https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sonics/how-sonics-return-is-impacted-by-sale-of-celtics/ I really want Seattle to get the Sonics back; we lost a lot when we lost our nearest rivals.
what was the latest expansion fee for an NBA team...and when? never mind, I looked it up: the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004. Expansion fee was 300M team values in 2004: 1 LOS ANGELES LAKERS/Jerry Buss ('79) $447 2 NEW YORK KNICKS/Cablevision Systems ('97) 401 3 CHICAGO BULLS/Jerry Reinsdorf ('85) 356 4 DALLAS MAVERICKS/Mark Cuban ('00) 338 5 PHILADELPHIA 76ERS/Comcast-Spectacor ('96) 328 6 BOSTON CELTICS/Wycliffe Grousbeck ('02) 290 7 DETROIT PISTONS/William Davidson ('74) 284 8 SAN ANTONIO SPURS/Peter Holt ('93) 283 9 PHOENIX SUNS/Jerry Colangelo ('87) 282 10 INDIANA PACERS/Herbert Simon, Melvin Simon ('83) 280 11 HOUSTON ROCKETS/Leslie Alexander ('93) 278 12 SACRAMENTO KINGS/Gavin Maloof, Joseph Maloof ('98) 275 13 WASHINGTON WIZARDS/Abe Pollin ('64) 274 14 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS/Paul Allen ('88) 272 15 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS/George Gund, Gordon Gund ('83) 258 16 TORONTO RAPTORS/Larry Tanenbaum ('98) 249 17 NEW JERSEY NETS^/Raymond Chambers, Lewis Katz ('98) 244 18 UTAH JAZZ/Larry Miller ('85) 239 19 MIAMI HEAT/Micky Arison ('95) 236 20 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES/Glen Taylor ('95) 21 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES/Michael Heisley ('00) 227 22 DENVER NUGGETS/E Stanley Kroenke ('00) 218 23 NEW ORLEANS HORNETS/George Shinn ('88) 216 24 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS/Donald Sterling ('81) 208 25 ATLANTA HAWKS^^/Time Warner ('01) 202 26 ORLANDO MAGIC/Richard DeVos ('91) 199 27 SEATTLE SUPERSONICS/Howard Schultz ('01) 196 28 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS/Christopher Cohan ('95) 188 29 MILWAUKEE BUCKS/Herbert Kohl ('85) 174 LEAGUE AVERAGE 265
^ Team values have gone up more than tenfold over those 20 years, which suggests the buy-in for an expansion team is now $3B+. That's tough to fathom. It's still the same ~75% of an average franchise's value, but overcoming that much upfront cost to view it as profitable is a big ask.
I dunno, wouldn't it be better if Beaverton got a team instead of Seattle? I think this metro could support two NBA franchises, maybe even five. barfo
I think a team in Seattle would be good for the Blazers and their fanbase. That being said, fuck Seattle. With Darius Miles' nonexistent bobblehead.
