SuperSonics Owner to Decide Today About Sports Arena Bid

The president of the Seattle SuperSonics said Sunday night that owner Barry Ackerley would decide today whether to bid on the company that holds the lease to the San Diego Sports Arena.

Bob Whitsitt said in a telephone interview from Seattle that the officers of Ackerley Communications, Inc., which owns the SuperSonics, would make the final decision today.

Today is the deadline for bids on the sale of San Diego Entertainment, Inc., whose lease on the Sports Arena does not expire for another 26 years.

The SuperSonics are having arena problems in Seattle, but representatives of Ackerley’s company told The Times last week that they might be interested in the building as the home for a National Hockey League expansion franchise. Ackerley maintains a second home in Borrego Springs in northeast San Diego.

Eric Rubin, general counsel to Ackerley Communications, Inc., said the winning bid probably would be around $13 million.

The Sports Arena has never fielded a National Hockey League team. The last National Basketball Assn. team to play there, the Clippers, moved to Los Angeles in 1984.