Throwdown":21y0fbga said:
http://seattletimes.com/html/othersports/2023010707_nhlinseattle28xml.html
The Ballmer-Hansen duo is the wild card, since they united two years ago to build a SoDo arena that would house an NBA franchise. All eyes are on whether Ballmer-Hansen would consider becoming hockey owners in an arena where basketball might not happen for years.
I wouldn't mind hockey, but not at the possibility of losing Hansen's interest in owning an NBA team.
I doubt Hansen would be losing interest. I think it's more likely that they see it as an easy way to get the arena built. Shovels in ground = less reason for the NBA to dilly-dally.
It also would allow Hansen to get the arena done before shifts in the mayor's office or City Council kill the deal. Finally, if they own the hockey team instead of Bartozek or whoever, the CC might be more willing to change the MOU.
If it's true that the Democratic Party has Seattle on the shortlist to host the 2016 DNC, but that they want the new arena to do it in, Hansen might also want to move along with the building of the arena for that reason. It would be a heck of a high-profile way to show off his new digs.
Basically, the NBA has shown how little they care about being here, but NBA fans want the arena built for when they get around to it, so Hansen is going to try to accommodate y'all through other means.
Say what you will about Bettman, but at least the guy WANTS to be in Seattle. Stern/Silver want to be in Sacramento, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City instead. That makes sense to no one but Stern and Silver.
(From what I have read and heard, the Seattle NHL team is pretty much a done deal unless the arena location somehow fails the environmental survey next month.)
ray:
