of the list, Kansas City a close third.

[Parataxis]

What's interesting is that there are quite a few locations that want NBA teams and have arenas ready

Anaheim : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9230
Kansas City : http://www.sprintcenter.com/arena_info/arena_highlights
Vancouver : http://www.rogersarena.ca/venue-rentals/arena-layouts
Seattle : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -thursday/
Pittsburgh : http://www.consolenergycenter.com/


Throw in other candidates like Las Vegas, Montreal, and St. Louis and its easy to see that there are quite a few markets that the NBA can expand into. Rather than continually shuffling franchises, it just makes sense to consider expansion.

might as well drop atomic bombs on washington dc, makes as much sense as your suggestion

I think people are interpreting this as suggesting every city should have an NBA team or something. I was just highlighting that expansion should be considered over continually shuffling franchises around unless the situation is dire enough to warrant relocation. I am NOT suggesting that the NBA expand by 10 teams, come on now,

2 teams in the next 10 years or something, that wouldn't be bad considering population growth and what not. I'd probably put Pittsburgh and Seattle at the top of the list, Kansas City a close third.

The problem is, you havn't explained why adding two teams (or 10 teams, or anything) would stop teams from moving.

Teams don't move because city X really really really wants a team. Teams move because for whatever reason (fan attendance, bad management, financials, arena-development, etc...) they're not working where they are. How would expanding by two teams (let's say Vancouver and Seattle) stop NO, Sac, Atlanta, or OKC from having the problems they're having now?

It won't. (Indeed, if anything, it'll only hurt. More teams mean that you play each team less often, which means less visits from the Lakers/Knicks/Bulls/Heat, which means less ticket sales. It also means more competition for fans' merchandise dollars.)

Unless you have a team in every single market that could possibly support a team, there will always be incentive for some owners to move their teams to somewhere they consider a 'better' market. And if every single city does have a team, that's still not going to stop some teams from potentially folding if they can't move.

[Muggsy Bogues]

If the Kings end up staying in Sacramento, I'd like to offer up the Dubs as an alternative. This would solve Seattle's problem of not having a basketball team, and the Bay Area's problem of being stuck with the Warriors.