On Feb. 13, the Oak View Group, a sports and entertainment company and a prospective ownership group led by filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer and billionaire David Bonderman filed for a National Hockey League expansion team in Seattle.
The application cost $10 million but an additional $650 million will be the cost for the team to become the NHL’s 32nd team if the application is approved.
Talk of expansion within the league has been around forever and Seattle has never strayed far from the conversation, even when the Las Vegas Golden Knights were granted a team, leaving a sour taste in the mouths of many.
Seattle’s expansion application has no timeline attached for approval but if it is successful, it makes a lot more sense than Vegas ever did. In recent years, Seattle has become one of the hottest destinations in the United States and with a booming economy, it’s no time like now for the city and the league to jump on board.
There is no city more deserving than the Pacific Northwest’s biggest city. Major League Soccer allowed the Seattle Sounders to join the league in 2009 and has been one of the most successful teams in the league in recent years, winning one MLS Cup in 2017 and the Supporters’ Shield in 2014. They have never failed to reach the playoffs in the nine years they have been in the league and boasts the best average attendance (though Atlanta United had the highest overall in their first year of play in 2017).
An NHL team could draw similar if not better numbers, especially if the ownership of the prospective team and the Vancouver Canucks can market a rivalry mirroring the historic Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens heated but celebrated rivalry.
Seattle is no stranger to hockey either. The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American team to win the Stanley Cup (in 1917) beating the Montreal Canadiens prior to the NHL’s beginnings. The team also has five members honoured in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League also play in Kent, Wash., just 20 kilometres from Seattle. The city also has two other junior level teams.
The city was also granted a conditional franchise to a team nicknamed the Totems in 1976 but never got off the ground due to financial problems that led owner Vince Abbey to file a lawsuit against the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks. It was resolved in 1986 in favour of the NHL. The Totems didn’t play a single NHL game. A second attempt also failed in 1990.