New poll says majority don’t care about failed return of NBA to Seattle
Jun 4, 2013, 1:59 PM | Updated: 6:08 pm
Despite all the attention given to investor Chris Hansen’s failed effort to buy the Sacramento Kings and bring the NBA back to Seattle, a new poll finds a vast majority of those surveyed don’t really care or were glad the deal fell through.
The Elway Poll, taken May 28-30, found 51 percent didn’t care, 12 percent were glad the Kings stayed in Sacramento, and 4 percent had no opinion, The Seattle Times reports.
NBA owners voted last month to reject Hansen’s bid to purchase the Kings and relocate them to Seattle.
Hansen said last week he remains undeterred in his quest to bring an NBA team back to his home town. But he said he will tread far more carefully going forward, and it’s important other cities and the league don’t see his investment group as “predatory.”
“Other cities should not feel like our group is coming to wrestle their team loose,” he says. “I think we’ll be extra careful the next time to ensure that it is a team that the NBA wants moved and that is truly not working in that community.”
A similar poll of King County voters taken last year showed far more support for the NBA returning to Seattle, with 31 percent saying they strongly favored bringing pro basketball back, while 26 percent said they didn’t care if the NBA came back.
