@@WDI2008 I wish it was the same way in Washington, DC. How soon they forget, 1971, they were crying and weeping about how Bob Short moved their team to Texas, but in 2005 they laughed with glee over having Expos move to the Nation's Capital.
I'm a die hard Sonics fan. I don't want the Kings. I want the NBA to give us an expansion team. Stern is a hypocrit, and Bennett is a liar. They highjacked the Sonics, a team that was in Seattle for 41 years. All cheer for the Oklhoma City Thunder. 1979 NBA World Champions.
@@nbalivefire8837 how slow are you? you had a shady businessman buy a franchise & committed fraud, lied and then moved the team with no regard. in that scenario you guys do not deserve a franchise unless it is expansion
Seattle was #1 in NBA attendance every year from 1978-82. Seattle was in the top 10 every year from 1967-78. 1979-80 season: Set NBA record for avg attendance of 21,725 fans per game. Set NBA records for single-game attendance in 1978 (39,457 fans) & 1980 (40,172 fans). The Coliseum/KeyArena was at >90% capacity every year from 1992-2007 (when Clay Bennett bought the team). The factors that led to lower attendance in later years are clearly explained in our documentary. Sonics fans rock.
Sacramento has great fans and deserves a team. Seattle deserves a team. Here we are... the league and owners decide these things, not attempts to undermine one of two great fan bases.
As a Seattlelite, I don't want to rob a city of a loved team. I was crushed and pissed when the Sonics left and I don't want anyone else to feel the same way. On the other hand, I am freakin' excited at the prospect of getting a team in the near future. If the Sonics don't come back via Sacramento may they come back from another city that is more ready to say goodbye.
As to where I got the numbers...Basketball-reference tells you home attendance for each team. Look at the Kings attendance since they moved to Sac. Divide total attendance by 41 games. Note how often it comes out to a whole number, not a decimal. Note how many times it comes out to the same number year after year. Arco's capacity over the years: 10,333 from 1986-88; 16,517 in 1989, 17,014 from 1990-92; 17,317 from 1993-present. When you do the math, those numbers come up a total of 19 times.
You might want to check that again. The Kings have sold out 19 of 28 seasons in Sacramento, but all of those sold out years were before the Sonics moved to OKC. So that means the Kings had 100 percent capacity for 19 of the 23 seasons that they and the Sonics both existed at the same time.
Some notes and perceptions on this issue: 1) Mayor of Sacramento doesn't even use a background of his own city. He has SF and the Golden Gate Bridge behind him. That's not Sacramento Mr. Mayor. That speaks volumes to your city and it's commitment to the Kings. 2) Chris Daniels has show his expertise through this entire process, reporting pure facts, and inspiring out city [Seattle] through this process.
It's actually quite clear. The Kings have been in Sac for 28 seasons. For 23 of them, the Sonics also existed. Of those 23 yrs with teams in both Sac and Seattle, the Kings sold out every game 19 times. The Kings had better attendance during the time that there were teams in both cities.
Most people fail to recognize what the scenario is. Its not as if ownership groups from Sacramento and seattle are bidding for an expansion team at an auction. The two ownership groups are bidding on the Kings and the Kings are ALREADY IN SACRAMENTO. With two wealthy ownership groups that each have an arena deal that are bidding on the team ( assuming both groups have an arena deal by the BOG meeting), Seattle doesnt have the leverage to uproot the Kings.
Basketball isn't just the NBA, and we weren't willing to support our owners who asked for expensive new stadiums without creating a functioning team. Bennett purposely ran the team into the ground and asked the public to pay hundreds of millions to pay for a stadium. Seattle also has a huge cult following for the sonics even after they left, you can still buy sonics gear at every sports shop and they sell out fast.
We aren't stealing a team...we are BUYING it...and we have been upfront about relocating the whole way. I don't want to see the kings leave either but we aren't about to say we don't want the team. We would rather expand and keep the kings there but thats not gonna happen.
If you'll look again, you'll see that the conversation isn't about championships, it's about fan support. Some people seem to be implying that the Kings should have moved because Seattle would care more about the team than Sacramento does. I'm saying that's not true. The championship discussion is another thing.
we averaged 16.5k the 04-05 season, the last playoff season we had. keep in mind half the league averages 16k or less. so your justification for Seattle not having NBA fans is that we had 16k as opposed to Sacramento 17k?
You're right, Shane. Ron Burkle never tried to buy the team, the NBA/Sac/AEG never pitched in money for a new arena plan, and Kevin Johnson is just sitting on his thumbs. Clearly going trough what Seattle went through will be great for a city that has more sell outs than the Hawks, Hornets, Wizards and Sonics combined.
