I heard Gus Brown is going to be the foreman...
Need to get back on the horse and start pumping out some words for this here Lodge, (thanks to 2.0 for handling the day-to-day running of the Lodge while I put down the razor, let out the water in the bathtub and unplug the toaster)
Not sure how I’m going to approach my Lodge columns in this post-XL sports hangover, but I will tell you it’ll be with a 1/5 of Wild Turkey and a pack of Turkish Royals (copyright HST).
This week has forced my attention away from the fixed world of professional sports and brought me back into the heavily fixed world of politics. (and if anyone was turned off by the last statement go ahead and skip down to Chewie Thursday, because this post isn’t going to get any better) So I’m going to give a go and highlight my political event of the week and hopefully stir up some conversation, and if not I’ll create a new blog and call it “No one gives a damn about your political view”, or more commonly referred to as Ass-Monkey Says What?
This weeks topic is the on-going cluster**k that is known as the Seattle SuperSonics vs. the State of Washington, (maybe a little synergy will draw you back from Chewie). That’s right, the only pro-sports franchise in the city to own an actual championship, (its got gold and everything), is doing the new stadium charade with all the grace of a Train pole dance following mas-Tequila. So for anyone that doesn’t know here’s the take right now:
* Starbuck (no, not the one from Battlestar G.) is looking for $200million Jr-bacon cheeseburgers to “keep” his team inside the always gracious 206
* The $200mil would be used as “upgrades” to the Arena or perhaps used to build a new arena
* the money would come from an extension on to the restaurant/hotel-motel and rental car tax that is already being used to pay for the home of Garlic Fries and Dip N’ Dots in less than 25 steps
* Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va., or Oklahoma City, Anaheim, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif. Have all been called and explained that Reggie Evans likes his steak medium and with A1, don’t F’ this up.
* currently, we’re waiting for Schultzie to figure out what amount to put on the Starbuck cards to send to the House in Olympia, so that everyone understands what a benefit “his” team is to the cultural landscape of Seattle
Ok…so…this is the point were 2.0 says, “Cut the synopsis, if I wanted to know this I would’ve read the article”…ahh precisely
Here are some interested figures:
-Key Arena: constructed 1994 w/ a max capacity of 17,072, currently ranks 29th out of 30 NBA arenas in terms of capacity, only Miami ranks lower
-$234 Million= approximate team value according to Forbes.com (27th in the league out of 30)
-$265 million=cost of the last NBA Arena built, (Charlotte), seats 18,500 and places the Bobcats at #17 on the same Forbes List
-0%-chance that the $200 million price tag will result in the Sonics turning a profit on their yearly operating income
Now looking at the Sonics from the Forbes link, you’ll see that the operating income is costing them 7.8 million a year on a annual revenue of 81 million, this however is not the worst in the league, in fact P-town is losing 31.5 a year, in fact there are another three teams that are gaping more money per year than the Supersonics. So I guess we can take comfort in that.
Now, where do the Supes go from here and more importantly how do they re-market the phrase: "It's beyond me that we're in this position, I think you can maybe chalk it up to maybe naiveté on our part."
The probability of a bill being passed at this point being approved by the good folks of Washington, or more less the Apple Farmer in Wenatchee is about the same as this year's team making the post-season. Does this matter to the bottom line?…hell no, but as with Safeco and Qwest to many big contracts are at stake for the state in order to pass on a venture of this size.
This brings up another question, does the resentment over prolong taxes have a lasting effect on the fan base and in 5 years does anyone remember, me thinks the answer to this is also no. There’s always going to be the percentage of the non-sports population that doesn’t see the benefit to investing much needed tax revenue into a millionaire-owned tax right off, but do those people even matter?
To me the dive the Supes take every year is a two-fold issue, part being with the team and the other with the city and driven primarily by the poor contract that binds the team into debt every season. A new arena or upgrades to the current arena doesn't appear to be the saving grace for the hometown 5 or the city council. Stay tuned for part two of this piece where I break down the cost hike of a tall mocha in direct proportion to Rashard Lewis’s 3pt %.
