Behrings Lobby For Stadium Facelift Seahawks Owners Would Move Team If Kingdome Cannot Be Improved
The Seahawks will be moved rather than sold unless the Kingdome gets a $150 million overhaul, team owner Ken Behring says.
Behring and his son, club president David Behring, met with political and business leaders Monday to begin a campaign to raise the money for luxury sky boxes, wider walkways, better concession stands and other dome improvements.
The elder Behring denied rumors the team might be sold to anyone, including Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who has expressed an interest in the franchise.
“We’ll be with the team, wherever it’s at,” he said. “If people think they’re going to drive us out of town, the only way they’re going to (do that) is with the team.”
Behring said the club lost $5 million to $6 million last year, mainly because of a lack of stadium-generated income. The team would contribute $25 million for Kingdome work, he said.
“We don’t want to leave,” he said. “We are going to do everything possible to work with the county and with business leaders to try to work this out.”
Earlier Monday, the Behrings met with King County Executive Gary Locke, County Council Chairman Kent Pullen, Councilman Peter von Reichbauer, retired Boeing Co. lobbyist Bud Coffey and Nordstrom Co. executive Jack McMillan.
Locke said the Behrings never threatened to leave Seattle during their meeting. County officials told them it might be more than a year before a financing package could clear the state Legislature and the council.
“The Behrings indicated their desire to stay in Seattle,” Locke said. “They said the team is not for sale; they have no interest in moving.”
In September, county voters narrowly rejected an increase of a tenth of a penny on the dollar in the sales tax to pay for a new baseball stadium for the Seattle Mariners, $70 million to cover the bill for repairs to the Kingdome roof and $100 million for improvements to the dome’s structure.
The Legislature and County Council later approved a different financing plan for the ballpark. Council members said they would ask the Legislature in January for authority to raise money for work on the Kingdome.
House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, said Monday the legislators would be loath to say yes.
“The Mariners put in an incredible amount of work, and it was not a slam dunk for them,” Ballard said. “It’s very competitive out there, and even if you work very hard with people, you usually don’t get what you want the first time you walk in the door.”
Von Reichbauer, a former state senator, said the Seahawks’ owners appeared ready to mend their political ways after sitting out the election battle over stadium financing.
“In the past, the Behrings haven’t participated in the political process,” he said. “I think they recognize their short-comings and are prepared to learn. They no longer want to be an outsider looking in.”