Lookout Landing

http://mynorthwest.com/streams/streampop_espn.php

KJR will have it on both as well. I heard something about King 5 having a webcast with video, but haven't looked in to it yet.

UW11Bowdown - February 16, 2012 reply

http://mynorthwest.com/streams/streampop_espn.php

That is what I’ve heard as well.

DrThePunisher - February 16, 2012 reply

Clickable version!

ThundaPC - February 16, 2012 reply

Bettman, you wet blanket.

kentroyals5 - February 16, 2012 reply

It's like it's Christmas Eve...

… and Bettman just walked over to the nativity scene and booted the manger without apologizing or fixing it.

(NO RELlIGION!)

JY - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

That could be ANYONE'S nativity scene

I think you’re good.

Damn you Bettman!

Way to knock over baby Vishnu’s manger.

Liebkartoffel - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

I was thinking the same thing.

I guess they’d rather have an unsuccessful operation continue to lose money in a desert than make a profit in a city that would embrace the sport. Great business move there.

Fin - February 16, 2012 reply

David Stern, Clay Bennett, and Gary Bettman are involved

What could possibly go wrong?

Choskasoft - February 16, 2012 reply

Don't worry, Howard Schultz will come and save the day!!

gunshot

KIRO 7 has a live video stream

And the Mayor's office

seattle.gov/mayorlive

That video calls it the "Self-Funded Arena Proposal"

YES!

Also, smooth Jazz music while waiting for it to start.

algorhythm - February 16, 2012 reply

Refresh for live cast links

Vague prelim twitter details from Chris Daniels at King5

$290 million of private money, city will assume debt, repaid through existing taxes

Expanded details

$290 million private money, $200 million public contribution (county/city split), with guaranteed revenue to pay off the bond. Debt payments guaranteed, and the whole deal is contingent on getting both NBA and NHL teams.

Source

God I hate Seattlites who feel the need to piss over everything.

(slog commenters)

Well, as everyone knows

The Stranger online commenters are the most informed and plugged in sports fans there are.

The people in this city deserve every little bit of gridlock and gloominess that they get.

Also, has nothing to do with being a sports fan.

Simple economics would say that, based on info presented, this is a great deal for the city regardless of what it concerned.

Replace “sports arena” with “office building” for instance and it’s a win for the city.

Good point.

So we can agree they’re just miserable people in general then!

I hate them so much.

That guarantee is pretty slick.

I wonder how many cities have ever got that kind of deal in a public-private partnership. Usually the guarantee is the other direction.

Obviously the guarantee is no good if there turn out to be no renters, but considering that the private partners have more skin in the game, that is a relatively small concern.

stredarts - February 16, 2012 reply

I hope that the city spends more money on metro just so they can get hit by one of the added busses.

Robert - February 16, 2012 reply

I just realized that both teams that have won the top of honors of the league they are in are the two that are no longer in Seattle.

Obviously, the Metropolitans winning the Stanley Cup back in 1917 is a little different than the Sonics winning the NBA championship in 1979 since the Sonics were more recent. I thought it was interesting, though.

WNBA!

Storm got some banners…

Truth.

And Sounders have 3 US Open Cups.

And all the NFC West championships!

Those are the top honor in the NFL, right?

http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2011/1/12/1931127/mls-is-ranked-42nd-best-league-in-the-world

The MLS isn't even the 40th best league in the world.

Hardly World Champions

sofa_king - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

I find this highly unlikely.

Bundesliga, Premier, La Liga, Serie A, CBF, Premeira Liga are all indisputably better than MLS, seriously thirty-nine indisputably better leagues?

harkening - February 16, 2012 reply

This

sofa_king - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

I openly admit to not being a huge soccer fan, only getting into it and following it out of my periphery for the last four years or so.

But this seems like a really stupid way to rank whether a league is strong or not. “Hey, an American culture that really values national championships and player longevity produces championship clubs that don’t compete on the international level.”

harkening - February 16, 2012 reply

The link says 32nd.

Mariner John - February 16, 2012 reply

I imagine that the MLS would be ranked much higher if not for certain "teams".

