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View Full Version : Sonics, Oklahoma City reach deal on arena



SoonerKnight
3/14/2008, 11:30 PM
Didn't see this posted.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7913362/Sonics,-Oklahoma-City-reach-deal-on-arena

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Seattle SuperSonics and Oklahoma City have reached a preliminary agreement on a lease at the Ford Center pending NBA approval of the team's relocation.

The 15-year deal calls for the SuperSonics to pay the city $1.6 million annually for use of the building and reimburse $409,000 per year to replace revenue from naming rights for the arena currently paid by local Ford car dealerships.
"I'm very pleased with the deal," City Manager Jim Couch said. "I believe that this is the right decision for the city to go forward with this deal. ... We think that this is a very solid deal for the city of Oklahoma City."

Couch said the city had to make some concessions to the SuperSonics that wouldn't have been included in leases with larger cities, but the agreement should be a "break even proposition or a slightly increased cash position" for Oklahoma City. The city projects an annual profit of $149,000 from the lease, but Couch said that number is based on many moving parts.

"We're very comfortable with the deal we struck, considering the size of the market we have in Oklahoma City," Couch said.

SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett agreed to terms of the deal in a letter to Mayor Mick Cornett on Friday. It will be introduced to the City Council on Tuesday and go up for a vote on March 25, the same day commissioner David Stern and members of the NBA relocation committee will visit the Ford Center.

The deal would not become official unless NBA team owners approve the Sonics' relocation in a meeting next month and until the team can escape its lease in Seattle that runs through 2010.

"We believe it is a fair arrangement for all involved and will be viewed favorably by the NBA as another key part of the relocation process," Bennett said in a statement. "We commend the city for its professionalism and look forward to a successful long-term partnership."

The agreement contains an exit clause that would allow the SuperSonics to leave any time after their sixth season in Oklahoma City if there is a significant drop in the team's revenues.

Beginning after public-financed improvements to the Ford Center are completed, the average revenue from the next two seasons would be used to create a benchmark. To break the lease, the Sonics' revenue would have to fall below 85 percent of that benchmark, adjusted for inflation, over the course of two seasons.

The SuperSonics would then have to pay for a portion of the Ford Center improvements and buy the practice facility that would be built by the city.

"That's now becoming a common lease term in the new NBA agreements," Couch said. "That's a term that's in the Charlotte agreement, that's a term that's in the New Orleans agreement, and you're seeing more and more of those."

Bennett said previously that the Sonics would need a "favorable lease" that would allow them to partake in nearly all revenue streams to be competitive with larger markets. The agreement calls for the Sonics to receive all revenue from game days, including sales of tickets, suites, concessions, merchandise and advertising.

"My guess is they wouldn't enter into an agreement that would allow them not to be competitive," Couch said.

City Councilman Gary Marrs sat in on the negotiations to look out for citizens who voted earlier this month to fund renovations to the Ford Center and build an NBA-specific practice facility at a combined cost of $121 million.

He also heard the SuperSonics owners describe that the lease must make Oklahoma City fit the NBA's business model, even without being able to charge as much for sponsorships.

"They weren't going to put a ballclub in a city that didn't prove that the economic model worked on it. That just wouldn't be good for the NBA and it wouldn't be good for the owners," Marrs said.

"I think we did a good job of also telling our side that we had the citizens' best interests to look out for too, and that it not become a big subsidy to a ballclub that was owned by people that a lot of citizens thought were very well off."

Marrs said it was important for the lease to have a steady revenue stream through charging the team $1.6 million per year for rent. The city also retains control of the arena for bringing in other events, and will collect $100,000 annually for rent on the practice facility.

"I think it's important for the citizens to know that the ballclub's not getting a free ride and they're not getting everything free over there, and there is a cost to them," Marrs said.

Couch said a "firm agreement" needed to be in place before the NBA's Board of Governors vote on Bennett's relocation request during an April 17-18 meeting.

Soonerus
3/14/2008, 11:38 PM
That is the next step...I am waiting to try to get the "inside" for season tickets for the NBA next year...

birddog
3/14/2008, 11:49 PM
yeah, i want first crack at really good seats. i've always sat in the nosebleeds at basketball games and well, it just sucks up there. i want to get hit by sweat.

SoonerKnight
3/14/2008, 11:51 PM
It's going to give OKC a chance to get recognized by the rest of the country and bring in some business.

Soonerus
3/14/2008, 11:52 PM
I had great seats with the Hornets, I hope I get as good this time around...

birddog
3/14/2008, 11:55 PM
what did you pay?

Soonerus
3/14/2008, 11:58 PM
what did you pay?

I don't remember but it was more than I ever paid at OU for donor tickets...

Mjcpr
3/15/2008, 12:05 AM
Do you remember how much you paid at OU for donor tickets then....

