ABOUT

SonicsRising.com is the home of active fans who support the return of the Seattle SuperSonics who departed the city in 2008.

SonicsRising originally operated under the name SonicsCentral.com and was founded by Kevin Pelton who now writes for the Seattle Storm, ESPN, and Basketball Prospectus.

In 2002 Kevin left SonicsCentral in order to operate the teams official website, www.SuperSonics.com. Sonicscentral was taken over by Brian Robinson who led a team of 7 die hard fans writing original content stories about their beloved Seattle SuperSonics. Site traffic and visibility increased dramatically in 2004 when the team graciously offered press credentials for the fan/authors. With exclusive player interviews and content specifically catering to fan interests the site grew in popularity, becoming one of the largest fan websites in the nation with peak traffic of 27 million hits and 1 million independent site visits annually.

In 2006 the Seattle SuperSonics were sold to Oklahoma City an based ownership group. In reaction to that sale Brian Robinson co-founded the organization Save Our Sonics & Storm. Over a 2 year period Save Our Sonics a worked closely with regional leaders and prevent the teams departure from the region. During this time Sonicscentral served as a critical source of information and fan interaction for fans in Seattle and around the world.

Despite our best effort the team was renamed the Thunder and departed for Oklahoma City in 2008. Sonicscentral continued to serve as a home for loyal Sonics fans, many of whom publicly processed their grief and conflicting emotions on the pages of this blog.

Brian Robinson and other members of the SonicsCentral staff continued involvement in efforts to bring an NBA franchise back to the region. We offered support to our true friends at www.Sonicsgate.com, Bring Back our Sonics, Casual Industries and the “Robbed” movement and hundreds of other loyal fans who wanted their team back.

In May of 2011 Brian Robinson formed Arena Solution, a coalition of local business and community leaders offering community support for efforts to bring the Sonics back to Seattle. The organization went public in December of 2011 and almost immediately found an investor to support when Mr. Chris Hansen announced his intention to build a world class arena in the Sodo neighborhood and bring both the NBA and NHL to Seattle.

Both ArenaSolution and SonicsCentral played critical roles in Mr. Hansens successful campaign for public participation in the arena construction. On October 14, 2025 County Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Mike McGinn signed an arena funding package into law.

The purpose of SonicsRising is to celebrate Seattle basketball, the return of the Sonics and the role of all the fans in the process. The strength of the friendships built and the power we have found in having a common cause. The sun has set on the old franchise and on our battles for a new team. Now we get to watch a new franchise rise from the ashes, led by a felllow fan in Chris Hansen.

Thank you for supporting this site.