Arena or Amazon: Does Seattle know what's important?

[krudmonk]

TV markets are without regard to distance, which is why the A's are trying to move to San Jose, where they're already on television. That said, the cities cited should not be in line for a team above Seattle.

[mello]

The two biggest markets without an NBA team are clearly Seattle and San Diego. You have one who lost its team 3 years ago and one who did so 29 years ago. Seattle has a much larger corporate base than SD. San Diego has shown very little drive to build a state of the art arena as our current arena is an utter embarrassment and by far the worst of any metro area over 1.5 million.

Both metros now only have MLB, NFL. So which one "deserves" to have an NBA team more, hard to really say. I guess because San Diego has LA to the North and Mexico to the South our TV market is smaller and like I said earlier our only true Fortune 500 with a massive presence is Qualcomm compared to Seattle with Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing.

The only other option is Kansas City which is smaller than SD/SEA but has a gorgeous new arena sitting downtown waiting for a major tenant.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by mello

Both metros now only have MLB, NFL.

I hate them but....

...there's no way to ignore that.

I would be inclined to say UW outrates any school in SD, too, but I'm not an expert there.

[Gordo]

^I was going to say - the Sounders regularly outdraw the Mariners, in spite of a much smaller game day capacity.

[pdxtex]

basketball is the new baseball, nobody gives a rip....especailly not seattle. once a city reaches such a multi-tiered vibrancy, pro sports just isn't that big of a deal....

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

basketball is the new baseball, nobody gives a rip....especailly not seattle. once a city reaches such a multi-tiered vibrancy, pro sports just isn't that big of a deal....

which is why the Yankees and Lakers are so anonymous

[rs913]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

basketball is the new baseball, nobody gives a rip....especailly not seattle. once a city reaches such a multi-tiered vibrancy, pro sports just isn't that big of a deal....

Come on, just be honest and say "it's not that big of a deal to me".

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

basketball is the new baseball, nobody gives a rip....especailly not seattle. once a city reaches such a multi-tiered vibrancy, pro sports just isn't that big of a deal....

Tell that to Boston and New York.

[mhays]

Seattle has been a big baseball attendance town, with good TV ratings too. Not the past few years as they've been rebuilding and due to the economy, but for the decade before that.

We don't support teams that don't show much promise. This isn't Chicago. I support them always (from home, half-assed), but we have a lot of total fair weather fans and people who get downright mad when at players who don't produce, which has always mystified me.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Tell that to Boston and New York.

i should be more clear, rather, its not that seattle all of a sudden has lost all of its sports fans, its just that the departure of an nba team for seattle is not that big of a deal in the larger picture. people don't define seattle by its basketball team, and of the three major league franchises, was the least popular anyway. the sonics leaving is far less of a big deal for the city's economic health then say, some legacy team leaving from a less well off city.....but yeah, people in the NW don't really care about pro sports nearly as much as they do in other parts of the country. as a region, we are still very athletic, probably more so then alot of places, but the focus in on amateur athletics and outdoorsy pursuits. and like it or not, kids just are not that into the tradition team sports like they used to be. they just have more options now more then ever. they will be tommorrow's fans right? and in the NW, all the cool kids are into MLS anyway.....meh.........

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by 10023

Sure at the games, because tickets are expensive and the good seats are all corporate. I'd be more interested in the TV viewership demographics, and the merchandise sales.

I go to Knicks games from time to time when I get invited to a friend's company's box at MSG, but I don't think anyone I know ever watches them on TV or owns a hat. And that's exactly my point...

^ White people don't watch NBA games on TV?

That's news to me...

I guess all of the "white" males that I work with who earn good 6 figure incomes must actually be a different race

[10023]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ White people don't watch NBA games on TV?

That's news to me...

I guess all of the "white" males that I work with who earn good 6 figure incomes must actually be a different race

Well, at the risk of sounding like that New York philanthropist who famously said that she couldn't understand how Nixon won because none of her friends had voted for him... I don't think I know anybody that watches NBA basketball. Everyone will make a point of going to a bar to watch college football, NFL football or college basketball during March Madness, but basketball is even less popular than baseball as a TV sport. At least baseball is a big draw during the playoffs.

Bars in the West Village are also crowded for college football, NFL football, and the college basketball and baseball playoffs, but never for NBA games even during the playoffs.

