The Seattle Arena Saga: The History and Future of the NBA and NHL in the Emerald City

Sports Economics Seminar

John Vrooman

Claire Anderson Ben Sampson

12 December 2016

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Intro Seattle is consistently considered one of the best cities for sports fans and yet the city is only home to three major professional teams while other cities of comparable size are home to at least four and often times five (see Figure 1 below); but that was not always the case. For Seattle sports fans, April 18, 2008 was a tragic day. Figure 1. North American TV Market Size 2016

The NBA Board of Governors approved Clay Bennett’s request to relocate the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City and the team’s 40-year tenure in Seattle came to an end. Since then, there has been constant effort by various Seattle area investors to reestablish an NBA team in the city. This paper seeks to explain what led to the departure of the Sonics in 2008, including the original sale of the team, conspiracy to move the team, and difficulty securing city support for a new arena. With a background of how and why the team left, this paper will then examine the potential scenarios for the future of another NBA and/or NHL team in the city. Part 1: Brief History of the Sonics Team History The Seattle SuperSonics resulted from a period of rapid expansion in the NBA in the 1960s; between 1966 and 1968, the league grew from 9 to 14 teams. The team was named after the Boeing 2707, the first American supersonic transport (SST) project and was the city’s first major league sports franchise. With a population of 557,087 people in 1960, Seattle ranked the 19th largest city in the country. Within just over ten years, the city was home to a professional football team, the Seattle Seahawks, and professional baseball team, the Seattle Mariners. The Sonics initially played in the Seattle Center Coliseum, which stood on the same site that Key Arena does today. The team posted its first winning season in the 1971-1972 after a challenging first few seasons.

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Key Arena History Key Arena stands today where the Washington State Pavilion was built in 1962 for the Century 21 Exposition and Seattle World’s Fair.1 At the conclusion of the fair, the Pavilion was remodeled and dubbed the Washington State Coliseum, and stood as the centerpiece of the Seattle Center, just north of downtown. Seattle University men’s basketball team played their home games in the Coliseum from 1963-1980, and The Beatles performed there in 1964 and 1966, but the SuperSonics did not call the Coliseum home until 1967. The Coliseum hosted memorable basketball games—such as the 1974 All-Star Game, and home games in both the 1978 and 1979 NBA Finals—as well as concerts for the likes of Elvis Presley and Metallica. The Coliseum was rebuilt in state-of-the-art fashion from the ground up, including lowering the court to allow for more seating, in 1994; images of the renovated arena are shown below. Figure 2. Key Arena exterior and interior. 23

In 1995 Seattle sold naming rights of the Coliseum to KeyCorp, who named the arena KeyArena. The WNBA created a team, the Seattle Storm, who began using the arena in 2002, and KeyArena is the permanent home of the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament. Despite renovations just a decade prior, KeyArena was the most outdated arena in the NBA when Clay Bennett purchased the team. In 2008 Bennett moved the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds moved to the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington after 32 years in KeyArena, and Seattle University men’s basketball returned to KeyArena. Part 2: Howard Schultz sells Howard Schultz, the current Chairman of Starbucks, who headed the Basketball Club of Seattle, purchased the Sonics from previous owner Barry Ackerley for $200 million in 2001. Though Schultz was among many other investors who comprised the Basketball Club of Seattle, he “emerged as the face of the new ownership, proclaiming at a news conference announcing the sale that ‘I have a passion for the Sonics.’”4 He was initially very enthusiastic about providing the team and coaching staff with the resources to bring a championship to Seattle fans. However, it was also Schultz who ultimately became the scapegoat for the Sonics’ departure. There was a series of issues that Schultz had with both the team and the city.

Though Schultz told reporters when his group purchased the team that, “[he’ll] be the kind of owner who will be visible, but not in any way engaged in basketball operations,” he was actually very involved in the team’s doings.5 It was as if he expected things to happen as he wanted them to, as was the case at Starbucks. He wanted to run the team like a business instead

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of a like a family as the Ackerleys had done previously. Schultz had difficulty getting along with one of the Sonics’ most notable players, Gary Payton, and the team traded him in 2003.6 Additionally, Schultz was not pleased with how contract negotiations with Rashard Lewis in 2002 turned out; Lewis asked for $90 million and ultimately received a seven-year, $60 million contract.7 Despite the fact that the ownership group successfully negotiated the contract request lower, Schultz took personal issue with Lewis from that point on.

Though player and contract conflicts created tension between the team and its ownership, it was ultimately Schultz’s inability to strike a deal with the city regarding Key Arena that sealed the team’s relocation fate. The new ownership group inherited a challenging lease agreement with the city, which was set to expire in 2010. In 1995, the Sonics and the city completed a $75.7 million renovation of the Seattle Coliseum. As opposed to traditional arena agreements, the public was not supposed to contribute any tax money to fund the stadium; rather, the city issued 20-year bonds to build the arena in exchange for half of the basketball revenue that would pay off the debt. It was dependent on the team gaining near complete arena capacity, selling luxury suites and generating consistent cash flow to cover the cost of debt. There was demonstrated concern over the deal and that it only considered the best-case scenario, however it was still approved in 1995.8

This plan, however, proved to be less than ideal for both the city and the team, as both parties claimed losses. It was particularly detrimental that both the professional football and baseball teams received public subsidies from the city for new stadiums and were able to keep all of the revenue from luxury suites and concessions rather just half like the Sonics were just two years after the Key Arena agreement; this was met with intense disdain from critics who could not legitimize subsidies for billionaire owners.9 The two new stadiums increased the supply of luxury suites across the board, increasing competition for corporate buyers. The team could not sell the suites that were supposed to contribute significantly to the team’s profit—they were ultimately converted to regular seats in 2002. Coupled with a few difficult years for the city of Seattle and an NBA player lockout, the new ownership group was faced with a difficult task of improving the financial position of the team. The Basketball Club of Seattle ultimately claimed $41 million in losses between 2001-2005.10

The team was in desperate need of a new arena and it was up to the ownership to work with the city and state to negotiation a deal to fund improvements to Key Arena. Offering only 17,072 seats for basketball, the arena had the second smallest capacity in the NBA at the time. Additionally, the arena only offered 58 luxury seats and 1,702 club seats. There was a serious push at the time to have more lucrative arenas, rather than simply larger ones, which Key Arena could not fulfill without renovation.11 Additionally, the smaller size limited point-of-sale opportunities for attendees; by contrast, Toyota Center in Houston has 13,500 square feet of restaurant/club space and Key Arena has only 1,300 square feet.12

In late 2004, Schultz and the ownership group proposed a $220 million expansion of Key Arena to make it twice its current size to accommodate restaurants, shops and a practice court.13 Sonics ownership only offered to contribute $18 million to the renovation, leaving 92% of the total cost to be publicly funded. The group asked state lawmakers to extend several taxes that were being used to pay off the debt for Qwest Field, Safeco, and the defunct Kingdome. The taxes included in the proposal were the hotel/motel tax, a .017% sales tax for Safeco Field, a 0.5% restaurant food and beverage tax, and a 2% car rental tax, the most lucrative of which was the hotel/motel tax, generating $14.2 million in 2004. This amendment to the existing tax structure for professional sports facilities would’ve essentially established a permanent sports-

