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A year after formally taking ownership of the Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA Storm, and with no plans for a new arena here, owner Clay Bennett said Friday he will file with the NBA to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

The move was hardly unexpected. Bennett had set an Oct. 31 deadline -- one year from when he took ownership -- for having a plan for a new arena to replace KeyArena, which Bennett says is unacceptable and outdated. Otherwise, he said, he would ask the league for permission to move the teams.

Not wanting to distract from the start of the Sonics season, Bennett backed off that deadline, but only briefly. He watched Thursday night's home opener against Phoenix from his owner's suite, spending most of the second half chatting with Hall of Famer Bill Russell while fans started spontaneous chants of "Save Our Sonics" during various points of the game.

"Today we notified commissioner (David) Stern that we intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the city, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination, or at the end of the lease term," Bennett said in a lengthy statement.

The Dark Knight

Nov 3 2007, 01:25 PM

When does the lease with KeyArena end? A few years from now, right? Just move them then.

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We intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the city, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination

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Sorry Seattle, there is no saving your Sonics.

That's the feeling of NBA commissioner David Stern, who said Saturday he expects the Seattle SuperSonics to leave the city, either this year or when their lease expires in 2010.

"It's apparent to all who are watching that the Sonics are heading out of Seattle," Stern said during his annual All-Star Weekend news conference. "I accept that inevitability at this point. There is no miracle here."

Stern revealed he encouraged the SuperSonics to make an offer to the city to buy out the remaining two years of the lease to Key Arena. He said the offer, made two days ago, approached $30 million and was rejected.

Bennett has informed the league he plans to move the team to his hometown of Oklahoma City after this season. But a potential move is currently on hold after the city filed a lawsuit against the team, attempting to make it fulfill the terms of the lease.

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When Mayor Mick Cornett surveys downtown, he sees a place that has come a long way since the crippling oil bust of the 1980s. The trouble is, few outside the city realize it.

If outsiders think about this sprawling prairie city — and they rarely do — they likely flash back to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people in the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"That bombing took our name," Cornett said between bites of prime rib at a posh restaurant in the city's growing Bricktown entertainment district. "We have a horrible branding problem in this city that I've been trying to address."

On March 4, voters will decide whether to raise $120 million in taxes to lure the Seattle SuperSonics as Oklahoma's first major professional sports team.