Oklahoma City investors purchase NBA, WNBA Seattle franchises

Beaner

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Mar 19, 2006
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...and this is why I say that former Sonics owner Barry Ackerly should be getting his nuts roasted in the media right now. He purposely built Key Arena in this manner so that an NHL Franchise wouldn't take money away from the Sonics.

I'll also go out on a limb and say that if the T-birds move to Kent they will fold or move out of state within two to four years. There hasn't been a successful hockey franchise south of Seattle...ever. That and Kenton (Kent-Renton) has the worst freeway system in the State.


Agree fully about Ackerly.

Not too sure if it would spell the end of the T-Brids if they moved to Kent. The previous T-Birds owner, Bill Tuill, got out of the Seattle Team, won the expansion bid into Everett and it is one of the more successful teams attendance wise and on the ice as well, in the entire league. They have a very nice 6500+ rink in Everett, which is brand new.

If it can be done successfully just north of Seattle, I see no reason why it couldn't succeed just south of Seattle, in a community that WANTS a team, and is willing to put up the $$ to get a team.

Anyway you slice it though, the T-birds cannot survive in the Key arena for much longer.
 

mooseOAK*

Guest
Good, maybe the NHL can fill the void in Seattle and finally have a presence in the American North West and a close rival for the Canucks

The problem with that is that the Seattle is considered part of the Canucks' territory and a new franchise there would have to pay rights fees, on top of the arena issue.
 

VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,130
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I don't think so either.

I'm from the Vancouver area and let me tell you there is almost ZILCH crossborder rivalry or overlap of markets. I'm constantly amazed at the gulf that separates two close cities. Is there a forcefield? It seems so sometimes. I know exactly seven NHL hockey fans in Seattle and exactly NONE of them say the Canucks are their favs. Philly, Detroit, San Jose, even Colorado. But that's just my personal experience.

How was it with the NBA when the Vancouver Grizzlies wanted to open across the border from the Supersonics? Was that an issue of infringing on a market? I don't follow that sport at all so I dunno.

As for baseball, I do know many Mariners fans in B.C., but that could be because we see the games on t.v. and get tour buses to the games (do Washington State residents have regular t.v. access to the Canucks? do they take tour buses up to see games?).
 

blackhawksmaniac

Registered User
Jun 4, 2006
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South Bend, IN
Perhaps they'll get the Hornets? Although, there's still a Vegas NBA interest as well - apparently, they were negotiating with the Sacramento Kings before the Kings recent arena deal.

I've always thought KC and Houston would be first in line for NHL teams (relocation or expansion). Could still be true at some point, but I don't see anything happening for a couple of years at least.

I belive the Hornets have plans to stay in NO for good, they hope to reutrn by the 2007-08 season. But the new Sprint Center needs a tenant though. And can someone tell me about the Kingfs arena problems right now?
 

Dolemite

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I know exactly seven NHL hockey fans in Seattle and exactly NONE of them say the Canucks are their favs. Philly, Detroit, San Jose, even Colorado. But that's just my personal experience.

Call the Canucks, you'd be suprised how many Seattle/Washington residents have ticket packages.


(do Washington State residents have regular t.v. access to the Canucks? do they take tour buses up to see games?).

Seattle residents can get 'Hockey Night in Toronto' on CBC on basic Cable and NHL Center Ice. Other than that it's OLN/NBC.
 

Dolemite

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The problem with that is that the Seattle is considered part of the Canucks' territory and a new franchise there would have to pay rights fees, on top of the arena issue.

That is not true. Seattle is in the Avs territory. Don't ask me why. The Canucks Territory is BC and I think the Yukon (don't quote me on that one).

I checked this out when I was looking into why I couldn't get PPV games in Seattle.

The NHL needs to fix the territory rules where they don't work...like in Seattle.
 

mooseOAK*

Guest
I don't think so.

Besdies, the Canucks get minimal revenue from south of the border so it would not matter anyways.

I'm sure the team would love a close rival.

I heard that the Canucks have Seattle as part of their territory a long time ago. Seattle is only 110 miles away and the outlying districts of both cities where the bulk of the population is are even closer.
 

mooseOAK*

Guest
That is not true. Seattle is in the Avs territory. Don't ask me why. The Canucks Territory is BC and I think the Yukon (don't quote me on that one).

I checked this out when I was looking into why I couldn't get PPV games in Seattle.

The NHL needs to fix the territory rules where they don't work...like in Seattle.

