Decision In Sonics Trial Not Likely To Immediately End Conflict
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Judge's Decision In Sonics-Seattle Case
Likely To Lead To More Legal Wrangling |
Nothing in the Sonics-Seattle trial over the team's KeyArena lease has been "clear cut, so don't expect instant clarity" from U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman's decision Wednesday "unless the sides use it as a springboard to a binding settlement agreement," according to Greg Johns of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. A city victory would "hike up the pressure on both [Sonics Owner Clay] Bennett and NBA commissioner David Stern to seek some soft of settlement, given their desire to avoid two ugly and expensive lame-duck seasons of basketball in Seattle." A Sonics win in the case would create the "potential of a chain reaction of legal maneuvers," starting with a second trial to "determine the exact amount of money that would satisfy the rent requirements" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/28).
TIME TO MOVE ON? Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in a Q&A with the SEATTLE TIMES' Benjamin Romano, said of his interest, "given what's unfolding in Seattle right now, in bringing an NBA team" to the city or keeping the Sonics there, "I want us to be a first-rate community, and I think it helps attract people and say this is a first-rate place to have all the big pro sports teams. ... I think it's now well documented publicly, a group of us offered to put up some money to help fix up KeyArena and, if need be, buy a team. ... The current team is moving. Somebody needs to get a new team, and you've got to get a new arena. It's not clear whether you get the arena before the team or the team before the arena. We had a team and we couldn't get an arena" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/29).
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Storm Averaging 7,591 Fans Per
Game At KeyArena So Far This Season |
STORM BREWING: In Seattle, Jayda Evans reports fans of the WNBA Storm have been "slow to trickle back to KeyArena since the Storm's purchase" by Seattle-based Force 10 Hoops in January, as the team this season has averaged 7,591 fans through its first eight home games. The WNBA average attendance is 7,312, and the Storm rank ninth among the league's 14 teams. The team's average is "about 400 below the new ownership group's desired average of 8,000 for the season," and the average also is the "lowest the team has averaged since" 7,109 in the '03 season. The Storm in '06 drew 8,537 fans per game. Storm CEO Karen Bryant: "We're still optimistic that we'll get close to 8,000 by the end of the season." Evans notes the team has started grass-roots programs "to draw more families," and Force 10 Chair Anne Levinson said that "upcoming theme nights, such as the 'Women of Inspiration' on July 12, are also selling well" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/30).
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