SEATTLE — In no way did Matt Griffin ever consider owning a professional sports franchise.
With the Seattle SuperSonics seemingly destined for Oklahoma City, Griffin and his big-name partners see no other option than to make a huge financial commitment in an attempt to save the Sonics and pro basketball in Seattle.
“Our interest is not necessarily in being an owner, but seeing a team here in Seattle and seeing KeyArena alive,” Griffin, a Seattle developer, said Thursday. “If there was a way to do it without having to own the team, that would be terrific. But these are the cards, (and) we have some generous people here in Seattle that are willing to do this.”
Making a last-ditch effort to potentially save professional hoops, the city of Seattle unveiled a $300 million KeyArena renovation plan on Thursday, along with the heavy hitters of local business who are willing to provide a significant financial stake.
Griffin and his three partners — Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Costco Wholesale Corp. president and CEO Jim Sinegal and wireless entrepreneur John Stanton — have agreed to contribute $150 million to the arena renovation, contingent on the group’s ability to purchase the SuperSonics or another NBA franchise. Only recently did the group up its offer from about $75 million.
The hope in Thursday’s announcement: having a viable option for professional basketball in Seattle on the table when the NBA Board of Governors meets next month to vote on SuperSonics’ owner Clay Bennett’s application to relocate the franchise to Oklahoma City at the earliest possible date.
“This particular announcement, we think, is a game-changer,” Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said. “The fact that local investors are willing to step up with the first 50 percent of the money to get this job done, as well as the investment they’re going to make in buying a team to begin with, changes the game.”
While private investment would cover half the arena upgrades, the plan envisions that the city and state would split the other $150 million. Half would come from the city of Seattle, offset by lease agreements and taxes on the renovated arena. The other $75 million would come from existing taxes already in place to pay off bonds on the construction of Safeco Field. Those bonds are scheduled to be paid off early, and the KeyArena plan would call for the taxes to remain in place through 2016, when they were set to expire.
The biggest challenge: the Washington state Legislature, which would have to approve a continuation of the taxes.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn next Thursday, and leaders were tepid to the late push for the Sonics cause.
“At this point in time, we’re almost done writing the budget, all cutoffs are all done. It’s just way too late,” House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said Thursday. “It’s just sad that it wasn’t something that they had brought to us early on. Whether we would have done something or not, I don’t know. At least it would’ve given us a chance to think about it.”
But former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, who’s been working for the city on its lawsuit against Bennett in an attempt to hold the team to its lease, which runs through 2010, was emphatic that the state Legislature must act. Gorton said if the proposal is ignored by the state, the NBA Board of Governors’ decision becomes easy, and the local investors’ offer may not be around a year from now when the Legislature has more time to discuss its merits.
“This is an opportunity for right now, this week and next week, not for next year,” Gorton said. “Without an alternative from the city of Seattle, that relocation application is almost certain to be granted. … Unringing that bell next year will be somewhere between very, very difficult and almost impossible. We have a wonderful opportunity we have to take today.”
Bennett has regularly said his team is not for sale, and a spokesman for the Sonics’ owner did not return calls or e-mails Thursday night. Bennett has the support of NBA Commissioner David Stern, who in recent weeks has repeatedly all but declared the NBA dead in Seattle, saying at the All-Star Game in New Orleans, “There is no miracle here.” Stern’s support of Bennett’s proposed move was buoyed this week when the residents of Oklahoma City overwhelmingly approved a $121 million package to upgrade a downtown arena and build an NBA practice facility.
Griffin and his group hope there is one “miracle” left.
“I think having a great city is about having great things like museums, universities, symphonies — and basketball and baseball and football are part of that,” he said.
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