I think that the games you can get on TV are governed more by the FCC and CRTC cross border broadcast restrictions than NHL policies.
 

TheDanceOfMaternity

Registered User
Jul 13, 2006
6,710
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San Francisco, CA
That is not true. Seattle is in the Avs territory. Don't ask me why. The Canucks Territory is BC and I think the Yukon (don't quote me on that one).


Aw man. Way to go Vancouver for screwing Yellowknife out of an NHL team:sarcasm:

I don't really get what points people are trying to get across in this thread. I've been to key arena a few times when I visit my family in Seattle every year. It's maybe about 1/3rd the size of the San Jose arena in square ft; kinda looks like one of those oversized church/community centers where the roof nearly goes to the ground (you can climb it too:biglaugh:!). Seattle has more hockey/snow/canadaesque culture than any city on the west coast, hands down, and there aren't any canucks fans im my family filled with people who have lived there for 70 years.

And it's a damn shame if the sonics are relocating, but anyways Key arena is too small to enlarge the floor to be the size of a hockey rink and keep a standard amount of seats available. Heck, I'm sure it's one of the smaller Basketball arenas too; you could fit it inside the Oakland arena:dunce:

But hey, if you want the Seattle NHL team to play in that skating rink across the street next to the space needle I'm all for it.:D Not to mention the Sonics used to play some games in the Kingdome every now and then, but that building is no longer with us.:D
 

Ted Hoffman

The other Rick Zombo
Dec 15, 2002
28,855
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I remember seeing something about the lease on Key Arena specifically prohibiting any other major professional teams from playing there. If that's correct, then any NHL team headed for Seattle would have to find another home.

ADD: I've also seen reports that the arena isn't suitable for NHL hockey anyway as the sight lines are just incredibly bad for some of the arena (think hockey at America West, except that it's over multiple sections).

So if Seattle wanted an NHL team, there would have to be a new arena built before a team could relocate.
 
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OG6ix

Registered User
Apr 11, 2006
4,453
1,350
Toronto
People in seattle don't want an NHL team. Right after this sonics thing happend they had one of those "Call in if you think seattle should go for an NHL team."

Let me just spare the comments because those hardcore hockey fans in here will get offended. It wasn't like it was just a few people, 98% of the people who called when I was listening for the 2 hours were openly against it.

Next subject...
 

Jazz

Registered User
People in seattle don't want an NHL team. Right after this sonics thing happend they had one of those "Call in if you think seattle should go for an NHL team."

Let me just spare the comments because those hardcore hockey fans in here will get offended. It wasn't like it was just a few people, 98% of the people who called when I was listening for the 2 hours were openly against it.

Next subject...
I'd like to hear a sample or two....
 

OG6ix

Registered User
Apr 11, 2006
4,453
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Toronto
I'd like to hear a sample or two....

- It's not even a Major Sport
- If we have to build an arena for hockey after letting the sonics go it would be a step down for seattle, it would be like going from prime rib to a cheese berger at mcdonalds.
 

Bobby Orr

Guest
People in seattle don't want an NHL team. Right after this sonics thing happend they had one of those "Call in if you think seattle should go for an NHL team."

Let me just spare the comments because those hardcore hockey fans in here will get offended. It wasn't like it was just a few people, 98% of the people who called when I was listening for the 2 hours were openly against it.

Next subject...

If you took a poll in most US cities, you'd probably get the same results. I think it was an average of 3.5 million people that watched the Finals this year. That's about 1.2% of the population. Seattle is ahead of the curve at 2%. :biglaugh:
 

Resolute

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Mar 4, 2005
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ADD: I've also seen reports that the arena isn't suitable for NHL hockey anyway as the sight lines are just incredibly bad for some of the arena (think hockey at America West, except that it's over multiple sections).

So if Seattle wanted an NHL team, there would have to be a new arena built before a team could relocate.

Not sure if it has been mentioned in the thread yeat, but this is the Thunderbirds seating layout. I strongly doubt that the T-birds leave so much dead space in the lower bowl by choice.

[IMAGE]http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/images/tickets/seatingchart_2005_small.jpg[/IMAGE]
 

Dolemite

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Not sure if it has been mentioned in the thread yeat, but this is the Thunderbirds seating layout. I strongly doubt that the T-birds leave so much dead space in the lower bowl by choice.

[IMAGE]http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/images/tickets/seatingchart_2005_small.jpg[/IMAGE]



That's what I mean when I say that Key Arena was re-desgned into a Basketball only arena. This seating caps out at 14K.
 

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