Founder Pelton Sells to Yahoo!, Inc.; Changes Already in Place

By Bill Kravitz

SonicsCentral founder Kevin Pelton and Yahoo!, Inc. exec Bryan Robertson display a fake check at a press conference this morning.

Six months ago, Kevin Pelton was a nameless, faceless college student and fan of the Seattle Supersonics who had a dream -- create the best, no, premier Sonics fan website on the internet. As a result of that dream and his months of hard work and dedication, Pelton became this morning one of the rare web entrepeneurs to hit in 2002 the financial jackpot so frequent during the internet's late-1990's boom period, selling the rights to his website, www.sonicscentral.com, to Yahoo!, Inc. for $25,000 along with an undisclosed number of shares in the company.

"I'm truly living the dream," said Pelton in a press conference this morning he attended along with Yahoo!, Inc. director of acquisitions Bryan Robertson. "Only in America could a 19-year old kid like me build from his dorm room at the University of Washington a website that would be acquired by such a fine and upstanding corporation such as Yahoo!, Inc."

Robertson was effusive in his praise of SonicsCentral, referring to it as 'the key' to Yahoo!, Inc.'s effort to create a serious of NBA team-related pages. "When you look at the top fan sites out there, you've got (Houston's) ClutchCity(.net) and then SonicsCentral right there at number two. The remarkable thing is that this young man has only been in operation for less than half a year."

Robertson was also upbeat about the future for SonicsCentral, noting that a partnership with Yahoo!, Inc. would drive increased traffic to the website. In addition, he announced several cosmetic changes for the site. "Obviously, we don't want to screw around much with what Kevin's built here," Robertson said, "but I'm sure even he would admit that this was 'rough around the edges', so to speak." The first change has already been made, as Yahoo!, Inc. has provided SonicsCentral a facelift that has an entirely new look to the site's 'frame'.

Additionally, the new ownership has provided SonicsCentral with a new slogan, "We bleed green and gold," and hired additional staff. Veteran newspaperman Bill Kravitz, late of the Wyoming Tribune-Hawk, has been hired to anchor the new coverage team which will replace Pelton in producing the site's original content.

As for Pelton, he was non-committal when asked about his future plans. "I definitely do not plan to continue attending the University of Washington," he said. "Right now, I'd like to pursue my professional goals -- working for a local newspaper's sports section or getting a job with the Sonics. I feel that (Yahoo!, Inc.'s decision to buy me out) really validates my work thus far and shows that I can be an asset for some local paper."

When asked to address the fans who visited SonicsCentral, Pelton smiled and paused. He then delivered a heartfelt soliloquy thanking everyone involved with the site. He concluded, "To the readers, I feel I'm leaving you in good hands. Yahoo!, Inc. has promised me that the site will continue to provide top-notch coverage of the Seattle Supersonics free of charge. That, in the end, is what I really wanted and still want. I built this site because it was the site I wanted, and it didn't exist. I just stepped in to fill the void. Thanks, and goodnight."