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stadium tax.14 Much like there was controversy surrounding the use of public subsidies to fund Safeco and Qwest, the Sonics ownership group was met with opposition regarding this tax extension proposal. A poll of Seattle residents in 2006 demonstrates this distaste: nearly 80% were opposed to using public funds to remodel Key Arena or to build an entirely new arena. The climate was tough given the criticism that the public financing of the baseball and football stadiums received, and ultimately the city of Seattle did not move to accept the plan. Frank Chopp, Washington State’s Speaker of the House in 2006 summed up the sentiment felt around the city, “my question is: how does it stack up against the other priorities we have for the state, for health care, for education of our children?”15

Ultimately, Schultz and the Basketball Club of Seattle were unable to secure the support for renovation of Key Arena as well as a more favorable lease. In a press conference in April 2006, Schultz announced the owner’s decision to sell to Bennett’s Oklahoma City group, the Professional Basketball Club, for $350 million, a price that was significantly above market value. Though Schultz claimed in the press conference, “At the end of the day, we were not trying to seek out the ultimate purchase price, but to do everything that we could to ensure long term stability here in the Northwest for the Sonics and the Storm,” there was no denying that fact that he made a significant return on his investment in the 5 years he was involved with the team.16 Though Schultz was confident throughout the process that Bennett was the buyer that was most inclined to keep the team in Seattle, the sale marked the beginning of the end for the Sonics’ 41-year history in the city. Part 3: Clay “good faith best efforts” Bennett Situation in Seattle

When Bennett and his group purchased the team in 2006, they claimed “it is not our intention to move or relocate the teams—as long, of course, as we are able to negotiate a successor venue to the current basketball arena.”17 Even the Oklahoma City mayor at the time thought that, “it’s presumptuous to assume they’re going to move that franchise to Oklahoma City.”18 However it was not lost on fans that this sale likely meant the end of the Sonics. Aubrey McClendon, a member of the OKC ownership group, was even quoted saying, “We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle, we hoped to come [to Oklahoma City]”, for which he was fined $250,000 by the NBA.19 Furthermore, based on the challenges of procuring support for a new arena from the city previously discussed, Bennett’s statement that the team would stay if an agreement were reached did not hold much weight. To make the inevitability of relocation even more obvious, Bennett and the new owners set a 12-month deadline to reach a new arena agreement with Seattle officials, a feat that the old ownership group, one full of Seattle natives, could not accomplish even in two years.20

Though Schultz ran into opposition, there was another new complication to the situation that Bennett would’ve had to overcome when proposing a new arena: the passage of Initiative 91. I-91, the work of Chris Van Dyk and the group Citizens for More Important Things, was designed to limit taxpayer-funded subsidies for professional sports teams in the city of Seattle. The vote was overwhelmingly in support of the measure, which would require that any sports team investment using city tax dollars yield a profit on par with the 30-year US Treasury, which in 2006 was around 4.75%.21 Dyk, the main supporter of this measure sums up the impact clearly: “with this kind of vote in the city of Seattle, it’s extremely unlikely that any tax subsidy would make its way through the Legislature.”22 However, I-91 was only limited to the city of Seattle, thus not ruling out the possibility of county and state funding, which is the predominant

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means through which arenas are funded, or an arena site in another location in the region. The larger impact of the vote was to send a clear message that people didn’t support the Sonics playing in Seattle, fully aware the need for a new arena and public funding to support it. Proposal Details

The proposal was not a legitimate effort on behalf of the new ownership to get a new arena approved. The sale to the group was completed with the new group agreeing to a “good faith” contractual pledge to keep the team in Seattle. The plan that Professional Basketball Club pitched had an estimated cost of $500 million, which would’ve been the most expensive arena in the NBA. Bennett asked for $300 million in state-authorized taxes, similar to what Schultz had requested from the city in 2004, and the ownership group and the city of Renton, the proposed location for the arena, would cover the remaining $200 million. The new arena was projected to generate between $78 million and $152 million in new taxes over 25 years for the state and create hundreds of new jobs, both in the construction process and the ongoing operation of the arena; the number of jobs that otherwise would not exist in the state were estimated to be between 900 and 2,400.23 Additionally, the new arena would encourage between $68 and $170 million in additionally spending annually. A mock-up of the design for the new Renton arena is shown below in Figure 3. Despite the positive economic and social impact that the arena could have on the region, there was little support, particularly in the House of Representatives, for the measure, and Bennett’s demands for funding were rejected.24 Figure 3. The model of the new arena to be located in Renton, presented to the Washington State House Finance Committee in spring of 2007.25

As the yearlong timeline that Bennett had initially given for arena negotiations had

almost expired, Bennett took the first step towards relocating the team: filing papers seeking arbitration on the Key Arena lease, which wasn’t set to expire until 2010.26 This move launched a series of legal battles between the ownership group and the city regarding the lease. In response to the arbitration request, the city sued the Sonics organization in an attempt to block the move and force the ownership to keep to team in Seattle until 2010. The litigation reveals much controversy over the role that Bennett, McClendon and NBA Commissioner David Stern played

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in the situation. The lawsuit, according to former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, was “designed to prevent the move.”27 Despite a strong case against the new Sonics ownership, Mayor Greg Nickels ultimately settled with Bennett and his group the same day that the jury was set to release a verdict about the case. In exchange for getting out of the arena lease early, the city agreed to a settlement up to $75 million, $45 million of which would be paid immediately and $30 million of which would be contingent on the city passing a funding bill to help pay for a Key Arena renovation.28 Internal Changes

At the same time that Bennett was striving to terminate the Key Arena lease two years early, he was also overhauling the internal structure of the organization. Two of the team’s pivotal players during its most successful season of the decade, 2004-2005, Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, both left the team in 2007. Ray Allen, who averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game the season prior to his departure, was traded to the Celtics and Rashard Lewis, who averaged 22.4 points per game that same season, did not have his contract renewed and signed with the Orlando Magic in free agency.29 Not only did the Sonics ownership trade the two most pivotal and recognizable players on the team, they began to quietly sever ties with all front office people with a history with the team. Lenny Wilkens, despite being hired as the vice chairman of the ownership group in 2006 and later named the Sonics’ President of Basketball Operations in April 2007, resigned from the organization in July 2007, citing that his, “position within the organization did not develop the way [he] thought it would.”30 Detlef Schremf, a three-time NBA All-Star power forward for the Sonics in the 1990s, was let go from an assistant coaching role as was Jack Sikma, another former player and assistant coach.31 Additional front office staff that were released during the 2007 offseason included head coach Bob Hill, General Manager Rick Sund, lead scouts Dave Pendergraft and Steve Rosenberry and radio play-by-play announce David Locke.32 While this is not uncommon when new ownership takes over a team, this was foreshadowing for the even more dramatic change that was to ensue.

