While the hockey world’s focus has been expended mostly on Las Vegas as a potential destination for the NHL to expand into, there have been some significant developments on another prospective expansion location.
Before Las Vegas even seemed like a possibility, much was made of Seattle’s bid to bring the NBA back, with a despire to tie those efforts into bringing a new NHL team to the city. Chris Hansen, the man who has committed to help build a new arena that could house teams in both leagues, made an important public statement to that end in light of the completion of an environmental impact study for the potential arena that should be of particular interest to hockey fans in Washington.
Wide speculation had been that the arena would only get built if the city could secure an NBA team first. Seattle mayor Ed Murray has been more vocal about creating a plan that would bring the new arena even if it was a NHL team moving in first. Thursday morning, in light of the final environmental impact statement being published, Hansen said his group would be open to that as well.
Here is Hansen’s group’s statement from sonicsarena.com:
The long-awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Seattle Arena has been released and it is a greenlight for us to continue moving forward to finish the remaining work needed for the final construction permits. A summary of that document is provided below for your information.
We want to thank the city staff and technical consultants who worked hard to get this document completed and published. It is a major milestone in our journey to bring the NBA and NHL back to Seattle.
We also wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate that we remain 100% supportive of the NHL returning to Seattle and playing in the Arena — and are completely open to the prospect of that occurring prior to the NBA. In light of recent speculation, we would just like to clarify that we have sought to be as accommodating as possible in our negotiations with potential NHL partners, with our only major requirements being that such a deal does not jeopardize the process or put the City, County, Taxpayers or us in a worse financial position.
Lastly, we also want to extend our sincere thanks to all of you who have stood by us these past several years. Your support has meant so much to us and made a huge impact on the success of this important project. The EIS is clearly a significant milestone, but there is much more work to be done and we greatly appreciate the continued support from all Seattle sports fans.
With the FEIS basically giving the greenlight for the arena, more of the focus can be put on finding that primary NBA or NHL tenant as that is what will make the building possible. As Murray said, no major findings in the FEIS stand in the way of this arena being built. He also shared this note:
Mayor Murray: "We’re one step closer to bringing NHL hockey & NBA basketball to Seattle." Interesting order he listed there. #SeattleArena
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) May 7, 2015
That comment came in a prepared statement and knowing how those sorts of things go, the order of NHL and NBA is fairly significant. In order to green light an NHL-first plan, however, the mayor would first have to convince the city council to adjust the Memorandum of Understanding that specifies construction can only begin if an NBA team is acquired first.
As Murray told King 5 News just a few months ago, he is more than willing to urge the city council to make an alteration.
"Should folks in the NHL or potential owners come to us with a different financial plan that pencils out for the city and for our partners at the county, I would be willing to go back to the council and ask them to open that process," said Murray in an interview at City Hall. "I believe there could be an adjustment for an NHL team first if there if a financial plan that pencils out for the city."
The timing of this probably couldn’t be better for the Seattle arena project.
A new arena project has emerged in Tukwila, a nearby suburb of Seattle, as reported by ESPN.com’s Craig Custance. That group is headed by former oil trader Ray Bartoszek who once tried to purchase the Arizona Coyotes to move them to Seattle. His group has already begun the process of laying the groundwork to apply for the proper zoning and acquire the land with hopes of having an arena ready by the fall of 2017, which seems awfully ambitious.
A number of individuals have popped up as potential NHL owners for Seattle over the last two years as well. One of the most vocal about his desire to land a NHL team for Seattle is real estate mogul Victor Coleman.
Just last week, Coleman told King 5 News that he has thusfar been unable to strike a deal with Hansen to partner up on the new arena. He also noted that he is speaking with "an alternative development partner," which could be Bartoszek (but that has not been confirmed). Coleman remains adamant that he'd like to partner with Hansen to put the team in downtown Seattle according to King 5.
These recent developments have undoubtedly raise the level of intrigued surrounding Seattle. There’s still so much to do and even though there are two arena plans potentially on the table, there are no new arenas built just yet.
The NHL’s Board of Governors are expected to be briefed on the progress of the Las Vegas plan during their summer meeting.
Billionaire Bill Foley, who is leading the group trying to bring the NHL to Vegas, has an arena that will be ready by next spring and a season ticket drive that has already had enough success to hold the NHL’s interest. It is possible that the board could hold a formal vote to begin the expansion process as early as this summer.
The developments in Seattle may present an opportunity for the NHL to more formally discuss that city as an option of further expansion as well. These are extremely interesting times for the NHL and two really intriguing, if risky, options for expansion.
