NHL is now almost a done deal in Seattle

[homesinseattle]

Honestly, the NBA has been so stupid here. The void they left in part allowed the Sounders to get massive, the NHL will be wildly popular here by then too. Will there be room for NBA as well? I guess so, they lost a lot of opportunity though and allowed fans to form allegiances that will last a lifetime. With all the prosperity here, it has to go down as one of the dumbest sports decisions of all time. To think that the whole thing may have been exacerbated by David Stern's pissing match and residual anger with the city of Seattle over not giving him the stadium he wanted. So short sighted.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Great news

[travis t]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

You may not be enthused, but others are. The NHL has moved this issue to a final vote with a positive vote expected in December.

As for the Kingdome, that PR was just fluff as we all realize today. Just because something "could" last 1000 years didn't mean it "should" last 1000 years, lol. Try less than 25 years for gawd s sake.

The KeyArena (orginally the Seattle Center Coliseum), was not really a rebuild in 1995, it was simply a renovation that expanded seating, added some luxury boxes, but did not change the building structurally to any great extent.

What we see today is indeed a "rebuild". This means the entire structure will be rebuilt from the bottom up, but keeping the architectural roof in place, as required by local land use laws.

Bottom line, the new Key Arena, or whatever it will be called, will be a brand new arena with seating to accomodate the new NHL team, something the previous Key Arena could not. Hopefully this will expand to an NBA franchise, but there is nothing for certain at this point.

You are incorrect about the 1995 gut-and-rebuild.
https://www.keyarena.com/arena-infor...yarena-history

The Coliseum was rebuilt from the ground up between 1994 and 1995, bringing the arena into the 21st century with state-of-the-art amenities. The remodeled facility maintained the architectural integrity of the original hyperbolic roofline by using the existing steel trusses in combination with four new main diagonal trusses... The court was lowered 35 feet below street level to allow for 3,000 more seats.(emphasis mine)

Why does a sports stadium that costs upwards of $1 billion (including interest costs) last only 23 years? It is fairly common for cars to last that long these days. The median age of owner-occupied homes in the US is 37 years. That's median, meaning many homes are much older.

When the Sonics asked for a new stadium around 2002 or so, the main reason cited by GM Wally Walker was that with the new M's & Seahawks stadiums, the luxury-box facilities of Keyarena were no longer competitive. I wonder if we'll go through that dance again after the hockey arena is built? All the sudden the M's & Hawks decide that they need shiny new toys too?

[travis t]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Honestly, the NBA has been so stupid here. The void they left in part allowed the Sounders to get massive, the NHL will be wildly popular here by then too. Will there be room for NBA as well? I guess so, they lost a lot of opportunity though and allowed fans to form allegiances that will last a lifetime. With all the prosperity here, it has to go down as one of the dumbest sports decisions of all time. To think that the whole thing may have been exacerbated by David Stern's pissing match and residual anger with the city of Seattle over not giving him the stadium he wanted. So short sighted.

I recall rumors at the time that David Stern vowed that Seattle would never get an NBA team, as an example to other cities that declined to build tax-funded stadiums. Stern is retired, but his protégé Adam Silver is now running the NBA.

Oh well it's his loss. Seattle has generally been a boom town since the Sonics moved to OKC.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Unless a low performing team decides to pack up and move. Historically, the NBA has a boat-load of those.

Like the Memphis Grizzlies.

What's the future of the NBA in Seattle?

Several prospective ownership groups are watching the Memphis Grizzlies. The city of Memphis has some protections built into the Grizzlies' long-term lease with FedEx Forum, however lawyers who have reviewed the lease believe there is a possible window for the team to leave in 2021, multiple league sources said.

However, Grizzlies owner Robert Pera would have to sell the team in order to move it under the terms of the lease, and Pera has given no indication he plans to do so. Quite the opposite, actually. Earlier this year, Pera agreed to buy out some of his minority owners at a price that valued the team at nearly $1.3 billion, league sources said.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by travis t

You are incorrect about the 1995 gut-and-rebuild.
https://www.keyarena.com/arena-infor...yarena-history



Why does a sports stadium that costs upwards of $1 billion (including interest costs) last only 23 years? It is fairly common for cars to last that long these days. The median age of owner-occupied homes in the US is 37 years. That's median, meaning many homes are much older.

When the Sonics asked for a new stadium around 2002 or so, the main reason cited by GM Wally Walker was that with the new M's & Seahawks stadiums, the luxury-box facilities of Keyarena were no longer competitive. I wonder if we'll go through that dance again after the hockey arena is built? All the sudden the M's & Hawks decide that they need shiny new toys too?

We are talking semantics here. The 94-95 remodel was just that. Don't believe Key Arena publicity.

The structural Coliseum remained in this remodel, though I will admit the floor was moved deeper into the ground. I don't think that constitutes a rebuild.

The bottom line is the 94-95 remodel wasn't good enough. It was one important factor in the Sonics leaving, (though certainly not the only factor), and this latest rebuild will likely be good enough. For that, Seattle sports fans should be excited.

[travis t]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

We are talking semantics here. The 94-95 remodel was just that. Don't believe Key Arena publicity.

The structural Coliseum remained in this remodel, though I will admit the floor was moved deeper into the ground. I don't think that constitutes a rebuild.

The bottom line is the 94-95 remodel wasn't good enough. It was one important factor in the Sonics leaving, (though certainly not the only factor), and this latest rebuild will likely be good enough. For that, Seattle sports fans should be excited.

OK fine, I agree that there is no point to arguing semantics. I don't get what the advantage would be for the Key people to lie about it.

The bottom line is that Keyarena and the Kingdome both lasted less than 25 years, as taxpayers were hit up for shiny new sports palaces. And this in an era where the state has been repeatedly dinged by courts and feds for underfunding of care for the mentally ill. What we're saying in effect that subsidies for the billionaire sports owners are higher priority than caring for the mentally ill.

[509]

Do we in eastern Washington have to pay for hockey and basketball in Seattle??

Can at least we get paid back for the tax dollars for the Mariners and Seahawks??