Bennett sends Cornett official letter of intent to relocate Sonics to OKC

The Professional Basketball Club LLC sent a 16-page letter of intent to Mayor Mick Cornett today to officially propose moving the Seattle SuperSonics professional basketball franchise to Oklahoma City.

 

Signed by PBC Chairman Clay Bennett, the letter of intent details conditions under which the National Basketball Association franchise would relocate to Oklahoma City. The ownership group purchased the NBA franchise in 2006 for $350 million. The new owners spent a year trying to convince Seattle and Washington state officials to build a new arena.

 

Currently, the ownership group is in litigation with the City of Seattle regarding the team's Key Arena lease and whether or not PBC may make a termination payment to end the agreement, set to expire at the end of the 2009-10 season.

 

In Nov. 2007, the ownership group "? which also includes Aubrey K. McClendon, chairman and CEO, Chesapeake Energy Corp.; G. Jeffrey Records, chairman of the Board and CEO, MidFirst Bank; Tom L. Ward, chairman and CEO, SandRidge Energy Inc.; and G. Edward Evans, chairman, Syniverse Holding Inc. "? filed an application with NBA Commissioner David Stern to relocate the team to Oklahoma City.

 

The NBA will vote in April on an application to relocate the team to Oklahoma City. Bennett's letter to Cornett says that Stern and other senior executives will visit Oklahoma City March 25.

 

To entice the NBA to approve the application, in January, the Oklahoma City Council unanimously approved a March 4 election to allow voters to extend an existing one-cent sales tax to fund renovations to the Ford Center, and if the team does move to the state, a training facility.

 

With a 62 to 38 percent margin, voters passed a sales-tax extension to fund renovations to the Ford Center and a possible training facility.

 

AGREEMENTS

The letter of intent says that PBC and the City of Oklahoma City agree "proceed in good faith" to negotiate agreements for:

Arena upgrades and practice facility A team arena use license A food and beverage agreement A practice facility lease

William Cameron, chairman, president and CEO American Fidelity Assurance Company; Bob Howard, president, Mercedes Benz of OKC; Everett Dobson, executive chairman, Dobson Communications Corporation; and Jay Scaramucci, president, Balon Corporation, round out the ownership group. -Gazette staff

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