The owner of NBA team the Seattle SuperSonics wants to relocate the franchise to Oklahoma City.
Clay Bennett, who is from Oklahoma City, said the lack of support for a new arena and continuing financial losses gave him no other option.
However, the Sonics' lease on Seattle's SkyArena does not expire until 2010.
Bennett, who purchased the team in 2006 for £192m, has been fighting a lengthy legal battle to bring an early end to their tenancy of the venue.
He was active in bringing the NBA's New Orleans Hornets to his hometown in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons after New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina.
Oklahoma City, the 30th largest city in the US, currently has no teams in either the NBA, NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball.
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