Robert - February 16, 2012 reply

Okay, Roger on all of that. Even if it was the 10th best league it would be the baseball e

The quality of play still wouldn’t rank above AA in baseball terms.

sofa_king - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

You have no fucking idea what you're talking about

You have no fucking idea what you're talking about

You have no fucking idea what you're talking about

I like how we jump to world champions from saying top honors in the league and mentioning US Open Cups.

I wonder if the Storm would stay at Key or move over to the new digs

Seems like the Storm would want to counter-program the new Sonics

and see how many more fans they draw, just to prove a point

Uhh...

I'm aware of the schedule

My uhh was referring to exactly what point the Storm would be trying to make

I know and chose to go with a different direction

Hmm, uh, no

They’d play in the new gym and snuggle up close to the Sonics.

Maybe the Storm could move to San Diego so we could have professional basketball here

Repatriate the Clippers! Re-form the old Pacific Division!

Binding non-relocation agreement!

CapSea - February 16, 2012 reply

30 years plus city/county still own the facility

which is frankly amazing to me given the split between public/private w/guarantee of public repayment

Yeah, I'm waiting to see how that would work out.

Pretty similar to Safeco and CenturyLink I believe

Both owned by the Public Stadium Authority but operated/managed by the teams. Public entity collects the related taxes and fees, team owner collects the ticket, parking and concessions revenue.

Yeah, that sounds like a pretty big concession on the part of the private investors.

I’m starting to believe Hansen is serious about this being more about civic duty than profit for him.

Tophawkeye - February 16, 2012 reply

As close as it gets probably

Courts look at specific performance for contracts the same way they look at Wesley Snipes’ tax filing procedures, unfavorably.

Trenchtown - February 16, 2012 reply

Growing up closer to Portland than Seattle, I've always been a Blazers fan.

But the idea of the Sonics coming back to Seattle is very, very exciting to me.

Also, NHL! Woooo!

ScottBrowne - February 16, 2012 reply

I'm a pretty big financial skeptic

but wow this sounds really good so far.

It sounds like

the public portion will paid through Local Infrastructure Financing Tool Program, which has protections for local government. However, establishing other collection options for the 200 million dollar bonds will be one of the more important pieces of the funding package. LIFT has been used quite often for economic development projects. It is a still a little new (it passed the legislature in 2007, I believe) so there might still be bad deals out there and they have not made it to the public yet.

Not to get too political, but it I feel more comfortable with the County and Constantine are involved. If nothing else, they keep the interest on the bonds lower.

InSpokane - February 16, 2012 reply

I agree on the skepticism.

I just can’t see a downside here, looking at how they structured the deal. I mean, it only goes down if the teams first commit to coming, the investors are paying for a huge proportion of it compared to other projects, and the revenues to pay down the bond are totally guaranteed. Not only would taxpayers be certain that the bonds would be paid off, it also puts absolutely no strain on the budget. Since a bond would finance the government investment, it’s not like going ahead with the project would affect the amount of money available teachers, infrastructure, or public services.

There is a great book called Field of Schemes, which explores the boondoggle publicly financed stadiums usually are. This proposal seems to avoid the pitfalls described in the book.

I don’t see where someone would object to this proposal.

SeattExPat - February 16, 2012 reply

someone rational*

This is the statement most interesting to me:

“The city and county will eventually own the land and facility”

For me, it's the fact that the developers are on the hook for cost overruns.

Really glad that’s included, not just from a take-risk-away-from-taxpayer reason but as a telling counterpoint to the mess surrounding the viaduct.

marc w - February 16, 2012 reply

Yep

plus the requirement that they make up the difference each year for the first 30 in case of revenue shortfalls.

It really looks like the only risk to the public here is the risk with any bond. Very low.

One of my small twitter pet peeves,

(@seattletimes): Follow @emilyheffter for live updates from the 2 p.m. announcement of NBA/NHL arena plans

And then @seattletimes goes on to RT a bunch of @emilyheffter’s tweets.

Re-tweets that you have already viewed should not show up in your twitter feed. I really hate that too.

d0nkey - February 16, 2012 reply

What wierd jerseys those kids were wearing in the back there

d0nkey - February 16, 2012 reply

Constantine knocked it out of the park.

