The Future of NBA Basketball in Seattle

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In 2008, The Seattle Supersonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in one of the more contentious sports issues in recent memory.  The Seattle Supersonics Historical Preservation Society produced a documentary entitled Sonicsgate detailing the history of the Sonics, the issues that affected the team and the eventual move to Oklahoma City.  The movie was very rich, providing a thorough account of the financial, legal and psychological aspects of the move.  It is a must watch for those interested in sports business and want to learn the behind the scenes action of the Sonics move.  There are countless topics that can be covered from the movie, but I will focus on the future of an NBA team in Seattle.

On the surface, a team in Seattle seems like a no-brainer.  The city is passionate about its basketball, not only when it was winning (during the Payton-Kemp peak years) but also during the lean times, as evidenced by the consistent attendance of over 90% capacity (about 16,000 fans) of Key Arena.  Also, business-wise, Seattle is the largest market without an NBA franchise.

However, two recent examples show that the political drama that played out may contribute to a lower attendance figure if a team were relocated there.  Ideally, the Seattle fan base would see themselves like the Cleveland Browns fans, whose team moved to Baltimore in 1995.  In Cleveland’s case, there was no public battle.  Art Modell did a private deal with the city of Baltimore to move the team there, even with an initiative on the ballot for $175 million to refurbish the stadium yet to be voted on.  Before the move, Cleveland’s attendance was about 70,000 per game, which is about 88% capacity.  Now the Cleveland games are near full capacity, at about 73,200 per game.

However, a more apt example might be the Charlotte Hornets, who moved to New Orleans in 2002.  In Charlotte, the beginning of the end started when owner George Shinn was accused of sexual assault.  He admitted to two adulterous relationships, and the charges were dropped, but support for the team quickly diminished.  A team that in the 1990’s nearly sold out every game (capacity about 23,000) struggled to attract fans, with attendance falling from 97% to 80% capacity in one year, then down to less than 50% by the end.  Shinn demanded a new arena from the city of Charlotte in order to keep the team viable, but the city would only finance the arena if Shinn sold the team.  The result of this battle was Shinn taking the Hornets to New Orleans.  Two years later, the Bobcats began operations, but they have not been able to recover the attendance levels from their 1990’s success, with attendance being about 15,000 a game, or about 80% capacity.  (Attendance figures from ESPN)

The Charlotte Bobcats example, with some similarities to the Sonics affair, will likely make some owner more reluctant to go to Seattle.  Many NBA teams have potential to move to Seattle, including the Charlotte Bobcats, whose owner, Bob Johnson, is looking to sell the franchise due to mounting losses.  However, even if a franchise moves there, as author Sherman Alexie so aptly states at the end of Sonicsgate, “If we get a team, it’s going to be somebody else’s team…I’m going to have to break the hearts of people just like me.”  It is sad to think how this episode has tainted a great basketball culture in Seattle.

To continue this, I plan next week to look at public vs. privately financed stadiums, which is one of the issues at the heart of the Seattle Supersonics move.