Not sure how I’m going to approach my Lodge columns in this post-XL sports hangover, but I will tell you it’ll be with a 1/5 of Wild Turkey and a pack of Turkish Royals (copyright HST).
This week has forced my attention away from the fixed world of professional sports and brought me back into the heavily fixed world of politics. (and if anyone was turned off by the last statement go ahead and skip down to Chewie Thursday, because this post isn’t going to get any better) So I’m going to give a go and highlight my political event of the week and hopefully stir up some conversation, and if not I’ll create a new blog and call it “No one gives a damn about your political view”, or more commonly referred to as Ass-Monkey Says What?
This weeks topic is the on-going cluster**k that is known as the Seattle SuperSonics vs. the State of Washington, (maybe a little synergy will draw you back from Chewie). That’s right, the only pro-sports franchise in the city to own an actual championship, (its got gold and everything), is doing the new stadium charade with all the grace of a Train pole dance following mas-Tequila. So for anyone that doesn’t know here’s the take right now:* Starbuck (no, not the one from Battlestar G.) is looking for $200million Jr-bacon cheeseburgers to “keep” his team inside the always gracious 206
* The $200mil would be used as “upgrades” to the Arena or perhaps used to build a new arena
* the money would come from an extension on to the restaurant/hotel-motel and rental car tax that is already being used to pay for the home of Garlic Fries and Dip N’ Dots in less than 25 steps
* Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va., or Oklahoma City, Anaheim, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif. Have all been called and explained that Reggie Evans likes his steak medium and with A1, don’t F’ this up.
* currently, we’re waiting for Schultzie to figure out what amount to put on the Starbuck cards to send to the House in Olympia, so that everyone understands what a benefit “his” team is to the cultural landscape of Seattle
Ok…so…this is the point were 2.0 says, “Cut the synopsis, if I wanted to know this I would’ve read the article”…ahh precisely
Here are some interested figures:
-Key Arena: constructed 1994 w/ a max capacity of 17,072, currently ranks 29th out of 30 NBA arenas in terms of capacity, only Miami ranks lower
-$234 Million= approximate team value according to Forbes.com (27th in the league out of 30)
-$265 million=cost of the last NBA Arena built, (Charlotte), seats 18,500 and places the Bobcats at #17 on the same Forbes List
-0%-chance that the $200 million price tag will result in the Sonics turning a profit on their yearly operating income
Now looking at the Sonics from the Forbes link, you’ll see that the operating income is costing them 7.8 million a year on a annual revenue of 81 million, this however is not the worst in the league, in fact P-town is losing 31.5 a year, in fact there are another three teams that are gaping more money per year than the Supersonics. So I guess we can take comfort in that.Now, where do the Supes go from here and more importantly how do they re-market the phrase: "It's beyond me that we're in this position, I think you can maybe chalk it up to maybe naiveté on our part."
The probability of a bill being passed at this point being approved by the good folks of Washington, or more less the Apple Farmer in Wenatchee is about the same as this year's team making the post-season. Does this matter to the bottom line?…hell no, but as with Safeco and Qwest to many big contracts are at stake for the state in order to pass on a venture of this size.
This brings up another question, does the resentment over prolong taxes have a lasting effect on the fan base and in 5 years does anyone remember, me thinks the answer to this is also no. There’s always going to be the percentage of the non-sports population that doesn’t see the benefit to investing much needed tax revenue into a millionaire-owned tax right off, but do those people even matter?To me the dive the Supes take every year is a two-fold issue, part being with the team and the other with the city and driven primarily by the poor contract that binds the team into debt every season. A new arena or upgrades to the current arena doesn't appear to be the saving grace for the hometown 5 or the city council. Stay tuned for part two of this piece where I break down the cost hike of a tall mocha in direct proportion to Rashard Lewis’s 3pt %.
posted by Jimbo at 4:53 PM
6 Comments:
Ah, way to end it on a good note with the Rashard Lewis comment. He's brought it consistantly and I think is the only good decision that Wally Walker has made in his tenure in the team's front office.
