Sacramento Kings moving franchise to the OC, CA.

I certainly hope it's UW Football as I said, the Sounders make me nauseous.

 

They may make you nauseous but they are huge in Seattle.

 

I know.

 

I would guess there were times in the 80s and early 90s when the Huskies were no worse than the second-most popular team in Seattle.

 

I'd go so far to say the Mariners might be fourth. When they're good they draw, but they haven't been good for a long time.

 

Cut it out, the Sounders draw almost 40,000 people per game, 15-20 times a year. They're probably bigger than the Mariners at this point, because the Mariners have sucked for so long.

 

I just acknowledged that.

The only thing I know is the Seahawks are first, easily.

 

Hansen is the NBA's answer to Jim Balsille. He might get a team if he relents on his determination to move them.

On one hand, I understand that franchises moving around really isn't good for ANY league. OTOH, the league was nowhere near this adamant with Clay Bennett about moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

 

Like most cities, whoever is winning at the time is going to be the hot ticket.

Not many people in Boston cared about the Patriots until Bill Belichick showed up and they started going to Super Bowls on a semi-regular basis. Ditto in most cities, that a winning team will outdraw a losing one.

The problem with the Mariners is that they've had one winning season in a decade, haven't been to the playoffs since 2001 and lots of casual fans have sort of given up hope. Win a division title and the fans will jump on the bandwagon again. How hot were the Seahawks during the 90s?

 

Yeah, but they began play in 2009. Sonics last home game was in 2008.

He said "were" the 4th most popular team, not would be. So, he must have been talking about the Huskies.

Sounders are extremely popular. They would be ahead of any NBA team in the city.

 

Terrible comparison, Hansen is nothing like Balsille. Everything Hansen has done has been above board and he is still on decent terms with the league. Balsille is toxic within the NHL.

 

FWIW, the MLS Sounders began play in 2009. Seattle had a popular second-division team from 1994-2008 and a NASL franchise in the '70s and early '80s. That being said, in any year, UW football is a *big* deal when the Huskies are good.