Posted on 05/04/2007 3:18:19 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Could the Seattle Sonics be headed for Las Vegas?
Owner Clay Bennett says if he can't get a new arena built in the Seattle area he has to look at moving the team, and Vegas would be an attractive market.
The Oklahoma City businessman made the comments Wednesday at a meeting of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The N-B-A All-Star game was played in Vegas this year and the league is studying the possibility of locating a franchise in the gambling capital.
Bennett has set an October 31st deadline for a new arena deal in the Seattle area. But the Washington Legislature declined to consider a tax proposal to help pay for the 500 (m) million dollar project.
The deal is opposed by House Speaker Frank Chopp who recently told The Seattle Times the Sonics already have a nice place to play at Key Arena. Chopp said there are no potholes in the court and all the players have health care and had the opportunity to go to college.
(Excerpt) Read more at kndo.com ...
the way they underperformed, again, this season isn’t helping their cause.
FYI..go to cnnsi.com....click on “NBA”..you’ll see an article which says that several casino owners don’t want an NBA team..they said that most of their better customers were afraid to go outside during the recent NBA All-Star weekend...
Not able to find it. What was the title of the article?
Gee thanks, Clay. What about your homeys in OKC who made the New Orleans Hornets one of the best attended teams in the league over the last two years? Besides, we already have a brand new arena.
let me know what you think..
They are not moving the team to Vegas. Most of the partners in the Sonics got into it specifically to bring them to OKC. Some of them are also partners in the Colcord hotel, which has extra long beds for basketball players.
That being said, I hope they move to Vegas. Basketball culture sucks, and I wish Oklahomans weren’t so insecure that they think they are somehow better if there is a pro basketball team in the state. Plus, in a few years they will just demand some new stadium, which of course the voters will gladly pay for because having a pro team makes them feel better about themselves.
It’s kind of ironic. Vegas do not want to deal with the kind of crowds that NBA brings to town.
Original projections for the viability of an NBA franchise there projected that the casinos would buy 50-75% of the tickets to give to their guests...I never thought that would happen, because the LAST thing the casino operators want to do is remove the bettors ferom the hotel for several hours each night..it's an interesting perspective...
For that to work, a casnio would have to build a new hotel/stadium complex that will have slot machines and all the tables inside so that way they can bet while they are at the game.
Of course, David Stern will never approve that.
But by 2025 when NBA is more viewed as entertainment rather than a legit game, then why not?
In that situation, it will be profitable for casino to give away 50-75% of tickets to their customers.
bttt
Why don’t they move to Atlanta. The good people of Atlanta would really support an NBA basketball team if they had one. LOL!
The Las Vegas:
Chips
All Ins
Casinos
Strips
51s
Bandits
Dealers
Gamblers
Jackpot
21s
Blackjack
Craps (!)
Roulettes
and my personal favorite, the Las Vegas Pitbosses.
Add your own.
May the good Lord bless Clay Bennett for working so hard to find a new home for the Sonics.
One less team for us Washingtonians to subsidize!
That is funny coming from mobsters
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