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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Politics Welcome to Town David Stern. READ THIS!

Posted by JOSH FEIT on February 23 at 10:08 AM

Yesterday, Stranger reporter Erica C. Barnett posted about her conversation with Bill Beyers (the U.W. Prof who did the Key Arena financial impact study.)

I hope people picked up on the significance of Barnett’s observation. She wrote:

I asked how much he thought the Sonics contributed to Key Arena (whose total economic impact, according to Beyers’s report, was $353 million). Beyers said he had “guaranteed anonymity” to everyone who participated in the report, offering only that he didn’t buy the Sonics’ claim that they add $234 million to the economy each year. “I don’t have a clue” how they came up with that number,” Beyers said. “They certainly didn’t use the methodology that we did.”

What’s super important about the quote Beyers gave Erica, even though he dodged her question about how much the Sonics contribute to the Center, is this: Beyers acknowledged that he’s seen the Sonics’ financials (something the rest of the public has not.) Well, if the guy has seen the Sonics’ financials, and he’s willing to tell a reporter that he “doesn’t have a clue” how they came up with their $234 million number, he’s trying to tell the public something.

NBA Commissioner David Stern is coming to town today and heading to Olympia to testify in favor of the $200 million subsidy the Sonics are angling for. I hope the Seattle sponsors of the bill Rep. Phyllis Kenney (D-46) and Rep. Jim McIntire (D-46) call Stern out on the Sonics’ dubious numbers.

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1

Anyone know the number of the bill for which Kenney and McIntire are the Seattle sponsors?

Posted by cressona | February 23, 2006 12:25 PM

2

H.B. 3233

Posted by Josh Feit | February 23, 2006 12:40 PM

3

I understand how one could to jump to this conclusion, but unless I've misread it, Erica's post does not state that Beyers acknowledged having seen the Sonics’ financials, only that he said he guaranteed anonymity to participants (meaning he won't say who they were) and that he believes the number provided by the Sonics is sufficiently different than that which came as a result of his own calculations to assume that the Sonics must have arrived at their number by using a methodology different than his own.

It's possible that Beyers "doesn't have a clue" how they came up with their $234 million figure partly because he has not seen their financials. It seems likely that he did see them, but I'm not convinced that he acknowleged having done so.

Posted by Phil | February 23, 2006 12:46 PM

4

That's a good point, Phil.
I should have been clearer. I was there, interviewing Beyers w/ Erica.
We asked him what the Sonics' numbers were.
He laughed and said: "I know them, but I wont tell YOU."

Posted by Josh Feit | February 23, 2006 12:55 PM

5

Thanks for the bill number, Josh.

I live in the 46th District, so Kenney and McIntire are my state reps. And I have to say I'm glad they're co-sponsoring this bill to extend the stadium taxes, even though if I looked at the details, I may not be so crazy about it.

I dearly hope the Sonics and the state/city can work something out so that KeyArena can be upgraded and the team can stay. That doesn't mean Schultz and company deserve to get a free ride. Paul Allen and the Mariners made substantial contributions to their respective stadia, including cost overruns. (Wish I could find the link to the article where I found that.)

Why do I want the Sonics to stay? Because I'm a basketball fan? Well, I am a basketball fan (a Storm season ticket holder and someone who's spending waaaay too much money watching a mediocre Sonics team this year), but that's not the reason. I want them to stay because Seattle Center is an urban center; it's not a suburban outpost. The more major attractions and employers there are in urban centers, there more momentum there is for density and transit, as opposed to sprawl and roads. Just compare metropolises that put major sports venues in downtowns with those that put them in suburbs. Besides, any serious hope of the Seattle Center Monorail being upgraded and eventually extended (i.e. to Ballard) is going to hinge on a vibrant Seattle Center. And you can't have a vibrant Seattle Center without a vibrant KeyArena without a major-league sports team as the main attraction.

I wish our leaders in this region had the maturity to find a middle ground between (a) giveaways to rich sports franchises and (b) Nick Licata's pandering to the anti-corporate, "lesser Seattle" crowd.

Posted by cressona | February 23, 2006 1:11 PM

6

Cressona:

There's a hearing on the Senate version of the bill today at 1:30. SB 6849.
Listen in href=" http://www.tvw.org/media/liveevnts.cfm" target="_blank">here.

Posted by Josh Feit | February 23, 2006 1:19 PM

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