I would have to agree that it does seem far fetched for the city to pony up for another stadium. That being said, I love basketball. I love the SuperSonics. I'm going to the game tonight vs. the freaking Hotlanta Hawks for crap's sake. The lease they currently have at the Key does need to be reworked, but I think you start there, instead of depending on Greg Nichols and the city council to care.
I do think Nichols has done some great things for the city and that's the reason why I voted for him again this past fall. That, and he was the Democratic nominee. I tend to blame the monorail eff-up, Seattle Police scandals, and whatever will happen next on the city council most of the time since Nichols can only drive issues and approve legistlation, whereas the council has direct responsibility, in my eyes... but that's another issue.
My gut tells me that the Sonics are probably leaving. Whether it's Bellevue or Las Vegas or Some other state is the real question.
I remember when the Hawks and the Mariners both went through their Stadium issues I really felt a sense that it was something a lot of people wanted. Lately, I just don't get the feeling that anyone up here cares about the Sonics. The NBA in general has been progressively struggling more and more, and it just seems that the passion for the sport has been fading consistently (just look at the ratings for the championship games every year).
The other thing I've noticed that the Hawks and M's did that the Sonics haven't really done, is that they really made a pitch to the people. The Hawks in particular really tried to sell the idea of a new stadium to the people. All the Sonics seem to do is whine about their lease, which I do agree is shafting them pretty badly. However, all I seem to be hearing is "give me what I want or I'm gonna take my ball and go home".
Good thoughts, TP. I think you have a good pulse of the city. But a lot of the passion for a sports team revolves around the personnel said sports team has. And the Sonics have Ray Allen & Rashard Lewis, but both are quiet, understated guys that don't flash the superstar persona.
The Sonics had a similiar lull in the late 80's and early 90's when the X-Man or the Wheedle were household names. People were somewhat static and uninterested in the Seattle Sonics.
Enter the 1991 Draft... the Seattle SuperSonics select... Gary Payton. 1992 Draft, the Sonics select... Shawn Kemp. We make a brilliant coaching change from K.C. Jones to George Karl and WHA-LA! Success. Winning. Attendance. Buzz. There was a buzz about the Sonics. SportsCenter's popularity was coming into the forefront and people around the nation would tune in to watch the Sonics highlights to see what Payton/Kemp alley-oop or play happened that night. Of course, then Kemp jumped on a white horse and started impregnating half of the city (including the men), and after losing to the Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals, momentum was lost. The city's focus shifted to the Mariners and here we are. Without a true superstar.
I think another factor into all this is the fan's experience...this is not similar to the Hawks and M's because I think on a whole (sans Queen Anne and the parking) the Sonic experience is a relatively good one in that the majority of seats have a good sightline to the court, the venue is presentable and relatively clean, concessions are decent....I don't believe the M's or Hawks had a venue or situation that was anything close to this when they held their hands out...
That being said the common fan is not going to see any improvements to their seat with the renovation in fact I would say the 300 seat fan would get screwed by the $200 million not just from a tax point of view, but from seating and sightlines in favor of bigger and more luxurious boxes at the 200 level...
I just don't see a renevation fixing the problem of the lease...its comparable to stopping terrorists by mounting an occupation of a country...A+D does not equal C...
I'm all in favor of the Bellevue idea, since I don't live there and would like the openess of Queen Anne during the evening, and you keep the team here so 2.0 can get his Miki Moore fix every other week...
To quote Jules:
"Personality goes a long way"
It's amazing how having poster children for your team can go a long way.
The Mariners are probably the perfect example of that. Even through crappy years, the fact that guys like Edgar, Griffey, Randy Johnson, Ichiro, etc were around really boosted the team's exposure to the city. Even people who don't follow sports can usually name a couple of current Mariners or Seahawks. Could they do the same with the Sonics? I kind of doubt it.
That's actually a great point Jimbo. Joe Average's fan experience at a game really won't change at a renovated key arena. Where as Safeco and Qwest offer up an experience that the Kingdome could never even come close to.
I think you may have hit the nail on the head for why there's such a luke warm response from the public.
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