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Sonics file notice of intent to move SuperSonics, Storm
Associated Press
Updated: November 2, 2007, 4:05 PM ET
SEATTLE -- A year after formally taking ownership of the Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA Storm, and with no plans for a new arena here, owner Clay Bennett said Friday he will file with the NBA to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City.
The move was hardly unexpected. Bennett had set an Oct. 31 deadline -- one year from when he took ownership -- for having a plan for a new arena to replace KeyArena, which Bennett says is unacceptable and outdated. Otherwise, he said, he would ask the league for permission to move the teams.
Not wanting to distract from the start of the Sonics season, Bennett backed off that deadline, but only briefly. He watched Thursday night's home opener against Phoenix from his owner's suite, spending most of the second half chatting with Hall of Famer Bill Russell while fans started spontaneous chants of "Save Our Sonics" during various points of the game.
"Today we notified commissioner [David] 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," Bennett said in a lengthy statement.
League spokesman Tim Frank did not immediately return messages seeking comment on what the Sonics have filed with the league or how the relocation process works.
Bennett's announcement is the latest move in the fight over the Sonics' future. Currently, Bennett and the city of Seattle are bogged in a legal fight over the team's lease at KeyArena, the smallest venue in the NBA.
Bennett is arguing to get free of the final two years of the lease, while the city tries to hold the Sonics to the terms of the agreement, which calls for the team to play all its home games at KeyArena through the 2009-10 season.
The Sonics sought arbitration to decide the lease matter, but earlier this week a federal judge blocked the team from seeking an escape through arbitration, keeping alive the city's attempts to gain a court order forcing the Sonics to play in Seattle.
"Mr. Bennett's announcement today is a transparent attempt to alienate the Seattle fan base and follow through on his plan to move the team to Oklahoma City. The deadline for notifying the league of his intent to move is March 1," Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr said. "Making this move now continues the current ownership's insulting behavior toward the Sonics' dedicated fans and the citizens of the city."
Earlier this year, Bennett championed a proposal for a new arena in the suburb of Renton, calling for about $300 million in public money. That plan failed when the Washington Legislature declined the proposal.
Bennett has until March 1, 2008, to file for relocation with the league if he intends the team to play the 2008-09 season anywhere other than here.
"We now understand and respect that there is very limited public support for such a public investment," Bennett said.
Bennett has long said he has no intentions of splitting the Sonics and WNBA Storm, but appeared to hedge on that stance Friday. Bennett said there has been no determination on the future location for the WNBA team, which will play the 2008 season in Seattle.
A few hours before Bennett's announcement, a group of local investors offered to buy the Sonics and keep the city's oldest major league professional sports franchise from moving.
The group headed by Dennis H. Daugs, a private wealth manager and managing director of Lakeside Capital Management LLC, issued a news release Friday saying it had written a formal letter of interest to Bennett.
"We want to recapture the spirit and love of basketball in Seattle by bringing the Sonics and Storm back to local ownership," said Daugs, a former minority owner of the NBA franchise.
The statement did not identify anyone else in the group, nor would Daugs give that information Thursday in an interview with The Seattle Times. Also unclear was how much the group would be willing to bid.
Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for Bennett, had no comment on Daugs' offer, other than to reiterate that the "teams are not for sale."
Bennett, who bought the Sonics from a local group headed by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz for $350 million last year, has said the club is not for sale. Schultz's group paid $200 million for the franchise in 2001.
Bennett, unhappy as was Schultz with KeyArena, said the team lost $17 million last year because of an unfavorable lease agreement with the city.
"This town loves the Sonics and Storm," Daugs said in the statement. "We have a genuine appreciation of the fan base. We respect the many loyal fans and we want to build a populist movement to keep the teams here. We believe there is strong local support for the Sonics and Storm."
So Long, Seattle
If the Supersonics are allowed to relocate from Seattle to Oklahoma City, it would be the third time this decade that an NBA team has pulled up stakes. Others to do so in the last three decades:
Switching Surroundings Old city New city
2002 Hornets Charlotte New Orleans
2001 Grizzlies Vancouver Memphis
1985 Kings Kansas City Sacramento
1984 Clippers San Diego Los Angeles
1979 Jazz New Orleans Salt Lake City
1978 Clippers Buffalo San Diego
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
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