Oklahoma City voters approved a proposal for a new sales tax to fund a $1 billion downtown arena that will keep the NBA’s Thunder in that city through 2050. Interesting. I’m sure Oklahomans who don’t care for basketball or sales taxes are less than pleased.
So, will the Thunder still leave in 25 years? And how long is an arena supposed to last?
The Thunder used to be the Seattle Supersonics. They played in several Seattle venues, including the Kingdome, which hosted the 1979 NBA Finals—won by the Sonics, led by future Celtic Dennis Johnson. Built for “only” $67 million, the Kingdome had around 60,000 seats and was also home to the MLB Mariners and the NFL Seahawks. Toronto Blue Jay—and future Celtic—Danny Ainge hit a couple of home runs there.
I actually saw some college basketball there in April of 1989 when Seattle hosted the NCAA Basketball Final Four. My seat was so far from the court that I watched the game on the giant video screen above the stands.
The giant edifice was demolished in 2000, only 25 years after it opened. Go figure.
Speaking of new NBA arenas, Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced plans to move the Wizards out of Washington, D.C., to a multi-billion sports and entertainment complex in Virginia that will also host the NHL Capitals.
(One wonders if the two new Virginia teams will still claim to be of Washington, D.C. But then the New York Giants and Jets play in New Jersey.)
The Washington Wizards used to be the Washington Bullets, but “Bullets” were seen as politically incorrect in a city plagued by gun violence—despite the nation’s toughest gun laws. So, the Bullet nickname went away. (Can you say “Redskins?”) Political correctness is important in Washington. Of course.
The Washington Bullets used to be the Baltimore Bullets. After they switched their home arena from Baltimore to Landover, Md., they were also called the Capital Bullets for a while. The franchise had moved to Baltimore in 1963 from Chicago where they were known as the Zephyrs. They’d previously been the Chicago Packers, but they changed their name out of deference to a nearby NFL team.
There was another Baltimore Bullet NBA franchise in the 1950s, which didn’t move anywhere. It just folded.
Got it?
Anyway, one wonders how long these new arenas will last. Who’d have suspected that the Kingdome would be demolished only 25 years after it was built? Michigan’s Silverdome—once home to the Pontiac (nee Detroit) Lions—was similarly demolished, despite having hosted a Super Bowl in 1982.
When the Dallas Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium in 1971, fans probably thought that venue would be the eternal “Home of the Cowboys.” But America’s team now plays in Arlington, Texas, in a 100,000-seat palace known as the “AT&T Stadium.” Dallas owner Jerry Jones described the new Cowboy home as the greatest stadium ever built when the team started playing there in 2009. But now the Rams and Chargers play in L.A’s $6 billion SoFi Stadium—the world’s grandest sports venue. Take THAT, Jerry Jones!
So, one wonders how long these giant sports temples will last. If the past is prologue, then someday “AT&T Stadium” and “SoFi Stadium” will be demolished—like the Kingdome, the Silverdome, and so many other sports venues. And citizens will vote for new taxes to build new edifices.
Consider that Rome’s Coliseum was constructed almost 2000 years ago without imposing any sales tax—although the Romans did use non-union slave labor. But despite being sacked by the Visigoths even worse than Giant QB Dan Jones was sacked by the Vikings, the Coliseum still stands—unlike the Kingdome, the Silverdome, et al.
We just don’t seem to build lasting sports arenas anymore.
Except for maybe Fenway Park?
