NBA in Seattle

Seattle is moving forward on environmental review of its planned KeyArena renovation. A draft Environmental Impact Statement was released April 23. The public has until June 8 to comment. A public hearing on the Seattle Center arena plans will be held May 14.

The upgrade to the facility is being done to attract more professional sports teams to the city, including a National Hockey League franchise and an NBA team.

Nearly a decade after the SuperSonics left Seattle because of lack of funding for a new arena, the city has a deal it hopes will eventually bring the NBA back.

The proposal for a new sports arena in Seattle just got more interesting - and more complicated. Knkx sports commentator Art Thiel talked with 88.5's Kirsten Kendrick about what's going on.

Investor Chris Hansen confirmed in interviews this week that he is looking for a new teammate in his Seattle arena project. Hansen's plan for a basketball and hockey arena in the SoDo district recently received a favorable Environmental Impact Statement.

But the process is far from over. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel said there are bigger hurdles ahead, including the question of which sport should come first.

A recent visit by the head of the National Hockey League has people in Seattle once again talking about whether the NHL will beat the NBA to town. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says that's "score one" for the hockey execs.

A state appeals court ruled against the longshoremen’s union in its attempt to block a new NBA arena in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood. 

With Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson already celebrating his city’s victory in the bid to keep the Kings in town, Chris Hansen and his Seattle-based investment group upped the ante on Friday.

Hansen said his group has raised the proposed purchase price for the franchise by $75 million, bringing the total to $625 million “in an effort to further demonstrate the extent of our commitment to bring basketball back.” The group also guaranteed to the league that the franchise would be a revenue sharing payer, Hansen said.

Don’t expect a decision this week on the fate of the Sacramento Kings.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said NBA Commissioner David Stern cautioned as much during a phone call on Monday. The mayor said he had called to tell the commissioner that “we were pushing ahead here in Seattle."

"He informed me then that he does not expect a decision out of the NBA on Friday, that it will be sometime after the meeting that we’ll get a decision made," McGinn said.

As the NBA weighs whether to allow the Kings basketball team to move to Seattle from Sacramento, the league has to consider the possibility of an antitrust lawsuit.

Why should the Sacramento Kings be worth more than $500 million when they’re nowhere near the top of the league? Sports economist Roger Noll of Stanford University says it’s simple: a scarce supply of teams. That's by design, he says, because NBA owners want to keep their franchises valuable. And that exposes the league to a possible lawsuit. 

The agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle investment group - with the goal of moving the team to Seattle - is not a slam dunk. It still needs NBA approval. And momentum is growing in Sacramento to try to keep the Kings there.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel tries to clear up some of the confusion Seattle fans may have about what's going on.

A new basketball arena appears to have the green light. Both the Seattle City Council and King County Council voted Monday in favor of an agreement with investor Chris Hansen.

However, more studies – and votes – lie ahead.

Seattle has a new deal for a sports arena to house NBA and NHL teams. If the full council approves the agreement later this month, lead private investor Chris Hansen will then face the possibly tougher job of getting a deal for the teams.

The revised deal has been officially announced by members of the Seattle City Council and addresses concerns by the Port of Seattle and others that traffic generated by events there would clog up the SoDo area.

Seattle councilmembers Sally J. Clark, Tim Burgess and Mike O'Brien made the announcement.

More questions are being asked about the proposal for a new arena in Seattle to lure back the NBA. A public hearing on the deal takes place Thursday evening and Seattle’s City Hall is expected to be packed with people giving testimony for and against it.

Port officials say placing a new sports arena in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood without significant transportation improvements would be a "job killer." And one King County councilman wondered if area residents shouldn't vote on the idea.