NBA rejects Seattle.

[tifoso]

Originally Posted by jm31828

Well these days- when the Kings are not doing so well- their attendance appears bad, when you see their games on TV it looks like they are playing in a nearly empty building. And that is with them being the only pro sport in town! I don't think the pro sports dollars are spread too thinly in Seattle- there are other metro areas the same size as or smaller than Seattle that have more major pro sports teams. Of the big 4 sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) Seattle only has two- Denver is a smaller metro that actually has all four, and Minneapolis which is similar size also has all four. Sure attendance goes up and down depending on how well the teams are doing, but that is common across the league, especially with MLB and NBA.

I agree on the first point, unfortunately- I will hope for the best but I don't see Hansen turning things around at this point, no way the owners will do a 180 from that recommendation and actually let Hansen move the team when the vote comes around.

In the list of sports teams in Seattle, UW football should also be included. And although you didn't mention them, so should the MLS Sounders. While it's certainly possible that Seattle can support an NBA team in addition to what's already here, the massive operating losses sustained by the Sonics during the Schultz years are a cautionary tale. The only way to cope with the decreased revenue is by cutting payroll. That makes the fans unhappy, which just perpetuates the cycle. I'm just worried about what happens after the novelty of a new team wears off.

As for Denver and Minneapolis, they are largely football towns and the other sports are definitely lower on the food chain. In order to get fans' attention, they have to contend, and in order to do that, they have to spend, because the Moneyball approach only takes you so far. That's one reason why the Minnesota Wild (NHL) spent so much on free agents last off-season. They knew that was the only way they were going to rise out of the mire of mediocrity.

The relationship between the Kings' current owners (the Maloof brothers) and Sacramento fans has been toxic for some time. The Maloofs have had well-documented financial problems, have not invested in the team, and threatened to move on multiple occasions. (As with Schultz and later Bennett in Seattle, a new arena was the big demand.) A move to Anaheim came the closest, but other rumored destinations included Birmingham AL, Columbus OH, Las Vegas, and Virginia Beach, VA. Given that sort of turmoil it's hard to blame the fans for not going to games.

By last year, the situation had deteriorated to the point where the NBA finally came in and brokered a deal between the city and the owners to get a new arena built. The deal was OK for the NBA and the city, but it apparently wasn't enough for the Maloofs, who backed out at the last minute. The city, quite reasonably it seems, said that if the team's owners can't be trusted to adhere to a bargain that their own league helped negotiate, then we're done dealing with them.

After that episode, several parties expressed interest in buying the team and keeping it in Sacramento. Every time, the Maloofs said they didn't want to sell. Nevertheless, the sale to an out-of-towner came as no surprise to anyone who's followed this soap opera because it's clear that the Maloofs' word is about as good as their credit. They make people like former Seahawks' owner Ken Behring look like a saint.