If this had happened more than two years ago, moving the Clippers to Seattle would have been very possible. Now, however, with the usually dominant Lakers down and the Clippers having a good chance at making the NBA Finals, that won’t happen. The LA/Orange County/Inland Empire area is big enough to support two successful NBA franchises provided both are at least somewhat competently managed. The Clippers were not competently managed and have only succeeded over the past seasons because Sterling’s too old to meddle in team affairs and the Lakers have fallen into disarray after the death of Jerry Buss. As I said in my previous post, the obvious move for a new owner of the Clippers is to stay in the LA basin but follow the lead of the Angels and move to Orange County. This season excepted, the Clippers still may not surpass the popularity of the Lakers but they’ll be able to form their own identity and carve out a larger fan base.
Tom Tildrum:
Having attended a Clippers game for this very reason when I took a family trip to Los Angeles 8 years ago, I’d say that the above is true (or was at the time), except that there weren’t all that many people who were even interested to that point. The place was practically empty, and the people who were in the stands seemed more like hecklers than fans.
People buying Clippers tickets must have been something of a rarity, as after I returned home from the trip, I actually got a phone call from the Clippers asking a lot of customer-service/market research type questions about my experience at the game.