[]
Sorry to troll you guys like that but the Sonics are not returning just yet. However, even if they're not back by 2015, you will have plenty of tip-offs, dunks and three-pointers to look forward to. Key Arena has been announced as one of the hosts for the second- and third-round games of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The games, which will be played on March 20 and 22, will be the first that Seattle has hosted since 2004.
It's huge news for the Seattle Center arena, which was in serious need of some high-profile athletic events beside the Seattle Storm and Seattle U basketball games. The SoDo arena is still a long ways off so Key Arena will want to continue to take advantage of these opportunities for as long as they can.
The games will also be a financial boon to the hotels, restaurants, bars and other businesses in the area. NCAA Tournament games are said to bring in $8-12M to local economies.
Seattle used to be a Final Four destination back when the Kingdome hosted the event in 1984, 1989 and 1995. However, without an indoor arena of that size since it's demolition, we've been kicked back down to opening round duty (which is when all the fun games happen, anyway).
And if you're a super hoops nut, there's plenty more college basketball coming to a town nearby. Spokane's Memorial Coliseum will host games in 2014 and Portland's Rose Garden will host games in 2015.
· Seattle will host NCAA tournament games in 2015 [Seattle Times]