After team is sold and relocation seems imminent, Steve Ballmer, Jim Sinegal, John Stanton and Matt Griffin, all wealthy Seattleites, present a proposal to both purchase the team and provide private funding for a new arena. The investment group would’ve contributed half of the anticipated $300 million cost for a remodel, whereas Bennett’s group was never explicit about how much they would contribute, though estimates were around $100 million, only 20% of the total arena cost. Ultimately, state legislature balked at Ballmer’s plan and the Sonics attorney even accused Ballmer among others as being part of a strategy to make Bennett’s group lose enough money, forcing them to sell to local owners. There was significant controversy surrounding Bennett’s request for relocation and all those involved, from the Mayor of Seattle to Commissioner Stern to Ballmer and all in between. Sonics attorney Brad Keller, for instance, charged that the city had “’unclean hands’”33 and were part of a “Poisoned Well” scheme.34 There continues to be disputes over who actually had the best interest of keeping an NBA team in Seattle at heart. Oklahoma City Pushes Forward Once Bennett had filed the arbitration papers to get out of the final two years of the Key Arena lease, Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma House of Representatives began to push to provide incentive for the Sonics to move. They did so through a series of legislations that would be enticing for any NBA owner. The first was in March 2008, Oklahoma City voters approved a

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sales tax extension, a 1-cent tax, to fund major upgrades of Ford Center, the basketball arena that is now called Chesapeake Energy Arena—this was expected to generate $121.6 million to pay for a new practice facility. The second measure that the Oklahoma House passed was a tax-incentive package that would help lure the Sonics to the city, which not coincidentally was passed with intense lobbying from Clay Bennett and the rest of the OKC ownership group. The incentive package included expanding Oklahoma’s Quality Jobs Program to include the NBA and allow the team to receive a rebate of a portion of the payroll taxes paid by the team. Additionally, the package permitted the ownership group, the Professional Basketball Club, to receive rebates on taxable payroll paid by the players from opposing teams when they play in Oklahoma City. The state legislature was clearly in support of an NBA team; the state’s House Speaker at the time Chris Benge said, “I without a doubt think this is good for the state of Oklahoma.” Another state representative, Paul Wesselhoft was quoted saying, “I’m excited about the team coming to Oklahoma. And they’re going to come no matter what we do today.” Ultimately, the state’s political decisions were helpful in making their case for the relocation; the tax package was passed just one day before the NBA was set to vote.35 NBA Votes The final step that was essentially a formality was the NBA Board of Governor’s vote on the relocation of the Sonics. Commissioner Stern himself had even called the relocation of the team “inevitable” two months prior to the official vote. During his annual All-Star Weekend address, Stern said, “It’s apparent to all who are watching that the Sonics are heading out of Seattle. There’s not going to be a new arena.”36 On April 18, 2008, the Board voted overwhelmingly to approve the team’s move to Oklahoma City. The result of the vote was 28-2 in favor, with Mark Cuban of the Mavericks and Paul Allen, owner of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, the only two members to oppose the move. Commissioner Stern cited tremendous support by the fans, government and business community in Oklahoma City as rationale for the relocation.37 Part 4: Failed relocation of Sacramento Kings Kings Looking to Leave

While the Sonics may have been lost in 2008, there was never a lack of effort to reestablish a team in the city. The closest that major investors, including Ballmer, members of the Nordstrom family and hedge fund multimillionaire Chris Hansen, came to securing another NBA team in Seattle was in 2013 when they pushed to relocate the Sacramento Kings. Ultimately, Sacramento rallied around the team and the deal fell through.

It became apparent in 2011 that the Maloof family, the owner of the Kings from 1998-2013, was looking to relocate the team to an initial target market in Anaheim. The team had long been rumored to be on the market. They had no qualified for the playoffs since 2006 and were at the bottom of the standings in 2011 as well.38 The request for relocation came after a similar struggle to build a new arena, which the Maloof family argued was necessary for the franchise’s long-term financial viability.39 The Kings’ arena, Sleep Train Arena, was one of the oldest in the league and considered to be obsolete compared to the rest of the arenas in the league, similar to Key Arena.40

Much like Schultz and the Basketball Club of Seattle had worked to obtain support for a new arena, the Maloof family and the NBA had spent years and significant money working with the city of Sacramento. The final plan that was put forward was expected to cost at least $406

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million. Under the proposed agreement, the city of Sacramento was to raise $190-230 million by leasing out parking garages to private investors, the Kings organization was expected to contribute $75-$100 million, and the arena operator AEG was expected to cover the difference of around $40-$60 million.41 Weeks after the City of Sacramento and the NBA announced a preliminary deal on a proposed financing plan for a new arena, the Maloof family, who had limited involvement in the actual workings of the deal, balked at the terms and it promptly fell apart.42 Seattle Arena Group’s Plan Meanwhile, Chris Hansen was busy working with the City of Seattle to approve a new arena agreement. Chris Hansen, a Seattle native and a hedge fund manager who amassed $2 billion in assets under management at his fund, Valiant Capital, Hansen had long been obsessed with owning an NBA team. He saw the weakness in the Kings organization as a potential opportunity to pursue his and revive Seattle’s NBA dreams. With news of potential relocation of the Kings in 2011, Hansen began private meetings with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and a few other local investors during which he proposes an area.43

The plan that Hansen and the Seattle City Council tentatively agree on was a new arena for both professional basketball and hockey located in the Sodo neighborhood, south of downtown, at a cost of $500 million. The deal was contingent on Hansen’s ability to procure both an NBA and an NHL franchise for the city, for which Hansen and the other investors involved pledged to put up the capital.44 The public-private partnership was in accordance with the Initiative 91 vote that limited the subsidization of professional sports teams with taxpayer dollars. Hansen proposed to raise $290 million from private investors, including Steve Ballmer and members of the Nordstrom family and his personal funds, a group known as the Seattle Arena group. The additionally $200 million would come from 30-year bonds backed by the rent paid by the two sports team as well as other revenue generated from various events held at the arena, with the team ownership obligated to make up any difference in proposed and actual cost.45 Besides the funding to build the new arena, the plan included improvements to Key Arena to make sure that it stayed a vibrant part of the city and an agreement that Hansen would buy back the new Sodo arena from the city after it was paid off.46 Decision-Making

With an arena agreement sorted out and a team looking to relocate, Hansen and the city of Seattle were well on their way to getting a new NBA team. The Maloof family announced in January of 2013 that they had come to an agreement to sell 65% of the franchise to Hansen’s group at a value $525 million, an NBA- record.47 But just like it was hard on Seattle to lose the Sonics, Sacramento was not going to let their team go easily. The Mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star himself, made a commitment to find a local investment group to keep the team in Sacramento. Ultimately, the City and an investor group led by software magnate Vivek Ranadive came to an agreement that would prevent the relocation of the team.48 Johnson was able to accomplish something in just a few months that Seattle couldn’t even accomplish in two years; Johnson’s ability to do so could be considered miraculous and increased his popularity in the city tremendously.

