Seattle group signs deal for Sacramento's hoops team

Terms of the deal, announced by Hansen's group and confirmed on Monday by the National Basketball Association, were not disclosed. The NBA must approve the deal and that could take several months.

Hansen's group, which includes Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, has city council approval to build a new US$490 million arena near the waterfront south of downtown Seattle, although that plan still faces opposition from the city's port authority.

Several reports put the value of the deal at about US$340 million, but neither of the negotiating parties nor the NBA would comment on details.

Seattle sports fans can still be spotted wearing the green and yellow of the SuperSonics — founded in 1967 and champions of the NBA in 1979 — even after the team was moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder in 2008. The move followed rancorous disagreements between team owner Clayton Bennett and the city over public investment in Seattle's dilapidated KeyArena.

Hansen said on Monday he cannot discuss his group's plans for the franchise, but it is widely expected that he will give the Kings the SuperSonics name and install the team at KeyArena while a new stadium is built.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, who has given political support to efforts to bring basketball back to Seattle, sent a congratulatory message to the investment group on Monday.

Although the Kings are a different franchise from the Sonics that left Seattle in 2008, he welcomed the return of a team that will likely bear the same name.

The basketball franchise is set to join a resurgent Seattle sports scene. The Seattle Seahawks football team reached the NFL playoffs this year with a late-season surge, while the Seattle Sounders are the best-attended soccer team in North America by a wide margin.

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