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There is enough blame to go around. Seattle / Washington certainly didn't do itself any favors (but I agree with the legislature.. but why they can't find front end fully funded private financing like the Bay Area teams are doing I'm not sure though).
Sonicsgate is an entertaining story that successfully did what it set out to do, but hardly relevant to the reality.
Two of my favorite articles on the Sonics end times:
This is from one of the articles you linked, which proves the point that it had nothing to do with lack of fan support:
"So what can a Sacramento Kings fan take from all of that?
The Citizens of Seattle who were actual Sonics fans rocked and showed unwavering support for their team, but it wasn't enough.
[...]
Everyone in Seattle should have known from the beginning that Bennett's greatest desire was to have a team in OKC."
There are local and state politicians who deserve blame (as does Schultz) but the way Stern facilitated Bennett stealing the team and lying about it along the way was absolutely criminal.
So? Nothing I said required a Seattle area code wtf?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DevanXL
Private investors or anyone doesn't want to pay for a Stadium or Arena here. Land cost to much, so many hurdles, and at the end your spending over 500 Million for an arena.
Giants ballpark - privately financed, Warriors new arena - privately financed, 49ers new stadium - 88% privately financed
And this is SF / the Bay Area, the area knows about the price of land and hurdles...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DevanXL
that doesn't sound like a smart invest meant if I were them
I guess the 49ers and Warriors thought otherwise? You might want to talk to the Giants ownership group about that also. Sure 2 World Series helps, but even before the championships AT&T Park was massively profitable. The Key Arena is comparable to Candlestick in that both places are dumps, so it seems like a pretty good investment, especially when you consider the already existing business model of the Giants. It got fans in seats in SF, why wouldn't it do the same in Seattle since you all believe the area was diehard over the Sonics?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DevanXL
Limit space to build here and we want to arena near the city center (It was propose in the SoDo area).
Are you banging on your keyboard? I will do my best to decipher the above quote:
And SF is just full of open space? No. Instead they redeveloped an area and turned it into part of the city center. And soon a Warriors arena will be plopping down right there as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DevanXL
The is a city that has taken decades to built a few miles worth of light rail. A 3 mile extension of light rail from Downtown to the University District is costing 1.5 Billion dollars! Yes billion! When the NBA bullies us to build a new arena we said no, just remodeled the Key and Built Quest Field (Now C-Link) and SafeCo Field. We were tired of spending money. But it had nothing to do with Fan support. Remember this is the city the cause the earth to shake as our NFL team with a losing record made the playoffs while you look a the Milwaukee Bucks who cant even sellout during playoffs. It's just sad how Seattle got pushed around and makes me angry. To this day I still have a Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen Bobble Head on my Desk, a Gary Payton plaque on my wall, a 1995/1996 Sonics Logo flag and a 2001 Sonics roster poster on my wall. My Childhood was ripped from me. Sorry for the rant
Wow, rant is right. What does any of that have to do with anything?
This is from one of the articles you linked, which proves the point that it had nothing to do with lack of fan support:
"So what can a Sacramento Kings fan take from all of that?
The Citizens of Seattle who were actual Sonics fans rocked and showed unwavering support for their team, but it wasn't enough.
[...]
I didn't say fan support was to blame, wtf? Fan support alone is seldom the blame.. But I don't see how that is proof of the point you are saying.. It is a business, and fan support wasn't enough to keep the Sonics from being a failing business.
Giants ballpark - privately financed, Warriors new arena - privately financed, 49ers new stadium - 88% privately financed
And this is SF / the Bay Area, the area knows about the price of land and hurdles...
Wow, rant is right. What does any of that have to do with anything?
AT&T Park Cost: $357 Million
Safe Co Field: $517 Million
Big difference right there for 2 parks built around the same time. Land is extremely expensive here aswell. the Bay has better public infrastructure though. If the Bay Arena business men can fund it great for you! Things work differently here. Chris Hansen was going to fund half of the arena cost though.
Don't take offense that rant was more directed towards the heavens then anything. I'm still a passionate sonics fan and I get worked up about it still (I have many reasons that should be left unsaid why I am mad at Bennett the City and the NBA, sad reasons). But my point is the this ordeal is 25% Seattle's fault (City leaders and Mr. Starbucks) 25% Bennett's Fault (Though I highly dislike the man, I can't blame him for trying to get a team, and David Stern takes the rest of the blame by far. Sonicsgate to me is a fair point of view of the ordeal, it was praise by Columnist and NBA Analysts.
I didn't say fan support was to blame, wtf? Fan support alone is seldom the blame.. But I don't see how that is proof of the point you are saying.. It is a business, and fan support wasn't enough to keep the Sonics from being a failing business.
I wouldn't say it was a failing business - it just got into the hands of the wrong people (Schultz, Bennett), unfortunately.
I blame Bennett and Stern more than anyone, just because of how insidious and dishonest they were in completely hijacking the team. But I will say that if Schultz had never bought the Sonics in 2001 and mismanaged them so badly, I have zero doubt they would still be in Seattle.
I didn't say fan support was to blame, wtf? Fan support alone is seldom the blame.. But I don't see how that is proof of the point you are saying.. It is a business, and fan support wasn't enough to keep the Sonics from being a failing business.
It was Ghengis who mentioned fan support, not you. My bad.
I think if the KeyArena wasn't such a piece of **** things would be different.
Have you every watched a game there? Strictly from a fan's perspective, it is actually a very fun place to watch a game, with great seats and a cool setup. It is also embedded into the fabric of the Queen Anne neighborhood, which is cool.
Yea I have, my sister lives in Seattle and my brother-in-law works for Oracle who had a luxury box plus tons of lower level / club level seats for client outings and he would take me whenever I visited.
While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your take on the arena, I was more alluding to how it was a money loser and pretty much lit the fuse that got the whole drama started.
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