Given that Hansen offered to buy the team at a $525 million valuation, the terms of the agreement from Ranadive’s group had to be higher than what Hansen had offered the Maloof family. The final valuation was $535 million, setting the league record, and Ranadive agreed to

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purchase 65% of the team at a price of $347.75 million.49 Johnson was able to get a term sheet approved by the city that would provide $258 million in public money to aid in the construction of a new arena. Other parties involved in the investment group included the Jacobs family, who run Qualcomm, swimwear magnate Raj Bhathal and 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov.

The decision was then in the hands of the league’s relocation committee and the Board of Governors who were to vote on the matter in the spring of 2013. The first step was the relocation committee, which consisted of 7 representatives of teams across the league, including Clay Bennett, who met prior to the full Board of Govenors meeting in May. The committee voted unanimously to block any attempt to relocate the Kings, citing a few key reasons including the fact that the Kings were the city’s only professional sport and a league preference towards franchise stability.50 The league wide vote in May 2013 brought about more good news for Johnson and the city of Sacramento—by a vote of 22-8, the NBA Board of Governors rejected Hansen’s group’s effort to relocate the team to Seattle.51 The Hansen camp only received half of the sixteen votes required to move forward with relocation. Obviously disappointed in the outcome, Hansen and his group, and the city of Seattle, were again left empty-handed. Part 5: Chris Hansen & Co Continue

Despite the failure to bring the Kings to Seattle in 2013, the agreement that Hansen’s investment group came to with the Seattle City Council and the King County Council was not to expire until November 2017. Hansen knew that the NBA would not grant Seattle another team until the details for a new arena were hashed out. One key component contributing to the feasibility of a new arena was getting the vacation of an important street in the Sodo neighborhood approved by the Seattle City Council. The vote determined whether or not Hansen could buy and vacate a one-block street of Occidental Avenue just south of Safeco Field and CenturyLink, shown in the map in Figure 4 below. This vote was the last step before the City of Seattle could issue a Master Use Permit for the arena project, and convince the NHL or NBA to bring a new team to the area. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray recognized that the vote, “’makes it less likely that the NBA will return.’”52 The council voted in May 2016 and the measure was rejected by a vote of 5-4. Figure 4. Site for the planned Sodo arena.53

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But with little traction gained between 2013 and 2016 on the arena issue, the Seattle Arena group began to reevaluate the feasibility of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and look to go in another direction. With the agreement set to expire in a year, the Arena group completely revamped its proposal for funding a new arena. The revised offer was presented in a letter to Mayor Murray, the King County Executive, and the City Council on October 25, 2016. The Arena group recognizes that “the economic landscape has changed… and the NBA has completed its new national television contract, creating more financial certainty in the industry.”54 The letter puts forth the option of a complete private financing of the new arena, allowing the City and County to recoup the $200 million in debt capacity that it committed in the MOU and eliminate the use of tax revenue streams in the area to service the arena debt.55 Additionally, the letter opened up the possibility of building the complex for an NHL team, which will be discussed in greater detail in Part 6.

In return for waiving the need for public financing, the investors had a few requests: approval of the street vacation, granting of a waiver for the City’s admission tax for the arena, and an adjustment of the City’s business & occupation tax rate for revenue generated out of town.56 Furthermore, not only did the Arena group offer to privately finance the entire cost of the stadium, they also, “identified other traffic and freight mobility improvements in SODO to which we will direct contributions” and also “agree to commit the future payment of compensation for the vacated street to the City’s financing package for the Lander Street Overpass.”57 The Lander Street Overpass project will construct a bridge over railroad tracks in the SODO neighborhood to alleviate congestion in the SODO neighborhood, however the project had been on hold for a few years due to funding limitations.

With the proposal out to the City, the Seattle Arena group now must wait for the decision. Mayor Murray indicated that he does not anticipate the city entertaining the vacation petition until 2017. In an interesting twist to the Hansen, eternally optimistic about this venture, wrote on December 8th, 2016, that the group “believes this proposal makes a good-faith effort to address the concerns expressed by council members and represents the best opportunity to bring a state-of-the-art new professional sports venue to Seattle.”58 Additionally, not only does the Seattle Arena group have a few of the wealthiest people in the area, Russell Wilson, the immensely popular Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback, recently joined the group’s effort to revive professional basketball in the city. Part 6: Legitimate team prospects Attendance

Seattle’s best opportunity for reviving the SuperSonics comes in the hopes of franchise relocation. Unfortunately for Seattle basketball fans, the league is not currently looking to move any of its teams to the Pacific Northwest. The only team to relocate since the SuperSonics’ move to Oklahoma City was the Nets who moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn.59 Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the NBA since 2014, stated in February 2015 that the league is not opposed to returning basketball to Seattle, but has neither a candidate for relocation nor the desire to add a 31st franchise. To the untrained eye this opposition to relocation may seem unwarranted. It may seem the availability of the Seattle market should be enough of an incentive for many bottom-feeding franchises to make the move. Here we will explain, case by case, why that is not the whole story. The Atlanta Hawks numbers make them as a prime candidate. The Hawks currently rank 23rd in percentage attendance, and have ranked in the bottom half of league attendance every

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year since 2001.60 Early in 2015, the team was put on the market after owner Bruce Levenson’s racist emails were exposed in an investigation of general manager Danny Ferry’s racist remarks on a conference call.61 Chris Hansen showed interest immediately before NBA spokesman Mike Bass said, “The Atlanta Hawks are not moving to another market.”62 Atlanta’s mayor, Kasim Reed, showed apathetic support, “I’m not closed to participating in a reasonable plan to make sure that the Hawks remain in the city,”63 yet the team sold for $850 million and remain in Atlanta. Forbes currently ranks the franchise as the 24th most valuable at $825 million,64 and though that number would be larger in Seattle there was no westward movement for the Hawks. The Sacramento Kings are a second franchise that could conceivably be on the move. As previously explained, the league, however, halted Ballmer and Hansen’s attempted snatch-and-grab plans to bring the franchise to Seattle. Instead of migrating to Seattle, the Kings have planted their roots firmly in Sacramento with the construction of the $550 million Golden 1 Center. Construction of the state-of-the-art arena was a partnership between new majority owner and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vivek Ranadivé, and the City of Sacramento via the sale of $255 million in bonds.65 The arena opened on schedule prior to the 2016-2017 season.66 Ranadivé was given ownership of the Kings in part because of his commitment to revive basketball culture among the young fan base in Sacramento. His new arena will have Wi-Fi that can accommodate 500,000 Snapchats per second, and is part of a 35-year agreement with the team.67 To his credit, the Sacramento Kings have not ranked in the bottom ten in percentage attendance since 2013.68 In addition to being a new home for the Kings, Ranadivé aims to have Golden 1 Center regarded as a world-class venue for all types of performances.69