I believe that KJ will not let the Kings slip. Me, you and that Tommy Xiong guy are the only die hard kings fan here so lets no get negative and lets pray and hope.
You couldn't be more right, Mr. Hmongboi! Scaring the Seattle fans is #1 on his priority list. Yes, guys who are "all talk" don't block sales to Anaheim and aren't granted private meetings with Stern!
Re: Item 1 For what it's worth, no need to over analyze. Mayor Johnson was at ESPN's San Francisco studio/bureau. I don't believe there is an ESPN bureau/office in Sacramento.
Actually, it does matter how big Seattle is. Seattle has a metropolitan population of about 3 Million. Sacramento - compares to Spokane, which doesn't even par up to Seattle. With our soon to be constructed arena, we would likely bring in MUCH more revenue than you guys get with the LOWEST attendance average in the NBA. Think we don't have the fans to do it? Well we happen to sell out SOCCER matched with 40,000+ attendance. If soccer does that, then the NBA will certainly do so in Seattle.
That is true. Actually, our women's team is the Seattle Storm. I get what you are saying though, The Sounders win silverware. The Seahawks won 11 games and made a deep playoff run. Mariners won a record 116 games in 2001 and went to the ALCS before losing a close series. When we had the Sonics we even won a championship(1978-79). Sacramento is a model franchise...tell me this: Why can't the league step in and let the Kings stay, and give Seattle an expansion franchise? Option C.
People in Seattle dont hate OKC. We hat Bennett for moving the team and we hate Stern for letting him do it. And Howard Schultz for selling the team in the first place. those 3 are the only people we hate.
I don't think that Sacramento deserves to lose their team. I really want a team here in Seattle, but I don't want the Kings to be moved because Sacramento wouldn't have anything. The Clippers should be the team to get relocated here if anything, because every Clipper fan except for like 10 people are all BANDWAGONS. Every one of those Clipper fans in LA were all Lakers fans. Send Clippers to Seattle!!
You called Sac fans "selfish" despite the Kings being the only professional sports team within two hours of a city with 2.6 million people. Yet Seattle isn't selfish with their three professional sports teams ALL in the same city? Interesting logic.
Dude Sacramento doesn't have a city a little more than a ONE HOUR drive from them (sacramento to san fransisco), they need a lot of pro sports teams or they have to get on a freaking plane to go watch some basketball.
that would be cool, i read someones comment on youtube, and he said that the clippers and lakers should form 1 team and the other should go to seattle.That would be a better idea then having the kings move.
HyperTubeGames is one fan, he/she does not represent Sacramento or their fans. FYI, the non-refundable payment has NOTHING to do with the NBA. It's just so the Maloofs can't back out. It's up to the BOG, no one else. You can say Seattle has a bigger market, you can say Sacramento has a monopoly on basketball. There are many factors, but the non-refundable payment isn't one of them. We'll see what happens.
yeah isnt it sad that a few guys from Seattle cared more about the kings than Kevin Johnson your mayor. KJ only came onto the scene recently. Where was he 3 or 4 years ago. You should be grateful that Stern is giving your city a fair shot at keeping the team. im sure you remember what he did to Seattle
More power to all things KJ & Kings fans are doing to try save their team. But saying "Seattle only sold out 4 seasons" is a completely bunk stat. From 1979-86 the Sonics played in the Kingdome, which seats over 40K people. Seattle set multiple league attendance records during this time and were #1 in NBA attendance from 78-82, but these weren't technically "sellouts." Ya dig? It's a distorted stat & not accurate the way you're using it. Both Sonics fans and Kings fans are outstanding.
You're using the metro populations for Seattle and Spokane, but just the city population for Sacramento. Populations - city (metro): Seattle = 620,000 (3.5 mil metro); Sac = 477,000 (2.6 mil metro); Spokane = 210,000 (473,000 metro). Sac is 5.5 times the size of Spokane. And there's this attendance figure - the Sac. Kings and Seattle Sonics existed together for 23 years, and the Kings had better attendance for 20 of those years. 20 of 23. With the Maloofs gone, the fans will be back. Book it.
Wrong...Seattle is and has always been an basketball first town... whats your basis for saying we don't deserve a team anyways? Seattle didn't lose the team because of the fans they lost it because of corrupt management.
Sacramento got a team because KC and Omaha couldn't sell more than 4,000 fans for a game - that's why they split the market. I can tell you from being on both sides of the spectrum, the notion that "fans have absolutely nothing to do with it" is dead wrong. Carmichael Dave, Crown Downtown, all the sell outs were used in the Sacramento pitch to the relocation committee. The Sac fans were a huge reason why Sac was able to keep their team.
