Seattle City Council Unanimously Terminates Sonics Lease

Seattle City Council Unanimously Agrees To End City's KeyArena Lease With Sonics

The Seattle City Council "unanimously agreed Monday to end the city's lease" with the Sonics, according to Claire Trageser of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. Council members acknowledged that they "had little choice, agreeing that failure to pass the lease termination would mean the city would lose the settlement money" from the Sonics-Seattle trial over the team's KeyArena lease. With the loss of the Sonics, the council "shifted its concentration to what it can still control," the WNBA Storm. Council member Tim Burgess: "Now is the time for the city government to step forward to bring an agreement so the Storm can continue to play in KeyArena." While the Sonics and Storm are now owned separately, the council said that the "loss of the Sonics hurts the Storm because the teams shared operating costs." Council member Jan Drago: "The severance of the lease has a significant impact on the Storm." The council added that beyond harming the Storm, the Sonics' departure also "affects KeyArena managers, who now have to fill empty dates where games were originally scheduled" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/15). In Seattle, Sharon Pian Chan notes the lease termination allows Professional Basketball Club Owner Clay Bennett to take the former Sonics team "to Oklahoma City in exchange for a $45[M] payment" to Seattle. Council member Bruce Harrell yesterday said, "If we don't terminate the lease by today, then we walk away from $45[M]" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/15).