The Charlotte Hornets have ranked in the bottom ten of NBA attendance since the team returned, as an expansion team, to Charlotte in 2004.70 Despite the allure of a larger Seattle market and an excited fan base, the roadblock to a Hornets relocation is controlling owner Michael Jordan; he took charge of the team in 2010 and lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, just three hours from Charlotte.71 The Memphis Grizzlies face a similar barrier to relocation: minority owner Justin Timberlake is a Memphis native.72 The rest of the young ownership group, however, could be prone to a drastic move as Memphis’ attendance levels have dropped into the bottom third of the NBA over the past two seasons. The 76ers of Philadelphia may be the team most inclined to pickup and move across the country. The team’s attendance has ranked dead last the past two seasons.73 The Philadelphia 76ers do not own the arena, the Wells Fargo Center, in which they play: 74 Comcast Spectacor owns it. In September 2016, the 76ers opened new practice facilities and team offices across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Forbes values the organization at $700 million, which is the 3rd worst in the NBA and only 23% of the league’s most valuable team, the New York Knicks.75 Josh Harris and David Blitzer bought the team for $287 million in 2011, but the team’s value did not increase from the 2015-2016 season. According to Forbes, the sport and brand of the 76ers accounts for 53.8% of their value, and would be worth the same in any city. In the 1980s and 1990s the 76ers were in a similar arena and financial situation, and the team nearly moved to Camden.76 Despite abysmal attendance and performance records, there are factors keeping the team from exploring relocation options. CEO Scott O’Neil is adamant that the team will never leave Philadelphia.77 Further, the team’s lease with Wells Fargo Arena extends through 2029. These two facts present ideological and fiscal hurdles to the team’s relocation. The only change that could affect the 76ers’ location would be a change in ownership, which may be plausible. Owner Josh Harris bought the New Jersey Devils hockey team in 2013 that plays in Newark, but will not move the 76ers to Newark because that market is already saturated with the

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New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.78 Rumors have circulated that the ownership is interested in pursuing an NFL franchise in London, and plans on flipping the 76ers. A change at the top may mean an opportunity for a change in scenery. In contention with the 76ers are the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota’s attendance rates have steadily dropped from 27th in 2013 to 30th in 2016.79 Majority owner Glen Taylor has been all but steady in control of the franchise. The NBA suspended Taylor for a year in 2000 when the league uncovered secret deals between Taylor and former player Joe Smith that violated the league’s salary cap.80 Taylor has put the team on the market twice in the past five years, but backed out both times.81 In 2015 Taylor attempted to sell 30% minority ownership to Memphis minority owner Steve Kaplan in hopes that Kaplan would become the controlling owner in the near future. That deal fell through, and Taylor closed a deal in June 2016 to sell minority shares of the team to Chinese businessman Lizhang Jiang and New York real estate pundit Meyer Orbach. This sale limits the legitimate prospect of the team relocating. Arenas Another approach to finding a relocation fit may be examining the current arena situation for teams around the league. The Warriors have the oldest arena in the NBA, Oracle Arena.82 They will, however, move into a new, privately funded, $1 billion center in San Francisco for the 2019 season. Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks, is the second oldest, but the iconic arena was renovated in 2013 at a cost of $1 billion. The Milwaukee Bucks new ownership threatened to move the team to Seattle in 2015 if it did not receive public funding for a new arena. Unfortunately for Seattle, the Bucks ownership group successfully extorted Milwaukee to fund half of the new $500 million Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center.83 The Milwaukee organization hopes that the new arena will revive a lagging fan base that has ranked in the bottom five in attendance since 2012.84 The Detroit Pistons play in the outdated Palace of Auburn Hills, but will share the new, $732 million Little Caesars Arena with the Red Wings beginning next season.85 In Minnesota, the Timberwolves will complete a $130 million renovation project in the next year that includes $103 million in public funding.86 These recent and upcoming moves and renovations have guaranteed—at least temporarily—that playing in an old arena will not lead to a team’s departure, much like was the case in Seattle. The bottom line for NBA relocation is that no franchise is making preparations to leave—or even threatening to leave. The league, in addition, does not want to rob a city of a team as they did to Seattle in 2008.87 NBA Expansion With relocation options off the table, Seattle must hope for an expansion team to fill the void in the Pacific Northwest. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has not made expansion a priority, but there is evidence that the NBA may consider expansion. It is no mystery that former NBA Commissioner David Stern wanted the league to return to Seattle. While current Commissioner Adam Silver may not carry the same desires, he is open to consider expansion. The fact behind any relocation or expansion effort in any league is that if the league will profit then they will move or expand. The NBA’s recent TV contract with ABC, ESPN, and Turner Broadcasting has expansion escalators.88 This means that if the NBA adds expansion teams, they will receive more money from their TV deal, which is good news for Seattle. In a scenario where Seattle gets an NBA expansion team (with or without an NHL team) it would be logical for the NBA to add a 32nd team to the league. The most likely destination for

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a 32nd NBA team is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The city boasts the 23rd largest TV market in the country and has already proven that it can support NHL, MLB, and NFL franchises.89 An eastern team would balance out Seattle in the west. Additionally, there is a location ready for play: the PPG Paints Arena (formerly Consol Energy Center) was built in 2010 and holds 19,000 seats. Vancouver, British Columbia seems to be another option for a final expansion team. Despite the fact that the city lost the Grizzlies to Memphis in 2001, the Raptors success in Toronto has proven that Canadian cities can support basketball teams. The city has a supportive fan base and the 23rd largest TV market, but would need new ownership and a new venue to replace 21-year-old Rogers Arena.90 Adam Silver, though not a proponent of any expansion, said in February 2016, “There’s a part of me that wishes we still had a team [in Vancouver].”91 After Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Vancouver stand half a dozen cities that could make a case for a team. Omaha, Nebraska could make a statement due to its sports culture surrounding the Men’s College World Series and CenturyLink Center, which holds just under 19,000.92 Omaha has only the 74th largest TV market and may struggle to attract free agent talent, but that is similar to Oklahoma City, who eventually played for the Western Conference Finals in 2016. Las Vegas, Nevada put on a less-than-flattering show for the 2007 All-Star Game, but the addition of the Golden Knights and T-Mobile Arena could bolster the city’s bargaining power with the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver is known to be a proponent of integrating sports betting into professional sports. Finally, St. Louis is the 25th largest TV market and an NBA team may be able to fill the void left by the Rams. However, the city would need to find ownership and possibly a new arena—to replace the 22-year-old Scottrade Arena, home of the Blues—in order to attract an expansion offer from the NBA. Other expansion options include Louisville, Kansas City, and international expansion to Mexico City. Louisville, Kentucky is home to the KFC Yum! Center, which holds 22,000.93 The city, however, is only the 52nd largest TV market and an NBA franchise would be competing with both University of Louisville and the Atlanta Hawks for fans. Kansas City, the 37th largest TV market, is on the fringe of being large enough to attract a fourth major sports team to join the Royals, Chiefs, and Major League Soccer’s Sporting KC. An NBA team would also have to compete with perennial juggernaut Kansas Jayhawks basketball for fans and attention. The city built the Spring Center a decade ago in hope of housing an NBA team, but the investment did not pay out. If the NBA is interested in expanding their “global following”94 then a franchise in Mexico City, Mexico could be a potential option. The city houses a population similar in size to New York City95 and a 22,300-seat venue called the Mexico City Arena.96

There are sufficient market vacancies that, in theory, a rival league could be possible. If the NBA fears the formation of a rival league then they will consider duplicating the Chicago market. In addition, there are a handful of cities left off of CBS Sports’ list that could make cases for being NBA sites. Tampa, Florida is the 12th largest TV market, but is located less than two hours from the Orlando Magic. Montreal, Québec is the 19th largest market and San Diego, California is 32nd. Both cities are home to two major sports franchises. Nashville, Tennessee is the 33rd largest TV market, and hosts the annual Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. The city is home to the Tennessee Titans and the Oakland Athletics’ AAA team, the Nashville Sounds.