Benne - February 16, 2012 reply

Absolutely.

This sounds very promising.

ScottBrowne - February 16, 2012 reply

Traffic and the team's history being the only negative things I have heard so far? I love it

d0nkey - February 16, 2012 reply

Press conferences where you can't hear the questions being asked are so weird.

ScottBrowne - February 16, 2012 reply

SOP is to repeat the question at these things.

Where’s the communications director when you need em?

I think it would be boring to be a photographer for a press conference.

seattlesundevil - February 16, 2012 reply

Speaking from experience - it is.

It really is.

Here's the mayor speaking at the mic.

Now here he is touching the mic. Here is King County chairman standing at the podium. Oh, he shifted his weight to his left foot, got to get that angle.

So Key Arena kept the name even though the naming rights deal with Key Bank ended at the end of 2010?

Sort of surprising, but also, not really.

So, do they need to secure both NHL and NBA team or just one to build the new arena?

Luisam - February 16, 2012 reply

You buy one, and then hope to land a second!

The good thing about NBA vs NHL is that multi-use arenas are very common between the leagues so that flexibility is there.

Prudential Center at 400 million is probably a good starting comp

I figured, but I wonder which will come first?

So, you have the Hornets and Kings for the NBA. Then the Coyotes for the NHL. Any other potential teams currently?

Luisam - February 16, 2012 reply

Memphis in the NBA

Tampa Bay in the NHL. Those are just opinions though.

Bobcats on pace to become the worst NBA team ever

Also Charlotte in the NBA

Milwaukee needs to move too, but as long as they’re owned by a Senator, it’s not going to happen.

arbeck77 - February 16, 2012 reply

Toronto?

EequalsMc2 - February 16, 2012 reply

Honestly doubt Charlotte.

I’m from the area and the sting of the Hornets leaving was felt big time there too. They are slowly embracing the bobcats.

tarheels24 - February 16, 2012 reply

Understandably slowly

Mind of no mind - February 17, 2012 reply

"Sting of the Hornets"?

Booooo

tsunamijesus - February 17, 2012 reply

Then it would be awesome if we could take the Hornets, rename them the Sonics,

and give them their team name back.

First report said both

Seems like it would be really difficult to get both leagues to commit to moving at the same time

especially since the NBA situation is much more unsettled than the Coyotes situation seems to be.

Wouldn't happen with the NHL only so NBA has to come first

And Shannon tweets a Mariners announcement.

This really was the one I was waiting for. Mariners statement.

Not exactly a full-throated endorsement but it'll do for now

Awesome!

Full statement --

""The Mariners are excited about this afternoon’s announcement and the possibility of having NBA and NHL teams coming to the community.From our perspective, it is all about the fans and the community. We aren’t familiar with the details, but are ready to participate in the public process to make this a "win" for the fans, and to realize the many potential benefits for the region. It is too early for us to make any further comments."

Well, that's more like it!

I didn't expect something this supportive of the arena from them, at least not today.

At the very least it doesn’t look like they’re against it so far.

On balance, there's little reason for them to be against it.

Not much in the way of direct competition plus it raises values and potentially makes the city a bigger media market (heyyyyyy, TV deal)

Every hockey and basketball game broadcast will include a flyover of the arena and SoDo

And the M’s and Seahawks get a mention every time. Free promotion and brand awareness. Win win win.

Although with the possibility of this leading to a Seattle Sports Network or something along those lines, I guess it isn't too surprising.

Maybe Seattle will finally get their own ESPN spinoff.

Benne - February 16, 2012 reply

Nope

Judging from the quality of the other spin-offs, that's just fine

Gihyou - February 16, 2012 reply

I would wonder if an NBA team would increase the likelihood of the Mariners trying to create a sports network,

like NESN or MASN.

dfa - February 16, 2012 reply

So now that the arena proposal is an official thing, how long should we expect the approval process to take?

Can’t we just go knock down shit in SoDo and build it now?

A long time.

They need to get teams first, for one

The NBA team seems like it'd be simple enough to get.

