The Sonics are going to Oklahoma City for next year

[SabresRule]

All I have to say: good thing Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis changed teams last year.

Last-minute deal lets Sonics move to Oklahoma City - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Here's a question:

Why is that, unlike in the past, the departure of a team to one city to another isn't mourned like it used to be?

For instance, when the Quebec Nordiques, Hartford Whalers, and Winnipeg Jets all left their respective cities, many fans were devastated and mourned their departures, especially Winnipeg and ESPECIALLY in Hartford (I still hear people talking about that Brass Bonanza song).

And I'm not going to bring up the Dodgers and Giants departing New York for the West Coast; that pretty much speaks for itself.

Yet I don't have that same feeling with Seattle's departure.

Why is that?

Also, another thing to point out is that this all but removes the fear Hornets fans have that their team may leave town.

 

[CharlesO]

You should read the Seattle papers, media websites...there is more rage and anger over what has happened. Others in the national media have also expressed the same thoughts. This isn't about a team that has lost it's fans, it's about a myopic thinking Mayor, a dysfunctional state government and a bunch of rich men who used those weaknesses, aided by the league, to move a team for no other reason than personal ego.

Attention fans in New Orleans, Memphis and Milwaukee better pay up or they may become the next Sonics or Kansas City, Anaheim, St. Louis, Las Vegas (insert name here).

 

[jamesalan9]

The dumbest part of the whole deal is most of the money the teams pull in for their revenue is through television contracts. Usually the bigger the tv market, the more money a team gets. Seattle is in the 14th largest television market, and they are going to move to Oklahoma City, which has the 45th largest contract!

 

[mdonnelly]

Hooray for Oklahoma City, sorry to the Seattle fans. Everyone there has known for the last 5 years what it would take to keep the team in Seattle. Mr. Starbucks sold his interest in the team when he got frustrated with the city's intransigence over building a new arena. The Oklahoma guys came in with another bargaining chip in their pocket (the Oklahoma move), thinking they could get a new arena deal done, and the city called them on it. Sorry Seattle, it wasn't a bluff.

OKC hosted the N.O. Hornets here for two seasons, and opened the eyes of the league to the possibilities. You don't have to be a top-20 market to make the NBA succeed (San Antonio), and we've seen the NBA leave large markets before (Kansas City). What you do need is a cooperative arrangement with the owners and the city/state, and Seattle didn't hold up their end.

It's not like the city of Seattle came out with nothing. They get several million dollars over and above the arena lease cost for the next two years, and I hope they use that money creatively to build a new, more attractive arena that can attract another NBA owner.

 

[webbydude]

In Seattle's defense, it was awfully hard to justify building a new arena, when just 7 years prior to the current negotiations, Seattle Center/Key Arena had over $95 million put in for renovations (more or less, the years of 1994 and 1995). Not only did it prevent any other...*ahem*...rain outs, but it also allowed for more than 3000 more people to attend the games by actually lowering the court.

 

[Mariah2014]

You can almost bet on the fact they will put the games on cox, just like they did the hornets games.

The dumbest part of the whole deal is most of the money the teams pull in for their revenue is through television contracts. Usually the bigger the tv market, the more money a team gets. Seattle is in the 14th largest television market, and they are going to move to Oklahoma City, which has the 45th largest contract!

 

[bobert1006]

It may not be over just yet. Howard Schultz's lawsuit could bring them back.

 

[Hart5150]

First Memphis, now Oklahoma City?Where is the NBA going to put the next team to move?

Butte, MT
Fargo, ND
Poduchah, KY

Good luck getting free agents.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

What happened in Seattle? I thought they used to be attendance top 5.

 

[SamCdbs]

This is the NBA business plan. Teams in the largest markets, where a niche can be found for anything, and then an assorted smattering of mid-major towns where it can be the only game in town (pun intended) and the local pols will pay anything for their town to be "major league". The league just does not work in lots of places that really are major league.

As to the OP's question of why no mourning. Hey, its the NBA. 20 or 30 K in the whole metro area care, and show up, and the rest of the town ignores. Its not like the NHL, where 2 of the mentioned teams were beloved and supported teams done in by the Canadian economy of the time, and the other was the only place for the locals to focus upon being more that just 300 mile long suburb between NYC and BOS.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

This is the NBA business plan. Teams in the largest markets, where a niche can be found for anything, and then an assorted smattering of mid-major towns where it can be the only game in town (pun intended) and the local pols will pay anything for their town to be "major league". The league just does not work in lots of places that really are major league.

As to the OP's question of why no mourning. Hey, its the NBA. 20 or 30 K in the whole metro area care, and show up, and the rest of the town ignores. Its not like the NHL, where 2 of the mentioned teams were beloved and supported teams done in by the Canadian economy of the time, and the other was the only place for the locals to focus upon being more that just 300 mile long suburb between NYC and BOS.

I think the business plan involves which communities will build, or provide funding for a new arena.

 

[cebbigh]

We've certainly had experience. Ken Behring packed up the Seahawks and had them headed to California before Paul Allen came to the rescue. Jeff Smulyan really wanted to move the Mariners to Tampa Bay or Washington DC before a Japanese buyer stepped in and saved the day for us.

Those two teams are safe now because of their outstanding new facilities.

What happened to the Sonics is a crime. They were so badly mismanaged in recent years. I think Wally Walker deserves a huge part of the blame. They wouldn't be the Sooner Sonics today if it weren't for really shoddy management before Clay Bennett came along.

What's going to Oklahoma now isn't really recognizable as Sonics to most of the people in Seattle. Bennett methodically gutted the team of any players we had attachments to.

 

[dantheman77]

You should read the Seattle papers, media websites...there is more rage and anger over what has happened. Others in the national media have also expressed the same thoughts. This isn't about a team that has lost it's fans, it's about a myopic thinking Mayor, a dysfunctional state government and a bunch of rich men who used those weaknesses, aided by the league, to move a team for no other reason than personal ego.

Attention fans in New Orleans, Memphis and Milwaukee better pay up or they may become the next Sonics or Kansas City, Anaheim, St. Louis, Las Vegas (insert name here).

st louis did a football team back. a SB for the carddinals, i will take that!!

also, is okcity big enough to support a pro BB team? im sure the first few years, but after that if the teams is so - so?