At the end of the day, the opposition to NBA expansion is primarily monetary. Commissioner Adam Silver said, “We are 30 partners right now…each of those teams own 1/30th of all the global opportunities of the NBA. So the issue becomes, if you expand, do you want to sell one of those interests off to a new group of partners? One reason to do it of course, is

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that if its additive. And no doubt, Seattle is a great market.”97 A second issue is the dilution of talent across the league. Powerhouse teams such as the Curry-Durant-Thompson-Green Warriors and the Irving-James-Love-Smith Cavaliers, however, show that the NBA’s concern may be concentration of talent rather than supply of talent. Another concern would be the revived Sonics infringing on the Trail Blazers’ market. Microsoft co-founder and Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, conversely, voted against the relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City, and would likely be in favor of expanding a team in Seattle and renewing the I-5 rivalry. NHL Expansion After adding a 31st team in Las Vegas, the NHL has its eyes out for locating a 32nd team. It would make logical sense for the league to add an additional expansion team to get to an ideal number of 32 teams, a multiple of eight. There is reason to believe that building a new arena in Seattle could lure an NHL team to the market, and an NBA team would be close behind. There has already been at least one attempt to bring the NHL to Seattle. In 2013, New York investment banker Ray Bartoszek attempted to buy the Arizona Coyotes and move them to Seattle.98 Bartoszek and Jac Sperling (Vice Chairman of the Minnesota Wild) are reportedly interested in owning and bringing an NBA or NHL team to Seattle.

Furthermore, Seattle is at the top of that list if the city can find an arena. Minor league hockey has a small presence in the area, but attendance statistics show that Seattle area fans are some of the most supportive in the country. Washington is home to four teams in the Western Hockey League.99 Spokane and Tri Cities are located on the Eastern side of the state, but the Everett Silvertips and the Seattle Thunderbirds play in the Seattle area, and rank in the top half of league attendance.100 Despite not having an NHL team in the state, the number of USA Hockey memberships in Washington has risen 4.9% in the past year, the fourth highest rate in the country.101 Adding an NHL team in Seattle would balance the conferences and fill the gap in markets between San Jose, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.102 A geographical representation of the NHL is shown in Figure 5 below. Figure 5. Geographic distribution of NHL teams.

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Seattle Fans Seattle is known as a city of fanatic fans led by the Seahawks 12th man. The Seahawks have, for years, exceeded the NFL’s average attendance numbers, and filled the 67,000 seats of CenturyLink Field. The Seattle area also shows strong support for its MLS and MLB organizations. The Mariners attendance numbers have been rising since 2012,103,104,105 and the Sounders set an MLS season attendance record with an average of 44,247 fans per game.106 The two graphs shown in Figures 6 and 7 below demonstrate the strong fan support in Seattle. Figure 6 and 7. Graphical representations of NFL and MLB attendance

20%  

30%  

40%  

50%  

60%  

70%  

80%  

90%  

80%  

85%  

90%  

95%  

100%  

105%  

110%  

115%  

2009   2011   2013   2015   2017  Win  %  

%  Attendance  

Year  

NFL  Attendance  

NFL  Average  

Seattle  Seahawks  

Seahawks  Win  %  

25%  30%  35%  40%  45%  50%  55%  60%  65%  70%  75%  

1,500,000  

2,000,000  

2,500,000  

3,000,000  

3,500,000  

4,000,000  

1995   2000   2005   2010   2015   2020  

Win  %  

Attendance  

Year  

MLB  Attendance  

Seattle  Attendance  

AL  Avg  Attendance  

Seattle  Win  %  

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Current Teams The map shown below in Figure 8 depicts the locations of all teams in the four major North American sports leagues.107 Green indicates NBA teams, black indicates NHL teams, red indicates MLB teams, and blue indicates NFL teams. Each marker represents a stadium or arena, not an organization. This is because in some cases multiple teams from the same or different leagues share a venue. The New York Giants and Jets share MetLife Stadium, the Oakland Athletics and Raiders share the Oakland Coliseum, the LA Clippers, Lakers, and Kings share Staples Center, the Washington Capitals and Wizards share the Verizon Center, the Dallas Stars and Mavericks share the American Airlines Center, the Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls share the United Center, the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers share the Wells Fargo Center, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors share the Air Canada Centre, the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets share the Pepsi Center, the New York Rangers and Knicks share Madison Square Garden, the Boston Bruins and Celtics share TD Garden, and the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Nets share the Barclays Center. Figure 8. Location of all major sports teams (NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS) in the United States and Canada.

Recent Developments and Conclusion On December 8, 2016, Chris Hansen’s Seattle Arena investment group announced an addendum to the letter written to the Mayor and the Seattle City Council to address the issue of an NBA-first street vacation.108 As previously mentioned, the investment group proposed a privately funded arena plan, and is now asking the city council to approve the street vacation plan, conditional on the city being granted either an NBA or an NHL team. If this proposal is accepted by the city, it will open the door to bringing an NHL team to Seattle, followed by an

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NBA team, as well as send a strong message to both leagues that the city is ready to have teams play in a new state-of-the-art arena.