Hansen is meeting with the NBA in April and there are at least two teams that could be relocated fairly soon. What about the NHL though? I know that the Coyotes are struggling financially and might relocate soon, but I have no idea how likely that is or if there’s any team beyond that could relocate soon.

Ahem

It's worth noting that the Hornets can legally break their lease if their home attendance average drops below 14,735 over a two year period

Source

2010-2011 attendance: 14,709
2011-2012 attendance: 14,302

So there’s that…

I would much prefer stealing the Hornets than the Kings

NOLA doesn’t have much of a history with that team. Sacramento always had great fan support.

Completely agree.

And it wouldn’t even be stealing in that sense. By which I mean in the “totally shady Bennett-Stern f**k-fest” sense

Sacramento may have supported them for a while

But they were the Rochester Royals, the Cincinnati Royals, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and the Kansas City Kings before moving there.

arbeck77 - February 16, 2012 reply

Yes, and I will be able to rationalize stealing their well-traveled team if that's how it works out

Of course Kansas City is the only other market that needs a team

And it might make sense to give them the kings back.

arbeck77 - February 16, 2012 reply

I don't get a sense here that there is much of a buzz for getting a NBA team (at least among the sports fans I know).

More of a “it would be cool” but certainly no where near the desire in Seattle.

KC Mariner - February 16, 2012 reply

Yes, the Kings should go back to Kansas City. The Hornets should go to OKC and our original Sonics should move back here.

Then again, I think the hapless A’s should move back to Philadelphia and the Dodgers should move back to Brooklyn. Unfortunatley, there are not enough rainbows, unicorns, and lollipops in the world to make all that happen.

sofa_king - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

Money could.

EequalsMc2 - February 16, 2012 reply

I feel the opposite.

The Kings are definitely moving while the Hornets still might stay. We’d be stealing the Hornets, but with the Kings we’d just be opening our home to a transient. An act of charity, not theft!

Mothy - February 16, 2012 via Android app reply

Plus the Kings are a better team...

Not much better, but better. The Hornets are pathetic right now…

Jamison.M - February 16, 2012 reply

The Hornets are pathetic mainly because Stern has interfered with the GM.

First with the Paul to Lakers trade and then with Eric Gordon’s contract (or lack thereof)

Mariner John - February 16, 2012 reply

That and their terrible drafts as SB noted yesterday.

Mariner John - February 16, 2012 reply

But to get to the top, you really have to suck

Look at the OKC rebuilding, Portland’s rebuilding the Clippers etc. To build a top 5 team, you have to get rid of most of your talent and rebuild through the draft. OKC turned multiple top 5 picks into their core and now they’re the best team in the west. If not for Oden/Roy’s injuries the Blazers would be right there with them. The Clippers drafted Griffin #1 and used other assets to acquire Chris Paul. Sacramento’s current core is better than NOL right now, but their ceiling is very limited. They don’t have a future superstar to build around. Unless they implode and earn a top 4 or 5 pick, their rebuilding will be set back.

mathgeek99 - February 16, 2012 reply

It's harder than that

You have to suck at the time there are talent heavy drafts. If you suck during a year where there are no transcendent players, it doesn’t help you.

arbeck77 - February 17, 2012 reply

Mayor McGinn on 710 ESPN Seattle now

Streaming link

Linky

Fuck.

Linky 2.0

I thought this was interesting

@MattPitman

This is the big one: Proposal contingent on securing both NBA – AND – NHL team. BOTH required to play @ Key Arena until new arena is built.

I think it was Matthew that mentioned in the podcast on it that it would be hard to get excited about it right away, and even if teams were to come they would be a while away until the arena was done (Sorry if I’ve poorly paraphrased). What I like about this is that it means if it happens, Seattle is going to have teams pretty quick, even when the arena isn’t done. But it also makes me wonder if the NBA or NHL would be ok with moving a team to Key Arena, even knowing that the new arena was on its way.

SeaKoala - February 16, 2012 reply

NBA already said it was fine with it

I hadn't seen that. Halfway there (or something).

