Sonics won't survive in Oklahoma City
Posted: Friday, November 09, 2007 4:05 PM
The classic definition of chutzpah is the man who’s on trial for murdering both his parents and throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan. That one’s just been trumped by David Stern, the NBA commissioner who just told the City of Seattle that unless it digs into the taxpayers’ pockets to build the SuperSonics a new arena, Seattle will never have another NBA franchise.
As they say in New York, the noive o’ dat guy!
“I’d love to find a way to keep the team there,” the commish said at a press conference, “because if the team moves, there’s not going to be another team there, not in any conceivable future plan that I could envision, and that would be too bad.”
He sounds like a mob guy telling some schmuck with a gambling debt that if h doesn’t pay up, he’s going to find his family floating face-down in the Hudson River, and wouldn’t that be too bad?
There’s a word for this: extortion. Sports teams have been doing it for too long, but most cities and states are finally wising up to the reality that corporate welfare is a bad idea. New York initially tried to build a stadium for the Jets, but when the taxpayers went nuts, gave up on the idea, and the Jets joined the Giants in paying for a new stadium themselves. The Mets and Yankees wanted the City of New York to pay for their new digs; when they were rejected, they decided to build their own.
This can be taken as an indication that the teams can afford the price, they’d just rather someone else pay. This is an understandable view. I’d like somebody else to pay for my house, too, and if I could convince the local town council to come up with the cash so I don’t move to New Jersey, I’d do it.
This isn’t really any different. If Clay Bennett, who bought the Sonics last year for $350 million, wants a new arena, let him pay for it. It used to be the American way.
And it’s particularly repugnant to be holding up taxpayers now, when homeowners are defaulting on their mortgages at record rates, the economy is teetering on the brink of a recession, and the dollar is losing value faster than CitiCorp stock.
I don’t know a thing about Bennett other than that he knows Stern well and is from Oklahoma City, which is where he says he doesn’t want to move the Sonics all the while he’s working to move them there.
The state and city offered him a deal in which they’d front the money but had to get a return on it equal to what they’d get from a treasury note. But Bennett wouldn’t go for that because he expects something for nothing. And his buddy Stern is playing the heavy to try to see that he gets it.
I feel for basketball fans in Seattle, but the city will hardly be worse off for losing the team. Downtown and Pioneer Square will still be packed on weekend nights because there’s a lot going on. The Mariners and Seahawks, who already got their corporate welfare checks, aren’t going anywhere. If they feel desperate to fill the arena, look into a hockey team – it’s way more fun to watch live.
Besides, if the team leaves for Oklahoma City, as seems inevitable, think of the fun Seattle can have watching the franchise wither and die in that city, as if inevitable. If Seattle can’t support a team, how is Oklahoma City going to do it? And don’t tell me they successfully hosted the Hornets last year – that’s a novelty deal for one year. Wait until the team plays mediocre basketball at New York City ticket prices for a few years and then tell me what a great market it it.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a good article on what’s involved in the arena deal that Bennett wants. You can read it here.
Finally, the Cato Institute has written an excellent analysis of why taxpayer-funded stadiums are a bad idea for everyone but the rich guy who’s getting the free building. Read that here.
