NHL in Seattle: Arena owner open to hockey tenant before NBA team

Seattle cleared away a major stumbling block toward the construction of a downtown arena on Thursday when the long-awaited Final Environment Impact Study found nothing that would prevent the project from moving forward.

"We’re one step closer to bringing NHL hockey and NBA basketball to Seattle,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.

As Chris Daniels notes, that’s an interesting order of names.

Chris Hansen, who has approval from the Seattle City Council to build an arena as long as the first tenant is an NBA team, has been more receptive recently to hockey coming to the building first.

In his group’s statement on Thursday, that was never more apparent:

The long-awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement 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 this 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.

This news comes after an ownership group headed by New York investment banker Ray Bartoszek sought to build an arena in the city of Tukwila near Seattle. The downtown arena site would be preferable for several reasons – is Hansen playing the PR game here, or can a deal be made to get an NHL team into the downtown arena when it potentially opens in 2018?

Mayor Murray has made it clear that the city is all for an NHL-first plan as long as there is a clear economic plan presented to the city.

"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. "I believe there could be an adjustment for an NHL team first if there if a financial plan that pencils out for the city."

Murray said he would spearhead the effort to get the City Council to approve funds for an NHL-first arena.

The NHL is going to mull over Las Vegas expansion this summer, with the potential for a formal expansion plan announcement in the fall. How long before the gears start to really turn on a Seattle franchise for the NHL?

Everything I've heard lately, by the way, points to a multiple-year expansion: Vegas first, then the other Western Conference team.

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