SeaKoala - February 16, 2012 reply

I thought I saw something that said Stern has already approved of Key Arena as a transfer facility.

It’s such an awful hockey building though.

That's interesting about securing both teams

I hadn’t heard that, and in fact all the radio I was listening to said pretty much the opposite

McGinn just said that was the expectation both the invesotrs and the city had, going in.

msb - February 16, 2012 reply

Ah, I had just switched off the broadcast what with being at work and all

http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/media/PDF/120216PR-FAQ.pdf

If it is the Kings that come here Key Arena is newer than Arco.

Alex Kelly - February 16, 2012 reply

Here's a really good Q&A that the city has posted online.

What jumped out at me was the last part

“Mr. Hansen has agreed to fund a study to look at both short and long term challenges and opportunities with the Key.” That guy is truly committed to all aspects of this project.

Interesting

Q. How will traffic and crowds be managed on days where arena events overlap with events at the baseball or football stadiums?
A. The potential overlap of events is a situation best handled by agreements between the teams that manage the stadiums and arena. These teams have every incentive to cooperate and avoid unnecessarily competition. Team agreements are already in place between the Seahawks, Sounders and Mariners, and are working successfully in cities across the country.

Reads like the city would be hands off

I like how they pointed out that Century Link brings in 70,000 every Sunday.

This would be the smallest capacity venue out of the 3 in the area.

Full Arena plus normal M's game is less than a 'Hawks game

Or Sounders + Arena.

The problem is that Hawk’s games are only on Sunday when there is otherwise little traffic.

CMC_Stags - February 16, 2012 reply

This is, in my mind, the most overstated concern about this whole thing.

It will take people approximately five minutes to adjust to additional traffic, and the volume created outside of the immediate area will be negligible in any case.

Holy shit

this is really going to happen, isn’t it?

I think the NHL is the biggest hurdle

If the NBA comes, they can't resist.

A Seattle-Vancouver rivalry is also very appealing.

EequalsMc2 - February 16, 2012 reply

Never count out the idiocy of Gary Bettman

Hiring Shanahan to do the post-suspension analysis was genius.

The suspensions are explained, and you even get background. Every other sport should be doing this, as well.

Don't be so sure

As much as I’d like an NHL team in Seattle we’re probably only 4th (or thereabouts) on Bettman’s preferred destination list. They would rather a situation where the NHL is not competing with the NBA for corporate dollars in a new US market. Southern Ontario could take 3 new franchises and sell every season ticket in under a week. Quebec is going to make a strong, strong bid for any team that shakes loose, pointing at Winnipeg’s success all the way. Playing in Key Arena for any length of time would be really difficult, the NHL is still driven by ticket sales and the NHL would look very hard at the finances of any group who would be bleeding that much money over an extended period.

That said there would be an instant influx of hockey fans from BC who can’t get into Canucks games (I think the waiting list for season tickets is over 10 years now). Tthe Sabres in Buffalo survive with the help of Leafs fans traveling down from Toronto, maybe a Seattle team survives the same way. (No, it won’t be a rivalry if the passion only flow one way – whatever Canucks fans feel for the new team would just be a mild dislike compared to their feelings on the Flames and Oilers).

deflated - February 17, 2012 reply

There is no way I think Southern Ontario could handle three new teams.

One, yes. But even two would be pushing it in terms of carving out from a populace that already has a nearby rooting interest.

Matthew - February 17, 2012 reply

They'll have some competition with Quebec to get the Coyotes I believe.

Or buyers that want to keep them in Glendale. Not sure what other NHL team they could get.

Luisam - February 16, 2012 reply

My understanding is that Betteman wants to keep the team in the US, after moving the Thrashers to Winnipeg.

Alex Kelly - February 16, 2012 reply

: )

Patrick Stites - February 16, 2012 reply

So what color scheme do we use if we manage to actually get the Sonics back?

Classic green and yellow? The more modern brick red variants? Something new and use those two as throwbacks?
…
I need to stop thinking about this to mitigate the crushing possibility of this not working out!

RLfreckles - February 16, 2012 reply

Green and yellow is the most recent color scheme.

.

