Seattle stadium plans could draw NBA and NHL teams
CBC News
Posted: Feb 16, 2012 8:31 AM PT
Last Updated: Feb 16, 2012 9:51 AM PT
Tyson Mowrey, 9, looks over Seattle SuperSonics ballcaps as he shops in the team store Thursday, July 10, 2008, in Seattle, one week after the settlement allowing the Sonics to move to Oklahoma City. (Elaine Thompson/AP)
News that Seattle could be getting a new NBA team and maybe an NHL franchise is creating a buzz in neighbouring Vancouver.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is reportedly expected to hold a news conference on Thursday to release details of a possible plan for a new basketball stadium downtown.
There is still a lot of work to be done on the proposal, but the Seattle Times is reporting McGinn has been meeting with San Francisco hedge fund manager Chris Hansen to discuss details of a possible plan for the stadium.
Hansen, 44, grew up in Seattle and reportedly wants to bring professional basketball back to the Emerald City. He has already reportedly bought property near the city's baseball and football stadiums.
That alone is big news for sports fans in Metro Vancouver, but the bigger news might be the possibility of an NHL rival for the Canucks within driving distance.
Hansen told the Seattle Times an NHL team is a possibility, but would require another partner.
A hockey team would help offset the cost of a $400 million arena and there has been much discussion in recent years about a need to relocate the NHL franchise currently in Phoenix.
Seattle has never had an full-fledged NHL team, but in 1917 the Seattle Metropolitans, who were playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup when they defeated the National Hockey Association's Montreal Canadians.
The city did have an NBA team until the SuperSonics left in 2008 because the owners could not find a new arena for the team.
Share Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Surrey RCMP seek hit-run driver
- Police are looking for a light-coloured Chrysler with damage to the driver's front side after a pedestrian was hit in Surrey, B.C., early Sunday morning. more »
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- A Vancouver man who climbed the world's highest mountain is back home and talking about the adventure. more »
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
- A sushi restaurant in Fort Langley, B.C., was damaged in a fire early Sunday morning. more »
Top News Headlines
- CP Rail negotiations stalled, union says
- Negotiations between Canadian Pacific Railway Lt. and the union representing 4,800 striking locomotive engineers and conductors have come to a "stall" after the government-appointed mediator walked out at 2 p.m. ET, a union spokesman says. more »
- UN Security Council blames Syrian regime for massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
- Canada's Ryder Hesjedal gets boost from family
- B.C. Coast Guard Auxiliary gets new name
- Psych ward escapes worry neighbours
- Environmental coalition pulls out of fish farm talks
- Passengers' families sue for fatal B.C. plane crash
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- Tsunami motorcycle heading to Harley museum
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
