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Did Clay Bennett Lie About His "Good Faith" Intent to Keep Sonics in Seattle?

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

Jim Brunner and Jonathan Martin of the Seattle Times have an interesting piece today on new e-mail evidence suggesting that Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett and other members of his SuperSonics ownership group violated the "good faith" contractual pledge to keep the franchise in Seattle. The city of Seattle has sued to keep the franchise in Seattle, while the Bennett group, which purchased the franchise in 2006 with expectations that the city would provide substantial tax dollars for a new statidum or a renovated KeyArena, intends to relocate the franchise to Oklahoma City no later than when the team's lease with the KeyArena expires in 2010. New e-mails have surfaced that appear to confirm suspicions that the Bennett group never intended to keep the franchise in Seattle.

I was interviewed for the story and hope you have a chance to check it out.

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on April 11, 2008 (boomark / email).