Patrick Stites - February 16, 2012 reply

I liked those jerseys best, but even if they went back to the recent ones, I think that'd be alright.

Whatever they do, it would be a travesty not to include the green and gold.

If Oklahoma and the NBA decide to be douchebags

and keep the Sonics name then I’d like to see the team switch to another Boeing concept that never made it into mass production: The Seattle JetFoils!

They’re like a hydroplane and an aeroplane all wrapped in one dorky package! And I think my Dad worked on this thing in the 70’s.

short - February 16, 2012 reply

Spottted Owls!

hairofthedawg - February 17, 2012 reply

McGinn: "I don't feel that Chris Hansen would be proceeding if he didn't have a pathway to acquiring an NBA & NHL team."

Which makes sense.

Otherwise this is a lot of work for nothing

McGinn: "I feel that water is wet."

Cougriculture - February 16, 2012 reply

Hey now, that's a bold statement for Seattle

There might be a more suitable word to use other than wet. Could that offend someone?

“You’re all wet” used to be a popular slang term. I don’t know if we want to be associated with that. Maybe use damp instead? Let’s meet and discuss this in a non-binding manner

I just think it's obvious that

none of the players involved would be addressing any of this if it weren’t pretty close to a done deal behind the scenes.

That makes me think it’ll probably be the Hornets along with the Coyotes. I think Hansen already has his ducks fully in a row.

Cougriculture - February 16, 2012 reply

Oh, oops

I didn’t see what you were doing there.

Cougriculture - February 16, 2012 reply

Anything about bike lanes to get to the new arena?

dfa - February 16, 2012 reply

My only disappointment is that it's not going to be built on Harbor Island

If it's liquefaction you're anticipating, no worries

The Big One will return the entire SODO area back into the bay.

phiat - February 16, 2012 reply

I'm excited

….

beastwarking - February 16, 2012 reply

This-Is-Awe-Some!

Clap-Clap-ClapClapClap!

Omerta - February 16, 2012 reply

Took a minute. Rec'd

tsunamijesus - February 17, 2012 reply

A happy face for possible Seattle basketball and hockey! :)

A sad face for the fans of the teams that are being targeted for relocation. :(

RLfreckles - February 16, 2012 reply

There is no such thing as a Coyote fan.

wetzelcoal - February 16, 2012 reply

By my math

Wouldn’t this bring close to 100 additional distinct sporting days to the area? NBA reg season is 41 home games, NHL reg season is 41 home games, plus pre/post seasons, and then WNBA on top of it all if they moved as well.

seattlecougar - February 16, 2012 reply

NBA and NHL season overlap with MLB, MLS and NFL

GasolineSnuggie - February 17, 2012 reply

Seems like their seasons are 11.6 months long.

Paul AB - February 17, 2012 reply

Someone somewhere said it would increase the distinct amount of sporting days from about 100 to about 150

I forgot who said it, but it’s correct. WNBA? Hahahahaha.

Are you for real?

Matthew - February 17, 2012 reply

I imagine when he discovers it, he'll attribute it to Jeff.

MT Olson - February 17, 2012 reply

I was doing it before it was cool

OlSalty - February 17, 2012 reply

I guess this means that I trust what you say and assume it to be fact, but I don't care enough to remember that you said it.

What a dangerous road to go down.

GasolineSnuggie - February 17, 2012 reply

I'd also add Huskies Football and Basketball to that list,

or in your case Cougar Football and Basketball (since the Pac 12 Network will be up and running soon). Keep in mind, that once the Pac 12 network starts up, we’ll be seeing basketball games spread out throughout the week, and more Thursday and Friday night football games. I’m not sure how much they’ll overlap though.

Mind of no mind - February 17, 2012 reply

Can we petition the Vatican to beatify Chris Hansen now?

