The story of possible NHL expansion in Seattle seems to bubble up around this time every year, but I think this time around there's some real movement on the possibility.
Chris Hansen's new arena project still hasn't come to fruition, so on Wednesday we were introduced to a group that's planning to do a full-scale renovation of Seattle's KeyArena, the former home of the NBA's Seattle Supersonics and current home of the WNBA Seattle Storm and the Seattle University men's basketball team.
The arena was originally constructed as part of Seattle's 1962 World's Fair, then was rebuilt with a focus on basketball in 1994 and 1995. As far as hockey goes, it currently has issues with sightlines that are similar to what the Phoenix Coyotes dealt with when they first played at America West Arena.
Even the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds eventually grew dissatisfied enough that they moved to the southern suburb of Kent in 2009 and now play in the 6,500-seat ShoWare Center, where they draw consistently solid crowds.
According to the
Thunderbirds Wikipedia page:
"The (KeyArena) floor was just barely large enough to fit the rink. It was so far off-center that the scoreboard hung over a blue line instead of center ice. Additionally, so many seats in the lower level were obstructed that half the lower level was curtained off."
Two competing groups submitted bids to renovate the arena in April of this year, with an eye toward bringing in an NHL or an NBA franchise.
The winner was announced Wednesday: the Oak View Group.
From
Chris Daniels at King 5, who has been following this story for years:
The group, led by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, will spearhead a $564 million gut remodel of the facility on the Seattle Center campus. They are also bringing some blockbuster power with them – two prospective NHL owners.
Leiweke announced that his Seattle effort will be joined by Boston Celtics Minority Owner David Bonderman, a billionaire and University of Washington grad, and Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood action movie mogul, who most recently pioneered the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
Both Bonderman and Bruckheimer are expected to announce soon their intention to attract an NHL expansion franchise to be an anchor tenant in the facility, according to a source close to the project.
Irving Azoff is best known as a music mogul, who has served as a personal manager for a long list of big name artists and has also served as CEO of Ticketmaster and executive chairman of Live Nation. I would assume he's most interested in the property as a concert venue.
Tim Leiweke is best-known for his time working with AEG in Los Angeles, which own the L.A. Kings among other properties. Between 2013 and 2015, he was chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in Toronto. After leaving the Leafs, he started the Oak View Group with Azoff, so this is their first major venture together.
The plan is to gut the building and rebuild it completely—and hockey will be front and centre this time around. Jerry Bruckheimer is a fixture at L.A. Kings games and has long been rumoured to be interested in owning an NHL franchise—he kicked the tires on the Pittsburgh Penguins when their future was in doubt a decade ago.
Also from Chris Daniels:
When (Seattle mayor Ed Murray) made the (renovation) announcement, Leiweke and Azoff were by his side. At least two NHL leaders were also in attendance, including Vancouver Canucks Chairman Francesco Aquilini and Florida Panthers Chairman Peter Luukko, who is one of Leiweke’s current partners in the Oak View Group.
Looking more closely at the Canucks content:
There's a video of Daniels' conversation with Aquilini embedded in his article, which goes into great detail about the two competition remodel proposals. The Canucks owner, not surprisingly, is excited because he sees opportunities for a rivalry with his team—and that a franchise in Seattle would help ease some of Vancouver's travel burden.
If you'd like to hear more on Aquilini's thoughts...
As far as Gary Bettman's perspective on the situation:
Publicly, Bettman continues to hold his cards close to his chest.
“We haven’t made any commitments to Seattle,” said Bettman on SiriusXM Radio on Wednesday. “In fact, I’ve been telling everyone in the process that they should build their building with an understanding that there may not be an NHL team there.
“We’re not making any commitments to expand. We’re not planning on moving anybody. And to the extent people are winking and nodding that they’re getting a team, they’re really getting ahead of themselves.”
The timeline for completion of the renovation is probably around four years. The next step will be to get the project approved by Seattle City Council. That vote won't happen until at least December, so it's not like we're going to suddenly see an expansion team announced for Seattle at the expansion draft in two weeks.
The reason for the timing: Chris Hansen's memorandum of understanding to build his new arena in the southern part of downtown remains in place until December, so he still has a chance to push his project through.
Hansen's priority has always been the NBA. Oak View would like to join forces:
The tale is still far from complete, but the prospect of the NHL in Seattle did take a big step forward on Wednesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»