Bennett Claims Sonics Will Lose $61-65M If Held To Lease

Bennett Claims Sonics Will Lose $61-65M If Forced To Play Out Lease At KeyArena

ON THE CLOCK: In Seattle, Greg Johns reported the six-day trial begins next Monday, and Pechman “made it clear that time will be of the essence.” Each side will get three days of “clock time” in presenting its case. In court time, “that’s 15 hours apiece.” And “Pechman’s clock will be running, to the point where the loser of any objections will be docked the amount of time taken to determine the specific argument.” Pechman also “questioned the city’s series of ‘motions in limine’ that have asked her to exclude evidence relating to the dysfunction between the parties as well as anything concerning [Bennett’s] efforts to obtain a ‘successor venue’ in Seattle.” Those two issues are “significant in that they lie at the heart of some of the key issues in the Sonics’ defense.” Seattle attorney Paul Lawrence said that the city is "attempting to keep the trial focused on the ‘specific performance’ question of whether the KeyArena lease binds the Sonics to actually play their remaining games at the facility and indicated he felt the [Sonics owners] had expanded the argument to other areas.” Sonics attorney Brad Keller said that the team’s owners “hadn’t added any elements and he feels the very limited time frame of the trial will serve to keep things in focus” (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/7).

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