[HurricaneHugo]

Originally Posted by mello

The two biggest markets without an NBA team are clearly Seattle and San Diego. You have one who lost its team 3 years ago and one who did so 29 years ago. Seattle has a much larger corporate base than SD. San Diego has shown very little drive to build a state of the art arena as our current arena is an utter embarrassment and by far the worst of any metro area over 1.5 million.

We lost two, the Rockets and the Clippers, both which got their names here in SD.

Hoping the new Chargers stadium goes through and involves some sort of convertible arena like Indy's stadium...

[pdxtex]

^^what about MLS? does that seem like a viable option for san diego in the future? seems like it would be a good fit and if we are talking tv market, crap, you've doubled your money potential right away with tj viewers....

[mello]

^^^ I think if San Diego had a better facility we would have had MLS years ago. To make it work in an NFL facility you need something new and state of the art like in Seattle. How many MLS teams currently play in a large stadium versus a soccer only venue. With a combined population of 6 million in the SD/TJ area I think MLS would be a huge success here.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by mello

^^^ I think if San Diego had a better facility we would have had MLS years ago. To make it work in an NFL facility you need something new and state of the art like in Seattle. How many MLS teams currently play in a large stadium versus a soccer only venue. With a combined population of 6 million in the SD/TJ area I think MLS would be a huge success here.

as far as i know, there are only 4 nfl type stadiums being used for mls also, gillette field, century link (seattle), rfk (dc) and bc place in vancouver. the move towards soccer specific is definitely the preferred way for future expansion. oh wait, this is about seattle, wait, nobody still cares about the sonics....which honestly, is a bummer but that just how it is.....maybe all these tech companies should start their own league of competitive sports, like the geek sports league. seattle micronauts versus the the facebook overpriced IPO's!!

[HurricaneHugo]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

^^what about MLS? does that seem like a viable option for san diego in the future? seems like it would be a good fit and if we are talking tv market, crap, you've doubled your money potential right away with tj viewers....

I've always thought that moving Chivas USA to San Diego and rebranding it (Sockers?) would be a great move for the MLS.

There is some movement to get a soccer specific stadium...just not the MLS. SD Boca (NPSL, 4th tier) is trying to build a stadium.



Would love to have someone swoop in, increase the capacity of the stadium and bring the MLS.

[M II A II R II K]

City Council reaches revised arena deal


September 10, 2012

By Lynn Thompson

Read More: http://seattletimes.com/html/localne...nadeal11m.html

The Seattle City Council has a tentative agreement with investor Chris Hansen to build a $490 million state-of-the-art basketball and hockey arena in Sodo — and make road improvements with a cut of the tax revenue. The deal, sources say, addresses objections by the Port of Seattle and manufacturing interests, who complained that traffic generated by an arena would choke already clogged Sodo streets, jeopardizing maritime industries and jobs. "This may be the deal that gets us to where we need to be," said Dave Gering, head of the Manufacturing Industrial Council, which represents 60 businesses in Sodo, including the Port of Seattle and BNSF Railway.

The agreement, expected to be announced Tuesday, significantly strengthens financial protections for taxpayers in the event of default or bankruptcy by the arena operators, and it requires a state environmental review and an assessment of alternate sites before final legal documents are signed. It also funds improvements to KeyArena and a study on the future of the aging Seattle Center facility, which could face obsolescence if a new arena opens. And it can require that Hansen buy the arena and land for $200 million after it's paid off in 30 years, protecting the city from owning a potentially obsolete structure. The City Council Government Performance and Finance Committee will hold a hearing and vote on the revised agreement Thursday. The deal would then go to the full council, and city sources said there are six votes in favor of the deal, enough to pass it later this month.

The agreement would revise a Memorandum of Understanding announced in February among Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Hansen, a Seattle native who approached the city more than a year ago with a plan to build an arena and return the Sonics to the city where they played for 41 years. That deal called for up to $200 million in public financing to be repaid with taxes generated by arena activity and rent from the future teams. Under the revised agreement, $40 million of the tax revenue would instead go into a fund to make road improvements to protect Port of Seattle container operations, railway lines and truck activity, much of which now occurs within blocks of the proposed arena site. That money would be made up by Hansen's group.

.....

[Lipani]

^ Send the Kings to Seattle -- without the Maloofs, if possible.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by HurricaneHugo

Hoping the new Chargers stadium goes through and involves some sort of convertible arena like Indy's stadium...

In a city that has some of the best weather in the country year-round, why would anyone want a stadium with a retractable roof?