Race Card Pete on a Possible Sonics Arena Deal

We've got a new guest poster--Race Card Pete. He's a program director at KUBE. He lives in Bitter Lake, but is about to move into a fixer-upper in the Central District.

With all this talk about the Sonics wanting $200 million to renovate Key Arena, I couldn't help but notice that the Mariners and Seahawks each received new digs that cost well over $500 million each. Yet from the reaction of the public and local politicians it looks as if the Sonics won't get anything close too what they are asking for, if anything at all. I'm not sure if this is correct but I believe the NBA has the highest percentage of African-American players, and is the most popular sport within that community.

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By David in News on May 16, 2006 9:39 AM

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extraction

Drew,

What you're describing is what was supposed to happen, but actually didn't. Since at least 2000, the Sonics haven't been paying back that money thereby forcing the Seattle Center into debt, selling off properties, and eliminating jobs. You can check out Erica Barnett's latest reporting on the Sonics over at the Stranger's website: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=33960. Plus the Sonics somehow negotiated a lease that's actually shorter than the life of the bonds. WTF? And finally, of course, they benefited from taxpayer-guaranteed (and financed) bonds. The city did indeed "shell out" money.

You're also apparantly confused about the monorail. City leaders never supported it. It was a voter-approved vehicle registration fee that--even under the most uncharitable assumptions--was to cost orders-of-magnitude less than the $50 billion you mention.

COMTE

This is a complete canard: even though the sonics may have a higher percentage of minority players, it also has the smallest team roster of Seattle's three major league franchises. There are larger numbers of minority players on both the Seahawks & Mariners, even though the ratio of minority-to-white players may be smaller, so in my mind at least, this argument doesn't hold up to even cursory scrutiny.

This isn't about race. But it is, as Extraction pointed out, all about economics. The City agreed to a financing package 10 years ago for a major renovation of the Coliseum (Drew, your point about the actual funding mechanism is noted), and now the ownership is coming back saying they can't make a profit under the present configuration/rental structure.

Excuse me, but isn't the whole point of free-market Capitalism supposed to revolve around the concept that the market decides whether a particular business enterprise will succeed or fail? If the Sonics can't field a team people want to pay to see (whether it's the proles in the stands or the patricians in the luxury boxes), at a price-point needed to insure a profit, that's not our problem, and race has absolutely nothing to do with it.

If the ownership feels they need to move somewhere else to be successful, they shouldn't be prevented from doing so, while by the same token, the taxpayers should not be obligated to subsidize a money-losing enterprise.

wesaturtle

I think I would look less at the race issue and more at the fact that the Sonics are asking us to support a losing team. Maybe if they asked for tax payers money while they were in the midst of a winning season we would be more accomodating.

drew

The renovation was paid for with bonds that are being paid back by Key Arena club seat and luxury box revenue. The city did not 'shell out' for a damn thing. It was described as "the first publicly-financed arena fully supported by earned income from the building."

If schools weren't built, if new police and firefighters weren't hired, it wasn't because of the '94 renovation. It was because the miscreants who run this city commit to things like spending $50Billion+ on a monorail even though light rail is already on the way.

I don't even like the Sonics funding proposal, it puts way too much burden on the city, but what I like even less in the misinformed diatribes by extraction, the finethenleave.com folks, the local papers, and our elected officials. Try looking up the information before coming to a conclusion. Otherwise we're left with the thought that you really just don't want to see a bunch of rich black guys in the area.

drew

Bob

Program director at KUBE? Does that mean he's a computer in LA?

extraction

I know I'm coming out of left field here, but maybe--just maybe--the resistance to paying for the Sonics has something to do with the fact that the city shelled out something like $75 million for the re-vamped Key Arena JUST 10 YEARS AGO!!! Plus, the Soncis got ridiculously favorable lease terms thrown in.

And I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there are African Americans playing for the Seahawks and Mariners too.

drew

ding ding ding. We have a winner.

Seattle can't subsidize all these large scary black men!

Is this the main reason for the resistance? Probably not but it's most definately part of it.

So the latest idiocy is that the SEIU is gathering signatures to pass a petition stopping any chance at funding this. I love when unions really put all of their time, money, and effort into helping their members further their careers.