Quote:
Originally Posted by TripletDaddy
The luxury suite revenue has been the main issue all along with this team. They operated at Key with an unfavorable lease and no luxury revenue, yet only lost 17MM. Imagine if they had luxury suite revenue rolling in as well as a cheaper lease payment.
Staying in Seattle is fraught with financial risk, not moving to OKC.
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The issue, as you mention, is with the lease to the Key, not the market.
There are two different entities here who have offered FREE land to build a new arena. But the Okie doesn't want to talk, unless he is getting a publicly-financed $500 million dollar arena.
The bad guy in this situation is going to be Starbucks' Howard Schultz. There were members of his ownership group who wanted to buy the team from him or at least veto the sale to the Oilers, but he out maneuvered them. If they leave, he'll never be able to show his face around town again.
At the home opener the fans all started chanting, in unison, "Save our Sonics!" And Bennett left his luxury suit and went and hid. Yes, there are luxury suites already in the Key - like 60 of them.
A side note on the Key, I think it is one of the best places in the league to watch a game. There are a few blind spots but huge majority of the seats are right on top of the action. It's much more intimate than many of the new arenas I've been in.