Seattle Center officials scramble to fill KeyArena dates

Like a Fred Brown jump shot from downtown, the future of KeyArena is up in the air at Seattle Center. Even the name could change — and soon.

From Mayor Greg Nickels on down, city officials have said with certainty that KeyArena could remain viable even if its prime tenant left town. Now that the Sonics are moving to Oklahoma City, the confidence of those officials — and the confidence their constituents have in them — will be tested.

"We're going to be working really hard to fill that building," Nickels said Wednesday in announcing the settlement that sent the Sonics packing. "We're not going to let that building go dark."

The challenges begin now. Seattle Center officials already are trying to fill some of 100 KeyArena dates that had been reserved for the 2008-09 Sonics season. At the same time, KeyBank might pull its name — and sponsorship money — from the building, because its contract with the city hinges on the Sonics playing there.

"In the coming weeks, we will be analyzing the settlement to determine how it will affect our agreements with the city and the Sonics," said Rick Wirthlin, president of KeyBank Seattle-Cascades District.

In the long term, KeyArena's fate could go a number of different directions.

It could undergo a $300 million renovation designed to tempt the NBA to return to Seattle. And although nothing is in the works to lure the NHL here, KeyArena conceivably could host a hockey team if the seating is reconfigured.

Or, KeyArena could march on without major-league sports, trying to survive on bookings from the WNBA Storm, Seattle University basketball, concerts, conferences and other events.

A proposed Seattle Center master plan assumes the loss of the Sonics and proposes a new 40,000-square-foot exhibition space on KeyArena's south side. Those plans would be at least 10 years away, if they happen at all.

"We as a community will figure it out," said Matt Griffin, part of an investors group that wants to bring a new NBA team to Seattle.

Robert Nellams, Seattle Center director, said up to 35 percent of Seattle Center revenues come through KeyArena — not all via the Sonics.

Although the Sonics played 41 regular-season games at KeyArena each year, Seattle Center officials reserved 100 dates for the team before each season. Some were set aside to give the NBA flexibility in setting its schedule, and others in case the team advanced to the playoffs.

Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust said KeyArena schedulers, while not diminishing the financial impact of the Sonics' departure, are excited that 100 additional dates are now available for new business.

Nellams said it is difficult to measure how many potential KeyArena bookings got turned away each year because of conflicts with dates reserved for the Sonics.

He said 11 requested bookings for this upcoming year had been on a second-priority hold because of their potential conflicts with the Sonics.

"We will be very aggressive in letting people know those dates are now available," he said.

In addition to the Sonics leaving, the minor-league hockey Thunderbirds are moving to the new Kent Events Center in January 2009 at the latest, taking 36 game dates, plus playoffs, with them.

KeyArena had been booked between 130 and 160 days a year. With the Sonics and Thunderbirds leaving, Nellams said city officials believe the number will drop to between 80 and 100.

That is still enough to keep KeyArena profitable, he said.

KeyArena's bottom line is helped greatly by the settlement agreement reached this week between the Sonics and the city, Nellams said. In it, the Sonics pay off the building's remaining debt.

Hurting the bottom line, however, is that KeyArena luxury suites — a main revenue generator — lose their value with the Sonics' departure, Nellams said.

The city is negotiating with the Storm to extend its KeyArena lease, and is in talks with Seattle University to play around 11 basketball games a year there. Neither, though, would draw crowds or make money for the city like the Sonics did.

Seattle University hopes to begin playing a Division 1 schedule in 2009-10, but as of now is not affiliated with any conference, which means the level of competition and the quality of play could be low.

But the city is not giving up hope that the NBA still could be the ticket to KeyArena's future.

As part of the settlement, NBA Commissioner David Stern declared that a renovated KeyArena would be up to NBA snuff. That was a 180-degree turn from earlier statements in which he supported Sonics owner Clay Bennett's position that no face-lift, no matter how fancy, ever could turn the beast into a beauty.

The proposed $300 million renovation, which would depend on the Legislature kicking in $75 million, would almost double the size of the 450,000-square-foot arena yet leave the inner bowl nearly intact. The perimeter would be expanded with restaurants and office space as well as parking and private clubs for high-end season-ticket holders, which are all lucrative for team owners.

The plan also would improve loading zones to make KeyArena a more viable venue for large-scale conferences.

That proposed renovation, however, would not turn KeyArena into an NHL-ready venue. For major-league hockey, the inner bowl would have to be significantly reconfigured.

Griffin said his group hasn't "spent much time talking about the NHL, although we've spent some time."

"For me, personally, I think it's something worth looking at. Never say never."

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293

or seskenazi@seattletimes.com