Soonerus
3/15/2008, 12:06 AM
Do you remember how much you paid at OU for donor tickets then....

No, but I had floor seats for about 5 years...

SoonerKnight
3/15/2008, 01:13 AM
http://www.oklahomasupersonics.com/

SoonerKnight
3/15/2008, 01:13 AM
Check that site out they already have gear for sale.

SoonerKnight
3/15/2008, 01:14 AM
what did you pay?

wrong avatar.................

:D

bringit
3/15/2008, 08:04 AM
Is the logo official? I'm not feelin' it.

ouradu
3/15/2008, 09:19 AM
I wouldn't worry about the logo, I'm not thinking that is an official site.

Jimminy Crimson
3/15/2008, 02:46 PM
Is the logo official? I'm not feelin' it.

Not at all. It might be official for a pre-school t-ball team, but that's about it.

StoopTroup
3/15/2008, 02:51 PM
Will you get a free Supersonic burger with your ticket stub when the Sonics go over 100 pts?

BigRedJed
3/15/2008, 10:13 PM
Someone's going to get sued over that website.

wishbonesooner
3/17/2008, 02:09 PM
If you think you'll pay the same prices you paid to see the Hornets, you're sadly mistaken. We got to pay discount prices because of the emergency relocation. I doubt Clay Bennett will give the same discounts.

BigRedJed
3/17/2008, 03:06 PM
If you think you'll pay the same prices you paid to see the Hornets, you're sadly mistaken. We got to pay discount prices because of the emergency relocation. I doubt Clay Bennett will give the same discounts.
More bad information. People toss out jewels like that with the apparent implication that they will go from an average price of low $30/ticket to $75/ticket or something.

The Hornets weren't even the bottom team in average ticket price in '05-'06, the year they came here, and the next year saw an increase on those prices and still fantastic attendance (top half of the league, even factoring in the pathetic showings in their 6 NOLA games), despite the fact that everyone knew they were leaving.

The Hornets were pretty consistent with their ticket pricing strategy from previous seasons, with a large number of really cheap seats in the bleeders offset by other revenue streams. The OKC owner group has already stated that they would like to pursue a similar strategy.

OKC will always be far below the league average, because the league average is skewed by a small number of teams who charge WAY over the league average. Teams like the Lakers, Knicks, Heat and Mavs can charge pretty much whatever they damn well please, and get it. Considerably more than half of the teams in the league are far below the average, which is currently around $50.

It will be really easy for the OKC team to be in the mid-$30 range over the next few years and still be profitable. One of the main reasons for this is that the building carries no debt. People who were suggesting OKC should pass a bond issue to fund the FC improvements missed a critical component of what makes OKC a viable market: no debt on the host facility. No other city in America has that advantage. We can all but give the building away on game nights, and that's what we will do.

The OKC owners have publicly committed to keeping the tickets low by league standards. They will have to do so to survive in this market, and they know it.

shaun4411
3/17/2008, 03:55 PM
if they keep the name, i bet you sonic gets in on it.

BigRedJed
3/17/2008, 04:17 PM
Chance of the name "Supersonics" ever being associated with an OKC NBA team: < 10%.

Big Red Ron
3/17/2008, 06:18 PM
Chance of the name "Supersonics" ever being associated with an OKC NBA team: < 10%.Chance that we'll "vote" for in some form or fashion the name, "Thunderbirds": > 50%





















;)

Dio
3/17/2008, 09:33 PM
I like Thunderbirds more than Pioneers or Rustlers or any number of hokey wild west names we could get stuck with

shaun4411
3/18/2008, 01:00 PM
damnit, the 89ers.

silverwheels
3/18/2008, 01:06 PM
Thunderbirds just isn't a very sporty name.

redfirecracker
3/20/2008, 09:58 PM
It's going to give OKC a chance to get recognized by the rest of the country and bring in some business.

Sonics argue in federal court (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2004131860_sonics18m.html)that their leaving Seattle would be no economic loss to the city.

Seems like their tune changes depending on whether they are trying to weasel out of a contract (KeyArena) or trying to soak the little guy for millions in taxpayer subsidies.

mynameisjoe
3/20/2008, 10:05 PM
damnit, the 89ers.

I really like this name. Not a cheesy wild west name and a great shoutout to the history of the state.

I'll still be a Mavs fan though :D

boomersooner28
3/20/2008, 11:40 PM
I might tryout for the Sonics if they come to OKC. :P :O

tommieharris91
3/21/2008, 12:07 AM
The Oklahoma City Spurs?

What? Spurs is already taken?

Collier11
3/21/2008, 12:18 AM
I like the Oklahoma City Bison personally

SleestakSooner
3/21/2008, 12:19 AM
How about renaming the team the OKC Rush? Since the 89ers is taken and all.

Condescending Sooner
3/21/2008, 11:15 AM
The F'In Hillbillies.