Sonics' future points toward suburbs

Seattle has been all but mathematically eliminated as a long-term home for the Sonics and Storm, meaning the future of professional basketball in the area is down to two options — the suburbs or so long.

By overwhelmingly approving Initiative 91 on Tuesday, Seattle voters effectively ended any notion that the NBA and WNBA teams would remain in their namesake city.

The initiative requires Seattle to receive cash profit in exchange for granting subsidies to benefit a professional sports franchise, such as tax money for a new arena.

Mayor Greg Nickels, who opposed I-91, said the vote severely reduces the chances of the city making an arena deal with the team's new owners.

"If they're willing to put private dollars toward enhancing a facility at Seattle Center, we'll work with them," Nickels said. "But if they're looking for a public subsidy, I don't think it will happen."

Technically, Seattle is leaving the door open — but that door might as well be a tall concrete block because the Sonics ownership has no interest in running through it.

"There is nothing really left to negotiate with Seattle," ownership group spokesman Jim Kneeland said Wednesday. "We have done what we committed to Seattle to do. We looked at Seattle Center as an option in our real-estate search. It made the cut, but what happened with the vote last night puts another factor to bear.

"That additional factor is political climate. The vote clearly moved a Seattle Center solution further down the list."

The city previously has offered a public contribution of $50 million to upgrade KeyArena, but the new Sonics and Storm ownership group has never considered that offer satisfactory. Clayton Bennett and his Oklahoma-based partners envision a multi-purpose arena financed both privately and publicly.

The new owners say the focus now is on finding a new home elsewhere in King County, with Bellevue looking like the front-runner.

By mid-December, the owners expect to release a blueprint for a new arena in King County. Kneeland said the proposal would narrow the list of potential sites (probably two), lay out various arena uses (that could include an NHL franchise and a conference center) and detail how to pay for it.

Bennett opposes a public vote for any plan that only extends current taxes. That might be a hint that he will propose extending the hotel, car-rental and restaurant taxes currently paying off the debt on Safeco and Qwest fields.

Those tax extensions would require legislative approval.

Although those taxes are not covered under I-91, initiative organizer Chris Van Dyk said on election night that his group would push for a repeal if legislators extended the taxes to pay for a new Sonics and Storm arena.

Seattle City Council President Nick Licata said Wednesday he would welcome a debate in Olympia over whether the hotel, car-rental and restaurant taxes should be extended to benefit the Sonics. He said a counter-proposal would be introduced to use those tax revenues to support various arts and cultural organizations.

"I'd be willing to bet legislators would support a broader base of beneficiaries," said Licata, who believes Bellevue, Renton or any other city in King County would have voted as Seattle did if a measure like I-91 had been on their ballot.

I-91 could affect other professional sports operations in the city, such as the Seattle Thunderbirds, who play hockey at KeyArena, and the annual unlimited hydroplane race on Lake Washington, said Ralph Morton, executive director of the Seattle Sports Commission.

The measure also could limit the city's flexibility to bring pro all-star games to town, he said.

"I-91 makes it next to impossible for the city to negotiate agreements with any professional sport, including any new tenants to fill any potential void created at KeyArena by the Sonics and Storm leaving," Morton said.

Nickels said the I-91 result, which passed 3-to-1, reflects fan disenchantment with aspects of the NBA, such as high salaries and player turnover. The Sonics lease at KeyArena expires in 2010.

"If they stay in Seattle, great," Nickels said. "If they don't, we'll have to make do with the Mariners, the Seahawks, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Opera, the Rep [Seattle Repertory Theatre] ... I think we'll make do."

Staff report Mike Lindblom contributed to this report. Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com