Guy our KINGS have an arena plan that will be released on March 21 and guess what we are keeping our kings. We have had better attendance when Seattle and Sacramento both had NBA teams, now it is up to BoG
I LOVE it when SEA fans call something! So many of them "called it" that the Kings were moving. And guess what happened? It's pretty much a sure thing that when SEA calls something, usually just the opposite happens.
Yo, this is really the last chance to get the NBA back in Seattle, don't let this relocation issue make you feel bad, and also I like to say, "Feeling bad for Sacramento" means that you think we have the team already, if we lose this fight, what is there to feel bad then?
The problem is the real push to save the team has been this year! Seattle has been prepping for over 2 years for this. The safe net is to move, this KJ talk can be just rhetoric. He means what he says but the facts are nothing has happened except for recently this year!
@Bugbunny321 @Bugbunny321 to scare Sacramento into paying more? But the the Sacramento proposal to keep the team is lower then the amount the seatttle group agreed to buy the team for.
Sonics fans need to listen alright, Sacramento is the only hope for a team, everyone keeps insisting a "Expansion Team" but that's not going to happen, David Stern has said it many times the NBA will not expand in the U.S. as for the time being, the next expansion that is probably going to occur will be in the 2020's and it'll be Europe. So this is our only shot at having a team in Seattle, I know it's not the right way, but it's the only way.
The Kings are gone, there just waiting for the paper work to go thru. Seattle has 2 Billionaire's who want the team, and are willing to overpay by a large amount if they have to. Sacramento basically has a bunch of minority owners.
KJ can put a positive spin on this for only so long. The fact is that the announcement of these investors has been repeatedly pushed back and must happen very soon for Sac-Town to have any shot at this. That being said, the Sonics would probably still be here if we had a mayor like KJ at the time. A mayor who actually realizes the value of a pro-sports franchise to a city and a mayor who didn't sell-out the city for next to nothing.
back in 2010 playoffs in the lakers-thunder series, jason reid and other seattle supersonics fans went to okc for their first playoff home game wearing sonics jersey and bringing in cowbell. they sat behind the okc bench and rang the cowbell to support the kings to stay in sac. to jason reid and other supersonics fans that supported us two years ago, can u guys spell hypocrite?
Naive. Lol look, Kings fans can think of themselves however they want; but they're certainly are NOT an inaugural or "legacy" market. Sacramento got a team because Kemper Arena blew down; That's how cities get teams; they're bought and sold. The fans have absolutely nothing to do with it. So being as this was the closest Seattle's got, maybe ever, to getting the NBA back? I don't blame them at all. 1967 was a long time ago; that support spans generations. It's as real as any King's legacy.
I remember the feeling 5 years ago. It will take a while before you accept what is going to happen. I hope they end up granting you expansion in a few years. Kevin Johnson is just bettering his political career on the backs of the taxpayers of Sac. They dont have a binding backup agreement, no cash down, they dont own any of the arena land. Hansen and Balmer are years ahead of KJ and the minnows.
I know both cities will get a nba team but not our team. I'm not religious but I believe God will not let this team slip because it is going to hit Sac hard so lets just hope,pray and have faith that kings wont move.
in an arena that seats barely 17k. We had the smallest arena in the league. and my math might be wrong but I think 15k beats 13k. Ill note that we had 30k come to the tacoma dome when i was a kid to watch the games. quit whining, be grateful the league is giving your city a shot at finding investors.
The number of teams that have moved across all sports throughout history is uncountable. The Seattle whining is almost unparalleled. The only thing I can think of that compares to it is maybe the Browns moving to Baltimore. Get over it man you guys tax the hell out of your citizens but didn't want to build a new arena. It is what it is. Maybe you should have done it if that's what was important to you. If you think that's bad governance or unfair business on the NBA's part and you wanted to draw a line in the sad fine but that was your choice as constituents. You're the ones that voted them in! I understand being sad the team is gone but my god take some responsibility and stop crying all the time.
These people are so selfish there are FOUR TEAMS in California, you really cant drive a few hours or even less to watch a game? A lot of other people have to go out of state to watch an NBA game.
Thank You Chris Hansen! I cannot wait to have my beloved SuperSonics back in Seattle! I the sport of basketball and the Sonics were a big part of my childhood and this is something our community has missed.
Do some more research because your wrong. And the Mariners are terrible, but they haven't brought baseball to Sacramento for an obvious reason. But in addition, we happen to sell out soccer matches with attendance over 40,000.
We knew the team was leaving the last season so obviously attendance dipped, not to mention the recession. whereas your precious kings have been at 13k the last 6 years. No need to insult my intelligence kid.