[NO RELIGION!]

harkening - February 16, 2012 reply

I say canonize Hansen and do the following to Clay Bennett and Howard Stern:

Note: I wanted to use an image from a Simpson’s episode where Homer took canonization too seriously and stuck Ned in one. Instead, I just found poorly drawn Simpson’s porn

beastwarking - February 16, 2012 reply

Christopher Hansen's letter to the Mayor and County Executive

This phase has been undertaken without any assurances from the NBA or the NHL of returning to or placing a team in our proposed complex. … It is our hope that this will proceed at a pace that will allow us to make a formal offer to the NBA at the league’s April ownership meeting, with the goal of returning a professional basketball franchise to this area in the near future.

If Seattle poached the Islanders, the bond would be 1/3 of the way to being paid off by the time Rick DiPietro's contract was up.

Robert - February 16, 2012 reply

The only thing I would be upset at is if the SB Nation sites for these teams took our Sexy People.

Mayo - February 16, 2012 reply

Hahahahahahaha

Honest question: What's so wrong with Key Arena?

twelveoutof10 - February 16, 2012 reply

Simple answer.

Too small for hockey.
Out of date.
Not enough luxury boxes.
Terrible access location.
Now 21 years old, looks like a life-long heroine and meth addict, with a smoking habit.

It's actually 50 years old

Yeah... Kinda...

But in 1991 it got a remodel so heavy that even Joan Rivers couldn’t keep up. It was pretty much brand new then… But fair enough.

The bigger thing re: it's age is the infrastructure surrounding it

True dat.

I also forgot to mention that it looks like a 1970’s bank.

Which seems appropriate, in a way.

Major pro teams can't make money in it

Because it lacks the high-end stuff (true luxury boxes, more parking) etc where teams get much of their in game revenue from. Gate receipts from the plebs (never a huge problem with the Sonics) just cannot keep up with today’s silly out of control spending game

The only thing stopping me from bursting with joy is two words.

Bettman. Stern.

Two evil midgets hell bent on bringing misery to all that get near.

Some quick math

Teams in both the NBA and NHL average 17k fans per game. Figuring a twenty year payoff that means the teams would need to add about eight bucks per fan visit to the price of tickets, parking and concessions just to pay off the bond.

But if we only get one or the other, then that lone team would need sixteen bucks per fan visit. That seems pretty steep. I’d hate to see the team waver on the stipulation we get both teams. It makes the deal much riskier to taxpayers with only one.

short - February 16, 2012 reply

That's not how the bond is proposed to be paid off

And it's the city, not the teams, that pay off the bond

And it's a 30 year bond, not 20

And it's the city/investment group stipulating on getting both teams. The "teams" don't exist yet

s0merand0mdude - February 16, 2012 reply

This is the important point

If the investment group is fully on board with insisting on an NHL team then that’s great. I wouldn’t support the deal with just the NBA with all that debt being placed on the city.

short - February 16, 2012 reply

Matthew, I must be missing something here:

Roughly they’d go from 100 distinct sporting event days per year to about 150.

I’m assuming you got the initial 100 games from 81 baseball games and 10 football games, plus roughly 21 Sounders FC matches – that’s 112 so it’s ballpark.. It’s Seattle so no need to factor in playoffs..

But I’m wondering how you are only adding 50 more days per year based upon us landing both the NBA and NHL? Wouldn’t there be 41 regular season home games for both? Aren’t we really going from like 110 distinct sporting days to roughly 190 distinct sporting days in SoDo?

I’m dull and probably missing something obvious, so take it easy on me if that’s case.

circa81 - February 16, 2012 reply

Overlap

Sounders and Mariners already have quite a few doubleheader days, and probably there would be days when the Seahawks would play in the afternoon and the Sonics/NHL team would play at night. Or the Sounders and Mariners and Sonics/NHL team, potentially. I’m looking forward to a tripleheader at some point. That would be insane. (NOTE: There would never be a tripleheader. No way would the city let that happen)

The triple-header I'd like to see:

At Safeco, Everett in the morning, Tacoma in the afternoon, Mariners in the evening. What a day of baseball!

extavernmouse - February 16, 2012 reply

Thanks, that makes sense.

circa81 - February 16, 2012 reply

Neil deMause of Field of Schemes doesn't completely shit on Hansen's arena proposal (notable)

If Hansen can actually make the numbers pencil out, this could provide a model of how to build a sports facility without tapping the public purse — much, anyway.