Seattle?

[Trent Booty]

I follow basketball and all, but I'm a little confused and haven't been following much this season.

Is it possible in the future for a NBA team to relocate to Seattle? I don't know how the whole thing has to play out for it to happen, but it would make me fall in love with the NBA if a team came here.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Seattle?

I think an expansion team is probably more likely at this point. I guess maybe further down the line it's possible though.

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Seattle?

I really want Seattle back in the NBA, its gotta be the Sonics though.

plus i want a good Portland/Seattle rivalry to watch.

[Trent Booty]

Re: Seattle?

I just hate having to deal with everyone in my area who likes the Blazers. Lol

[TracerBullet]

Re: Seattle?

Being a resident of this state and following the most recent developments, the most like outcome is:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mpqiq-FHDV4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

NBA isn't looking to expand right now and no one is moving. We'll probably be waiting a couple years at best before expansion talks might pick up a bit.

[VDusen04]

Re: Seattle?

Being a resident of this state and following the most recent developments, the most like outcome is:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mpqiq-FHDV4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

NBA isn't looking to expand right now and no one is moving. We'll probably be waiting a couple years at best before expansion talks might pick up a bit.

Any headway on a possible NHL franchise heading up your way? Could that aide in creating a path for a Sonics return?

I'd love to have the Seattle Supersonics back on the map. Headed out that way this past summer and scoured the city for anything SuperSonics - visiting Key Arena, getting overly excited about seeing the Tacoma Dome from the highway, that type of thing, haha. Tougher to find SuperSonics gear in the city than I imagined. Had to scrounge in a mall to the south of Seattle to find a hoody hanging from a rack at the back of a store on discount.

[TracerBullet]

Re: Seattle?

Any headway on a possible NHL franchise heading up your way? Could that aide in creating a path for a Sonics return?

I'd love to have the Seattle Supersonics back on the map. Headed out that way this past summer and scoured the city for anything SuperSonics - visiting Key Arena, getting overly excited about seeing the Tacoma Dome from the highway, that type of thing, haha. Tougher to find SuperSonics gear in the city than I imagined. Had to scrounge in a mall to the south of Seattle to find a hoody hanging from a rack at the back of a store on discount.

NHL wants to be here, but it's also running into problems. I wrote this in the NHL forum a couple weeks back. Ignore the numbering before the paragraphs:

Third: Current MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the SODO arena calls for an NBA team to be secured before the arena can be built. NHL currently is not acceptable as the only tenant. That could possibly change if Chris Hansen -- owner of the land and guy who put this all together -- decides he wants to work with the city on that, but it's nowhere near guaranteed they change or that he would want it to change. The EIS (Environmental Impact Study) for the site has been pushed back a few times now and is now scheduled to be done this summer. Nothing is happening here until that is done and I wouldn't bet on them finishing it this summer.

Fourth: Seattle's best hope right now for an NHL team probably isn't in Seattle. It's in Tukwila which is just south of Seattle. Bellevue could be a possibility east of Seattle, but I don't trust that one to happen. Neither Bellevue nor Tukwila would have anything to do with Hansen, the ownership group he has allied with, the Seattle government or the NBA.

Here's a breakdown of the owner groups and issues from NHL to Seattle:

[JODYE]

Re: Seattle?

I hope they don't go the expansion route. The NBA is watered down enough as it is.

[pietasterp]

Re: Seattle?

Great, informative, knowledgeable post TracerBullet. Good to have the local knowledge shared with the rest of us.

I've learned to never say never, but it will probably be a while. NBA (and sports teams in general) seem to be in a bit of a valuation bubble right now, so cost of startup/buy-in is high, and the joint NHL/NBA simultaneous sign-on will be tricky to say the least. Add in all the machinations described in TracerBullet's post, and the answer is probably not in the near future. From the NBA's perspective, they probably are indifferent to Seattle as a market, but from the NHL's perspective (and I've made this argument a million times in the hockey forums), the Pacific Northwest is a huge untapped market. I think an NHL team in Seattle would absolutely kill it. But the NHL has its own problems running their business, that's probably not likely either...

[TracerBullet]

Re: Seattle?

Well new developments just came out:

Seattle Mayor Open to NHL First Amendment, EIS done May 7th

The EIS, according to Murray and project observers, is most important roadblock for the proposal to become reality. Seattle arena investor Chris Hansen paid for the work, which has been done by a third party on behalf of the city. Murray said Wednesday the Seattle tunnel project was not a factor in the delays, and said Hansen had been slow to provide needed documentation.

He also revealed Wednesday that he is willing to go to the Seattle City Council to modify the existing Memorandum of Understanding for an NHL team to prompt construction of a new facility. The MOU currently allows for public financing and construction to begin only after an NBA team is acquired.

"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."

If we actually get the arena up, basketball is much more likely to come back at some point too I would think.

[VDusen04]

Re: Seattle?

Well new developments just came out:

Seattle Mayor Open to NHL First Amendment, EIS done May 7th


If we actually get the arena up, basketball is much more likely to come back at some point too I would think.

Semi-off-topic, what's going on with the tunnel? Is that going to be finished?

Sounded like a fiasco.

[TracerBullet]

Re: Seattle?

Semi-off-topic, what's going on with the tunnel? Is that going to be finished?

Sounded like a fiasco.

Projected for 2017 after originally being projected for this year. Basically, nothing happened with the tunnel last year after the Bertha tunneling machine was damaged and they had to dig a pit down to repair it. They had a report last month that they were 70% done on getting back to boring again.

So who knows when it'll get done at this point.

[VDusen04]

Re: Seattle?

The FEIS was released today. Appears to be a good sign.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development on Thursday released the 1,600-page Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) of the SoDo site and how it relates to other options in the Seattle region. The review covered topics as broad as the geology of SoDo and Lower Queen Anne to the various transportation issues in the proposed location south of Safeco Field.

The FEIS set a new target date of 2018 to open the arena.

http://www.king5.com/story/news/loca...rena/70952714/

[vtcha]

Re: Seattle?

I want an expansion team to happen just for the sole purpose of using that team in Association mode. Always wanted to start a team from the ground up.

[TracerBullet]

Re: Seattle?

The FEIS was released today. Appears to be a good sign.

http://www.king5.com/story/news/loca...rena/70952714/

Problem is the city council now wants to pull the $125 million they promised. They're using the possible hockey-first amendment as a scapegoat, but part of me believes they just don't want to do it if the Tukwila arena can exist with no one spending their cash.