NBA Approves Sale of Sonics to Bennett



NEW YORK (Oct. 24) - The NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA Storm to the Professional Basketball Club LLC on Tuesday, led by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett.

The sale required a 75 percent majority vote among the league's owners. Bennett's group bought the team from the Basketball Club of Seattle, led by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, on July 18 for $350 million.

Bennett's group will take control of the Sonics on Oct. 31 when the transaction is completed.

"We appreciate the support of the Board of Governors and we are honored to become a member of the NBA," Bennett said in a news release. "We are excited about owning one of the outstanding franchises in sports in one of America's greatest cities."

When Bennett bought the team he said that whether the Sonics remain in Seattle would depend on whether the team can agree with the city to renovate KeyArena, or replace it with another arena in the region.

While his group is not ruling out a possible remodel of KeyArena, Bennett has made clear he'd rather put together a "world-class" sports and entertainment complex on a yet to be determined site in the Seattle area.

KeyArena was remodeled in 1994-95 and the Sonics have a lease until 2010 with the city. The team and NBA commissioner David Stern both have said that lease is the league's most unfavorable to a team and must be changed - or better yet, a new place must be built with a new lease - for the teams to prosper in the region.

"The Board of Governors felt overwhelmingly that Clay is the right person to lead these extraordinary franchises into the future," Stern said. "I fully recognize Clay's commitment to keeping the Sonics and Storm in Seattle and we will do everything we can to support those efforts."

Four more Oklahoma City businessmen recently joined the ownership group.

The new members are William M. Cameron, president and CEO of Oklahoma City-based American Fidelity Assurance Co.; Bob Howard, president of Mercedes Benz of Oklahoma City; Everett Dobson, executive chairman of Oklahoma City-based Dobson Communications Corp.; and Jay Scaramucci, president of Oklahoma City-based Balon Corp.