Clay Bennett's announcement that he wants to get out of the lease at KeyArena and move the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City as soon as possible came as no surprise.
But while the news buoyed Midwest sports interests, it sent shock-waves through the NBA team's fan base in Seattle and bummed out more than a few owners and staff members at bars and restaurants in Lower Queen Anne.
The loss of the men's basketball team will mean "a severe hit financially" at Floyd's Place sports bar just a couple blocks away from the arena, said general manager Nathan Sobl last Friday night.
There was a fair-sized crowd in the place when he was interviewed, but it was nothing compared to the crowd that showed up the night before for the Sonics' first home game, he said. "We were rocking; we were definitely rocking."
The crowds the Sonics draw to the neighborhood bar make a huge bottom-line difference, and many fans stay there awhile after the games start because they can watch the home team on TVs in Floyd's, Sobl noted. "We make money every night." In fact, Sobl added, he makes more money during the basketball season than he does during the rest of the year.
Late-breaking offer to buy the team by former minority owner of Dennis Daubs and friends notwithstanding, Sobl is convinced the Sonics will move on. Money aside, the loss of the home team will affect him on a personal level. "I'm a huge basketball fan, and I really hate to think of them leaving," Sobl lamented.
Over at T.S. McHugh's around the corner, they're on board with the "Save Our Sonics" movement, said co-owner Don Trembley. "It's definitely our biggest draw," he said of the team's games at the Key.
That was especially evident during the Sonics' first home game last Thursday night. "Oh, it was crazy; we were turning people away all night," Trembley said.
He estimated that the Sonics fans are responsible for close to 15 percent of the yearly income at the neighborhood bar and eatery, but that doesn't tell the whole story. "Most nights of the week, we lose money," said Trembley, adding that Sonics' fans make up the difference and substantially more during the 40 to 41 games the team plays in Seattle.
He's also convinced that Bennett will be able to get out of the lease at the KeyArena. "We're going to get screwed," is how Trembley put it. It wouldn't be so bad, he went on to say, if music acts like Billie Joel played at the arena a couple times a month.
"But that won't happen," said Trembley, who noted that stadiums in Everett and Tacoma are increasingly drawing big-name acts that used to play at the Key.
Trembley doubts that the Sonics will be able to make a go of it in their new home, pointing out that Oklahoma is 39th in the market compared to Seattle's 13th place. "The NBA is failing in every small market," he said. "They're going to fall on their face."
Perhaps, but losing the Sonics will also put the Spectator sports bar next to Kidd Valley on Queen Anne Avenue in a world of hurt, according to bartender Ron Dino. "The Sonics season for us is huge," he said. Losing the team will eliminate "a huge chunk of our yearly income," Dino added.
The Spectator was packed before the first home game last week, he said. That happens whenever the Sonics play in Seattle, and the crowds start rolling in a couple hours before the games start, Dino said. And if the team wins, there's also a nice crowd in the place afterward, he added.
The bar doesn't draw the same size crowd going to concerts at the Key. "If it's a big event, we get a little bit, [but] our main focus is sports," Dino said.
Hanke estimated that the Sonics crowd bumps up the night's take by $300 to $400 each time the team plays home games, and there was a good-sized crowd in the place before the opening home game last week.
The Mecca also draws crowds of people going to concerts at the Key, but the size of the crowd depends on the act, she said. "We were packed out," she said of crowds going to the recent Ozzy Osborne and Rob Zombie concert.
The Mecca also draws hockey fans during games at the KeyArena, and while there's not much of a Storm crowd, the players often have breakfast at the restaurant and bar, Hanke said.
There was also a big crowd at the 10 Mercer restaurant and bar before last week's first home game, said bar manager Aaron Sherman. That was unusual, he said, but Sherman had a theory about that. "Maybe it was because they thought if they were going to watch basketball, they'd better do it now."
He estimates that there's perhaps a 5-percent chance the Sonics will end up staying in Seattle. "What are you going to do, though?" Sherman also pointed out that other businesses in Lower Queen Anne will feel the sting after the teams leaves, mentioning the numerous parking lots in the neighborhood as an example.
Depending on how well the season is going, the Sonics crowds bring in anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 extra a night to Peso's Kitchen and Lounge when the team plays, said general manager Don Olsby.
Still, that's not a significant amount of sales for the neighborhood hot spot, he said, and losing the basketball team won't be nearly the disaster it will be for other bars and restaurants in the neighborhood. "Fortunately for us, our business doesn't depend on the Sonics."
Furthermore, Peso's spends a lot of money making sure business at the bar isn't driven by events at the Key, Olsby stressed. "Our biggest thing is word of mouth," he added.
Still, Sonics games bring in new people to Peso's that otherwise wouldn't know about it, and they often return when there's no basketball game, Olsby said.
But the neighborhood native also worries about the effect the team's leaving will have on Lower Queen Anne businesses in general and on the revitalization of the Seattle Center. "I think everybody is going to feel that," he said.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rrzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
