Seattle Continues to Wait for the Return of the Supersonics Presentation

1. Seattle Continues to Wait for
the Return of the Supersonics

2. •After several years as an accountant for Price Waterhouse (now
PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Prague, Cherin Perelman spent three years
as an accountant for a Seattle-based nonprofit on a mission to connect
people with cultural ideas and the arts. In this capacity, Cherin Perelman
provided accounting services to Bumbershoot, the world’s largest
international music festival, as well as the Seattle Symphony and Seattle
Supersonics.

3. •Adam Silver, the newly appointed commissioner of the National Basketball
Association (NBA), recently announced that the league has no plans to
expand. He specifically mentioned rumors of an expansion team in Seattle,
former home of the Supersonics, saying that while the city is passionate
about basketball and financially capable of developing a new arena, the
league is not ready to expand. Mr. Silver cited a dilution of talent as one of
the reasons that an expansion team would not be in the league’s best
interest at the moment, as not all of the 30 NBA teams are profitable due to
extended periods of losing basketball.

4. •As recently as last season, Seattle had been prepared to take on a team
from Sacramento, as the King’s ownership group looked to sell.
Sacramento managed to work out a deal to keep the team local, however.
The NBA and Seattle-based investors are also closely monitoring the
Milwaukee Bucks, as the team’s facilities have recently been deemed unfit.
The Bucks must come up with money for a new arena by 2017, when their
contract with the Bradley Center expires, though garnering upwards of
$400 million for a new facility will be difficult. Nonetheless, Mr. Silver
maintained that relocating the team is not a priority.