It is clear to any external observer that the Seattle Arena Group is serious about bringing the NBA back to Seattle. It has been more than 8 years since the city lost the Sonics, but the commitment by the group of investors is stronger than ever. It seems that the highest chance of success would come from securing a NHL-first conditional street vacation from the Seattle City Council and start by bringing the first professional hockey team to the Pacific Northwest region. The group will then have the leverage to build a suitable arena, one that does not rely on state financial support, which is a crucial step in demonstrating to the NBA that Seattle is once again ready to sustain an NBA team. The biggest issue that remains to be seen based on the result of the NBA’s new TV package is whether or not the league is willing and ready to expand, a question to which only time holds the answer.                                                                                                                1 "KeyArena History." KeyArena. 2011. 2  2016. Seattle. Seattle Tickets. Web.  3  2008. Seattle. By Coronel Chester. Web.  4  Johnson, Dan. "Barry Ackerley Sells Seattle SuperSonics to an Investment Group Led by Howard Schultz." HistoryLink.org. The Free Encyclopedia of Washington State History, 15 Jan. 2001.  5  "Paid In Full: Schultz Buys Sonics From Ackerley For $200M." SportsBusiness Daily. American City Business Journals, 12 Jan. 2001.  6  Dwyer, Kelly. "Gary Payton Is Still Irked by His 2003 Departure from Seattle." Yahoo! Sports. NBC Sports Network, 17 Sept. 2013.  7  Evans, Jayda. "Rashard Lewis Gets 7-year Deal to Remain with Sonics." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 20 Sept. 2002.  8  Brunner, Jim, and Bob Young. "How Winning KeyArena Deal Turned into a Loser." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 18 Apr. 2005.  9  Brunner, Jim, and Bob Young. "Stadium Taxes Might Never Expire." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 4 Jan. 2005.  10  Brunner, Jim, and Bob Young. "How Winning KeyArena Deal Turned into a Loser." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 18 Apr. 2005.  11  Kasler, Dale, and Ryan Lillis. "New Kings Arena Will Be among NBA's Smallest, but Built for Profit." The Scaramento Bee. 6 July 2014.  12  Greenberg, Martin. "Sleeping in Seattle—Good-bye NBA." For The Record 19 (July 2008): The Official Newsletter of the National Sports Law Institute. Marquette University Law School.  13  Bloom, Howard. "Welcome to Franchise Relocation Hell – the Seattle Sonics." Sports Business News. 5 Nov. 2007.  14  Brunner, Jim, and Bob Young. "Stadium Taxes Might Never Expire." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 4 Jan. 2005.  15  Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team. Dir. Jason Reid. 2R Productions, 2009. iTunes.  16  Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team. Dir. Jason Reid. 2R Productions, 2009. iTunes.  17  "Sonics, Storm Sold to Group from Oklahoma City." ESPN.com. 19 July 2006.  18  "Sonics, Storm Sold to Group from Oklahoma City." ESPN.com. 19 July 2006.  19 Allen, Percy. "Sonics Co-owner McClendon Fined $250K." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 13 June 2008.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     20  "Sonics, Storm Sold to Group from Oklahoma City." ESPN.com. 19 July 2006.  21  Galloway, Angela. "Initiative 91: Seattle Rejects Sports Subsidies." Seattlepi.com. Hearst Seattle Media, Inc., 7 Nov. 2006.  22  Galloway, Angela. "Initiative 91: Seattle Rejects Sports Subsidies." Seattlepi.com. Hearst Seattle Media, Inc., 7 Nov. 2006.  23  Brunner, Jim, and Ralph Thomas. "No Profit Seen from Proposed Sonics Arena, Says Renton." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 10 Apr. 2007.  24  Brunner, Jim. "The Facts, Figures behind the Flap over Sonics Arena." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 17 Feb. 2007.  25  Brunner, Jim. "Sonics Owner Unveils Model for Proposed Renton Venue." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 27 Feb. 2007. 26  Bloom, Howard. "Welcome to Franchise Relocation Hell – the Seattle Sonics." Sports Business News. 5 Nov. 2007.  27  Johns, Greg. "City Sues Sonics to Enforce Arena Lease." Seattlepi.com. Hearst Seattle Media, Inc., 24 Sept. 2007.  28  Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team. Dir. Jason Reid. 2R Productions, 2009. iTunes.  29  Allen, Percy. "NBA: Another Sonic Leaves, This Time It's Wilkens." The Honolulu Advertiser. N.p., 7 July 2007. Web. 30  "Hall of Famer Wilkens Resigns Post with Sonics." ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures, 6 July 2007.  31  Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team. Dir. Jason Reid. 2R Productions, 2009. iTunes.  32  Allen, Percy. "NBA: Another Sonic Leaves, This Time It's Wilkens." The Honolulu Advertiser., 7 July 2007. 33  Hughes, John C. "How Seattle Lost the SuperSonics." Crosscut. 2 Apr. 2012.  34  Brunner, Jim. "Sonics' Closing Arguments Harp on City's." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 27 June 2008.  35  Talley, Tim. "Oklahoma House Passes Tax Package Designed to Help Lure Sonics." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 17 Apr. 2008. 36  Beck, Howard. "Stern Says Relocation of Sonics Is an ‘Inevitability’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2008.  37  Allen, Percy. "NBA Approves Sonics' Move to Oklahoma City." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 19 Apr. 2008. 38  Belson, Ken, and Howard Beck. "Seattle Investor Plans to Buy the Kings and Move Them." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2013.  39  Gonzalez, Antonio. "Kings Request Extension to Decide Relocation Plans." USA Today. Gannett Co, Inc., 24 Feb. 2011.  40  Belson, Ken, and Howard Beck. "Seattle Investor Plans to Buy the Kings and Move Them." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2013.  41  Press, Associated. "Sacramento, NBA Are Close to Arena Financing Deal." The Mercury News. Digital First Media, 22 Feb. 2012.  42  Press, Associated. "Deal for New Arena Falls Apart; Kings on Move?" ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures, 14 Apr. 2012.  43  "Timeline: Looking Back to the Loss of the Sonics, and the Effort to Bring the NBA Back to Seattle." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 29 Apr. 2013.  

