Could Seattle be the NHL’s next expansion or relocation city?
The NHL is constantly looking for new cities to relocate or expand to. For example, the Vegas Golden Knights will be the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the Arizona Coyotes having an uncertain future, the league is exploring cities to move to. Kansas City is one of them. But now there’s another city in play – Seattle.
Washington has been the center of whispers and rumblings about relocation for a while now. However, they’ve never had a hockey arena. This could change very quickly, as a reported $660 million arena project is expected to be announced by the mayor of Seattle. It will consist of upgrading a current arena, not building a brad new one.
According to TSN, the arena is expected to be completed around 2020. The leading group in this arena is Oak View Group. This arena is expected to meet the standards of both the NHL and the NBA.
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The city already has the Mariners and the Seahawks, to go along with the Seattle Sounders, an MLS team. However, the Hawks have been the lone “winter” team ever since the Supersonics left to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Logically, one can assume Washington won’t be interested in being an expansion location. The Oak View Group is already investing $600 million into their arena. Are they really going to be interested in paying at least a $500 million expansion fee, which is what the Golden Knights had to pay? Relocation is the most reasonable option.
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Relocating the Coyotes to Washington state would allow them to stay in the Pacific Division while still making sense from a geographical standpoint. If the Calgary Flames can’t work something out for a new arena, Seattle could be a tempting destination for them as well.
However, they would have to compete directly with the Vancouver Canucks. The city is a very solid market for Vancouver, so maybe this is a good sign for future NHL success in the Pacific Northwest.