Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City
The SuperSonics' ownership group, led by Howard Schultz, had sought to persuade Washington state government officials to provide $220 million in public funding to update KeyArena.
After those efforts failed, he sold the team to the Professional Basketball Club LLC (PBC), an investment group headed by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett.
The new owners failed to persuade local governments to pay for a new $500 million arena complex, and consequently announced that they intended to move the team to Oklahoma City.
He dropped the suit after the NBA noted that he had signed a binding contract not to sue Bennett's group and argued that his proposal would violate league ownership rules.
In the next five years, the team suffered heavy financial losses due to Schultz's plan to sell, which led him to seek funding from the Washington State Legislature for a newer, more modern arena in the Puget Sound region to replace KeyArena at Seattle Center.
[12] This lack of government financial support for the team, combined with earlier losses under recent ownership groups, "likely doomed the Sonics' future in the city", a local newspaper wrote.
The motion asked the King County Superior Court to reject the arbitration request and enforce the Specific Performance Clause of the Sonics' lease, which required the team to play at KeyArena through 2010.
United States District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez denied the request for arbitration on October 29, saying that the "arguments ignore the clear language of Article II, which states that PBC’s use and occupancy rights with respect to the Premises and the Term of this Agreement shall end on September 30, 2010.”[21] Two days after Bennett's October 31, 2007, deadline passed for public financing of a new arena, he informed NBA commissioner David Stern that the ownership group intended to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City as soon as it was legally possible.
The timing of the announcement, one day after the Sonics' home opener, was criticized by Tom Carr, Seattle's attorney: "Mr. Bennett's announcement today is a transparent attempt to alienate the Seattle fan base and follow through on his plan to move the team to Oklahoma City...Making this move now continues the current ownership's insulting behavior toward the Sonics' dedicated fans and the citizens of the city.
[24] The prospect of expanding KeyArena resurfaced on March 6, 2008, when then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised that his investor group would pay half of the $300 million needed for an extensive renovation if the city and county would provide the rest.
[25] However, when the state legislature did not give approval for the county to provide funds by an April 10 deadline, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said that the effort had failed and the city's hopes rested in its lawsuit.
On June 16, 2008, the group organized a well-publicized rally, which reportedly drew over 3,000 participants, at the U.S. District Courthouse in Seattle to protest the team's proposed move.
On April 28, the trial's presiding judge, Loretta Preska, ruled that the NBA must supply the documents, adding that commissioner Stern could be deposed if the need arose.
[38] The city hoped the documents would help build its legal case, and cited an email conversation among members of the ownership group that suggested they were privately discussing intenions to move the team while publicly insisting that they would not attempt to do so.
Slade Gorton, lead attorney for the city, responded by pointing out that PBC that started the fight that led to the lawsuit when they filed for arbitration to break the lease.
[44] The trial's presiding judge denied the motion by Bennett's group on March 6, noting that the team would have needed to make the request at the scheduling conference.
[45] Attorneys made their closing arguments in the city's case on June 26 and Judge Marsha J. Pechman announced that she would issue her ruling on the following Wednesday.
"[28] Schultz's attorney replied to the letter saying the lease agreement was with PBC, not BCOS, and that the city began improvements on Ford Center at their own risk before the conclusion of the pending litigation.
The league also claimed that Schultz signed a release forbidding him to sue Bennett's ownership group as a condition of the NBA's approval of the original sale.