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     44  Lamm, Greg, and Valerie Bauman. "$500 Million Seattle Basketball/hockey Arena Plan Announced." Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals, 16 Feb. 2012.  45  Lamm, Greg, and Valerie Bauman. "$500 Million Seattle Basketball/hockey Arena Plan Announced." Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals, 16 Feb. 2012.  46  "Seattle City Council, Hansen Reach NBA Arena Deal." Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals, 11 Sept. 2012.  47  "Timeline: Looking Back to the Loss of the Sonics, and the Effort to Bring the NBA Back to Seattle." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company, 29 Apr. 2013.  48  Aldridge, David. "Maloof Family Agrees to Sell Kings for Record $535 Million." NBA.com. Turner Sports Digital, 17 May 2013.  49  Aldridge, David. "Maloof Family Agrees to Sell Kings for Record $535 Million." NBA.com. Turner Sports Digital, 17 May 2013.  50  Ziller, Tom. "Why the NBA Is Choosing Sacramento over Seattle." SBNation.com. Vox Media, Inc., 01 May 2013.  51  Golliver, Ben. "NBA Board of Governors Votes to Reject Kings Relocation to Seattle." Sports Illustrated. Time, Inc., 13 May 2013.  52  Daniels, Chris, and Travis Pittman. "Seattle Arena: Council Rejects Vacating Occidental Avenue 5-4." KING 5 News. TEGNA, 2 May 2016.  53  “Proposed  NBA/NHL  Arena  in  Seattle.”  The  Seattle  Times.  The  Seattle  Times  Company,  24  July  2013.    54  Hansen, Chris, Wally Walker, Erik Nordstrom, and Pete Nordstrom. "Re: Seattle Arena." Letter to Mayor Edward Murray. 25 Oct. 2016. Scribd. 25 Oct. 2016.  55  Hansen, Chris, Wally Walker, Erik Nordstrom, and Pete Nordstrom. "Re: Seattle Arena." Letter to Mayor Edward Murray. 25 Oct. 2016. Scribd. 25 Oct. 2016.  56  Hansen, Chris, Wally Walker, Erik Nordstrom, and Pete Nordstrom. "Re: Seattle Arena." Letter to Mayor Edward Murray. 25 Oct. 2016. Scribd. 25 Oct. 2016.  57  Hansen, Chris, Wally Walker, Erik Nordstrom, and Pete Nordstrom. "Re: Seattle Arena." Letter to Mayor Edward Murray. 25 Oct. 2016. Scribd. 25 Oct. 2016.  58  Daniels, Chris. "Seattle Street Vacation Allows for NHL-first Arena, SoDo Arena Group Says." KING 5 News. TEGNA, 8 Dec. 2016.  59 Riccobono, Anthony. "Could The NBA Finally Return To Seattle? Adam Silver Answers Franchise Question." International Business Times. 12 Feb. 2015. 60 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 61 Eaton, Nick. "NBA: Atlanta Hawks Will Not Move to Seattle, or Anywhere." Seattle Sonics Blog. 08 Jan. 2015. 62 Eaton, Nick. "NBA: Atlanta Hawks Will Not Move to Seattle, or Anywhere." Seattle Sonics Blog. 08 Jan. 2015. 63 "NBA's Atlanta Hawks Eyes Three Locations For Future Arena, Considers Home Court Upgrade or Relocate to the Atlanta Civic Center." Realty Today. 27 July 2015. 64 "Forbes: Knicks Most Valuable NBA Franchise." NBA Rumors And Basketball News. Basketball Insiders, 20 Jan. 2016. 65 Bizjak, Tony, Dale Kasler, and Ryan Lillis. "Sacramento Kings Press Ahead with Arena While Opponents Plan Petition Drive." The Sacramento Bee. 21 May 2014. 66 Wagner, Kurt. "The Sacramento Kings Are Building the NBA's Techiest Arena, a '21st Century Coliseum'." Recode. 06 Jan. 2016. Web.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     67 Bizjak, Tony, Dale Kasler, and Ryan Lillis. "Sacramento Kings Press Ahead with Arena While Opponents Plan Petition Drive." The Sacramento Bee. 21 May 2014. 68 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 69 Wagner, Kurt. "The Sacramento Kings Are Building the NBA's Techiest Arena, a '21st Century Coliseum'." Recode. 06 Jan. 2016. Web. 70 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 71 Ogden, Maxwell. "Which NBA Teams Could Become New Sonics?" Bleacher Report. 26 Oct. 2012. 72 Ogden, Maxwell. "Which NBA Teams Could Become New Sonics?" Bleacher Report. 26 Oct. 2012. 73 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 74 McQuade, Dan. "How Sixers Spat With Wells Fargo Could Prelude a Move to Camden." Philadelphia Magazine. 12 June 2015. 75 "The Business Of Basketball." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2016. 76 Gray, Jerry. "Traveling to Camden." The New York Times, 18 Dec. 1993. 77 Depta, Laura. "10 Teams That Could Be on Their Way out of Town." Bleacher Report. 25 Feb. 2016. 78 McQuade, Dan. "How Sixers Spat With Wells Fargo Could Prelude a Move to Camden." Philadelphia Magazine. 12 June 2015. 79 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 80 Akers, John. "NBA Will Suspend Timberwolves Owner." ABC News Network, 6 Dec. 2000. 81 Windhorst, Brian. "Sources: Wolves Sell Shares to China's Jiang." ESPN.com. 27 June 2016. 82 McDonald, Ryan. "Examining the 10 Oldest Arenas in the NBA." DeseretNews.com. 25 May 2016. 83 "Wisconsin Entertainment And Sports Center." Sports & Event Centers. 2016. 84 "NBA Attendance Report." ESPN.com. 2017. 85 "Pistons Moving to Downtown Detroit next Season." ESPN.com. 22 Nov. 2016. 86 McDonald, Ryan. "Examining the 10 Oldest Arenas in the NBA." DeseretNews.com. 25 May 2016. 87 Nesgoda, Kevin. "Multiple Sources: NBA Expansion to Seattle Is on the Table." Sonics Rising. 13 Oct. 2016. 88 Nesgoda, Kevin. "NBA Announces New Television/Media Rights Deal." Sonics Rising. 05 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. 89 Moore, Matt. "With NBA Expansion Rumored, a Look at the Pros, Cons and Prospective Cities." CBS Sports. 13 Oct. 2016. 90 Moore, Matt. "With NBA Expansion Rumored, a Look at the Pros, Cons and Prospective Cities." CBS Sports. 13 Oct. 2016. 91 "NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Praises Toronto, but Says No More Canadian Teams." CBC News. CBC/Radio Canada, 12 Feb. 2016. 92 Moore, Matt. "With NBA Expansion Rumored, a Look at the Pros, Cons and Prospective Cities." CBS Sports. 13 Oct. 2016. 93 Moore, Matt. "With NBA Expansion Rumored, a Look at the Pros, Cons and Prospective Cities." CBS Sports. 13 Oct. 2016. 94 Pandian, Ananth. "Adam Silver Talks Expansion, Issue with NBA Team Returning to Seattle." CBSSports.com. 11 Mar. 2016.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     95 "Indicadores Económicos." Instituto Nacional De Estadística Y Geografía. 9 Dec. 2016. 96 Moore, Matt. "With NBA Expansion Rumored, a Look at the Pros, Cons and Prospective Cities." CBS Sports. 13 Oct. 2016. 97 Pandian, Ananth. "Adam Silver Talks Expansion, Issue with NBA Team Returning to Seattle." CBSSports.com. 11 Mar. 2016. 98 Riccobono, Anthony. "Could The NBA Finally Return To Seattle? Adam Silver Answers Franchise Question." International Business Times. 12 Feb. 2015. 99 "WHL Network." Western Hockey League, 2016. 100 "Western Hockey League 2015-16 Attendance Graph." HockyDB. 2016. 101 Barr, John. "USA Hockey Numbers Are Up." NHL to SEATTLE. 20 June 2016. 102 Watson, Zane. "Examining Future NHL Expansion Scenarios." The Sports Quotient. 03 July 2016. 103 "Seattle Mariners Attendance Records (1977 - 2015)." Baseball Almanac, 2016. 104 "Year-by-Year Results." Seattle Mariners. 20 Jan. 2016. 105 Knight, Graham. "2016 MLB Ballpark Attendance." 2016 Major League Baseball Attendance. 106 "MLS Sets New Attendance Records, Seattle Hold Highest Average in League." MLSsoccer.com. 26 Oct. 2015. 107 Map created by Benjamin Sampson. December 19, 2016. 108 Daniels, Chris. "Seattle Street Vacation Allows for NHL-first Arena, SoDo Arena Group Says." KING 5. 8 Dec. 2016.