Crosscut Now
Jan. 5, 2022 - The complex histories of Seattle stadiums
1/5/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Cheers and catcalls: The complex histories of Seattle sports stadiums.
Sports arenas and stadiums have long been the site of major civic battles.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Jan. 5, 2022 - The complex histories of Seattle stadiums
1/5/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Sports arenas and stadiums have long been the site of major civic battles.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Sports stadiums have long been controversial in Seattle.
Columnist Knute Berger writes that the last 50 years offer abundant examples.
In the early 1970s, lawsuits challenged the construction of the voter-approved Kingdome.
And public financing of what are now Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park met opposition, fueled by the idea that Seattle should not be held hostage to millionaires and billionaires who exerted extortionate leverage by threatening to leave town if the citizens didn't pay.
The reason we still don't have an NBA team is that the Sonics' ownership, then led by Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Wanted major publicly funded upgrades to KeyArena.
With the city's approval, a private Seattle group footed the bill to renovate what's now Climate Pledge Arena for the Kraken and make it right for the Storm, and potentially, someday, a new NBA team.
I'm Starla Sampaco.
Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
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