Thunder Owner Bennett Agrees to Pay $1.6 Million to Sonics Fans

Originally Published: Jan 21, 2010 6:22 PM CDT

Oklahoma Sports & AP Wire Reports

SEATTLE -- The owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, have agreed to pay former Sonics season-ticket holders $1.6 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.

Clay Bennett and his Professional Basketball Club, the ownership group that moved the Sonics to Oklahoma less than two years ago, reached the settlement agreement in Dec. 2009. It is awaiting approval from a federal judge in Seattle.

About 1,000 former season-ticket holders complained that when the Sonics moved, the team reneged on a deal to let them renew their tickets at 2006-07 prices through 2010.

The fans argued that if they had been allowed to transfer their tickets to Oklahoma City's Ford Center, where the team is now known as the Thunder, they could have then resold them at higher prices.

Bennett declined to comment Thursday.