Seattle City Council Approves $660MM Arena Proposal

Expansion talk is about to heat up once again, as Chris Daniels of King 5 Seattle reports the City Council voted 7-1 in favor of a $660MM Memorandum of Understanding for a new arena, the first step towards a potential NHL franchise. The proposal would have a building ready by 2020.

While this by no means guarantees an NHL franchise for the city of Seattle, it’s clear that there is a plan in place to try and bring one. Recently as they discussed the upcoming vote, a councilmember said that the construction timeline of 2020 was designed to bring the NHL there for the 2020-21 season. That timeline would give the Oak View Group plenty of time to secure financing for the expansion fee or pursue a potential relocation option, especially with the backing of billionaire David Bonderman. The NHL has said that they’re not currently looking at expansion or relocation, but that they’d be willing to listen to interest.

This proposal would certainly seem to qualify as interest in the NHL, and was almost unanimously supported by the council. As Katie Strang of The Athletic reports, the one member who voted “no” would have rather abstained and still maintains hope that he will be convinced in the future. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan released a statement after the announcement that Daniels tweeted out:

I’ve said consistently that I’m committed to bring back our [NBA] Sonics, recruit an NHL team, and invest in our City. Under this plan, arena construction is 100% privately financed and will provide good family wage jobs for decades to come. Nothing in this MOU precludes other private investors from privately financing other arenas in Seattle, but it does establish a pathway to making Seattle Center vibrant for future generations. I commend the leadership of Councilmember Juarez, Council President Harrell, and Councilmember Bagshaw and look forward to reviewing and signing the MOU later this week.

The support of the city, and strong financial backing are two of the biggest obstacles when preparing to bid for NHL expansion, though it’s not clear exactly when that bid would be submitted. Just today, Rick Westhead of TSN reported two estimates that would put an expansion fee somewhere between $600-$650MM for a Seattle expansion franchise, quite a bit higher than the $500MM that Vegas paid on their recent bid.

Seattle may be a natural next step for the NHL, with the Western Conference already housing fewer teams than the East, a built-in geographical rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks and enough corporate dollars to thrive on, but expansion may not necessarily be the answer. There are several franchises that have less than clear futures around the league, and the price to obtain them may be much lower than the expansion fee. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has repeatedly stated that they can live with 31 teams indefinitely, though that may be a negotiating tactic more than anything else.

If an expansion round does come up in the next few years, it will be interesting to see who other than Seattle would be potential bidders. We’ve heard lots about Houston in recent months, and Quebec City remains as viable as ever for an NHL return. There are other markets, like Milwaukee and Kansas City that are less often included but still have potential down the road. For now though, most of the focus will be on Seattle and how quickly this project gets off the ground.