Seattle Sues SuperSonics

City tries to stop NBA team's owners from breaking arena lease and fleeing town
By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 25, 2007 5:59 PM CDT
Seattle Sues SuperSonics
KeyArena, home of the NBA basketball team the Seattle SuperSonics, is shown at night in this Jan. 16, 2007 file photo in Seattle. The City of Seattle filed a lawsuit Monday, Sept. 24, 2007 against the team to hold them to the terms of their lease of KeyArena, which runs through 2010, in efforts to keep...   (Associated Press)

In the latest struggle between local governments and pro sports teams over who foots the bill for the places they play, the city of Seattle has filed suit to try to stop the SuperSonics from breaking their lease at the city's Key Arena before 2010 and moving elsewhere. The NBA franchise's Oklahoma-based owners claim they're losing money under the deal.

"Too often, pro sports teams just run over local governments," the Seattle city attorney said at a press conference announcing the suit. "Today we're standing up and saying, no, we have an agreement and we want to enforce that agreement and we want you to honor your promises." (More Seattle SuperSonics stories.)

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