March 11, 2008

Sonics saviors to Seattle: Deliver $150m in two weeks, or we walk

The billionaires offering to buy the Seattle Sonics and keep them in town have issued a threat of their own: If the state legislature doesn't agree to a $300 million plan to renovate KeyArena within two weeks, they say, they'll withdraw their offer to pay half the cost. "If we miss out on this opportunity, the cards are stacked up too much against us. Somebody else can pick it up," developer Matt Griffin told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Since the Washington state legislature isn't set to debate arena legislation until next year, Gov. Chris Gregoire and state house speaker Frank Chopp dashed off a letter to the city of Seattle, asking it to agree to sell $150 million worth of bonds immediately, and the state would consider paying half of it back. Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis rejected that idea: "Without some commitment from the governor and the Legislature, it would appear that the city would be at some risk. ... A letter is [Ed. Note: presumably Ceis meant "isn't"] really a guarantee of future action - all it is is a statement of, I guess, their good intentions."