Seattle Supersonics Expansion Team Rejoining NBA? When We Can Expect a Return

How close are we to a Seattle Supersonics return?

There’s no doubt that basketball fans would love to see the Seattle Supersonics coming back to the NBA. It’s hard to imagine how a team with such a storied history left in the first place.

Let’s take a look at what it’s going to take for a Seattle Sonics return to the NBA.

What Happened to the Seattle Supersonics?
After a 41-year run in the NBA as Seattle’s most successful sporting franchise, the Seattle Supersonics would play their final game on April 13, 2008.

The Seattle Supersonics were founded as an NBA expansion franchise in 1967. The name was chosen by fans following a vote to represent their Seattle basketball team. The Supersonics name came about as a way to pay homage to the planned (but ultimately failed) Boeing 2707, an American supersonic airliner which was being developed in the city.

Original Sonics owner Sam Schulman would sell the franchise in 1983 to businessman Barry Ackerley. Barry would hold on to the SuperSonics for 18-years until selling the franchise to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in 2001.

In February of 2006, Schultz stated that he was willing to sell the team if a refurbishment of KeyArena or new stadium could not be funded. By end of year the Sonics would end up in the hands of Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett in a move Schultz regrets to this day.

In his book From the Ground Up, he writes “Selling the Sonics as I did is one of the biggest regrets of my professional life. I should have been willing to lose money until a local buyer emerged. I am forever sorry.”

This would end up being the beginning of the end of the Seattle Supersonics.

When Did the Sonics Leave Seattle?
Following the approval of the Seattle Supersonics sale to Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett in October 2006, the Sonics basketball team would relocate to Oklahoma City. The team would be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder and would begin playing in the NBA from the 2008–09 season.

The Sonics last year was one to forget. The Sonics would end up finishing with a franchise worst 20-62 (.244) record in a year in which a rookie Kevin Durant would hit the scene.

Why Did the Supersonics Leave Seattle?
The Supersonics left Seattle simply because of the failure to upgrade the existing KeyArena or to fund a new stadium. Former owner Howard Schultz was vocal on the topic, publicly stating that he would sell the Sonics if he could not secure a funding deal.

KeyArena originally opened as the Washington State Pavilion in 1962, and was nowhere near up to NBA standard by the 2000’s. A potential replacement arena in the SoDo District planned in the 90’s also failed to materialise.

A final ditch effort to keep the Sonics in Seattle was made by an investor group led by Microsoft CEO at that time Steve Ballmer. It was promised that the group would pay for half of the $300 million needed for upgrades to KeyArena.

Not long after Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett purchased the Seattle Supersonics, NBA owners voted 28-2 in favour of the Sonics’ relocation bid from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008. The NBA’s commissioner at the time David Stern said “The support for the NBA demonstrated by the fans, government leaders and business community of Oklahoma City over the last three years has been extraordinary…The Board of Governors is confident that the level of local support will result in success for the Sonics franchise in Oklahoma.”

Why a Seattle Basketball Team Will Return to the NBA
Seattle-Tacoma has the 12th largest media market in the US according to News Generation, making it ideal for a Seattle Supersonics return to the NBA. To put that into perspective, Oklahoma City is ranked 44th and New Orleans is ranked 50th.

All 11 media markets ahead of Seattle-Tacoma have an NBA team. Considering there are 30-teams in the NBA it would be an appealing city for any owner to expand or relocate to Seattle.

Seattle as a sporting city has the Seahawks (NFL), Mariners (MLB) and the Sounders (MLS), who all have energetic followings with huge fan bases. Seattle has had its legendary moments. Fans of 2014 Super Bowl Champions the Seahawks celebrated so hard in 2011 following a Marshawn Lynch touchdown, it registered a then record of 137.6 decibels. The moment secured the team’s victory against the New Orleans Saints in the 2010 NFC Wild Card playoff game and even registered an earthquake, known as ‘Beast Quake’ measuring between 1-2 on the Richter scale.

In the MLS, 2016 and 2019 MLS Cup winners the Seattle Sounders have also set the benchmark for soccer match day experiences in North America. The Sounders have dominated attendance averages blowing away other MLS franchises by averaging around 40,000 fans on game day. According to CIES Football Observatory stats, that ranks the Seattle Sounders as the 29th best attended club in the world with larger crowds than AC Milan, Chelsea, Juventus and Tottenham.

Let’s predict the Seattle Supersonics coming back to the NBA for the start of the 2025-26 NBA season. The current TV rights deal will expire at the end of the 2024-25 season making this the first likely season for NBA expansion.

The Sonics are the most likely of all teams to join the NBA either as an NBA expansion franchise or through relocation. The most recent expansion team and 30th franchise to join the NBA was the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) in 2004. Prior to that, the New Orleans Pelicans became the 29th team of the NBA in 2002.

Seattle basketball fans can dream of a return to the glory days. The Seattle Supersonics won the 1979 NBA Finals, led by Paul Silas, Jack Sikma and Gus Williams. Superstars like Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and Detlef Schrempf are also forever connected to the Supersonics.

There’s a very rich history of basketball in a city that deserves to have an NBA team. You’d be very brave to bet against a Seattle basketball team joining the NBA again.