The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the
Hammtime on
Art, can you delete this comment? I hit the send button too soon.
Anonymous on
Went ahead and deleted it for you. -Tim
Hammtime on
Hit the send button too soon…..
At first sniff, I like this plan.
The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the Hornets from New Orleans?
– Would like to see details (aka numbers) on how ArenaCo plans to make money or enough money to pay for the building and lease to the City.
– 30 years is a long time for a lease. We know the NBA biz model sucks, can Hansen and ArenaCo make enough money to pay the bills with an NBA franchise? What about in 10, 15, 20 years? The city and county are shielded from a lot of the risk but there is still some risk especially when dealing with the NBA business model. Some parts of this sound close to the deal struck in 1994 for the Key Arena remodel which goes to show how a great plan can turn into a nightmare in 10 years. I hope this doesn’t happen to this plan.
– The city will take ownership of the arena after 30 years. Will it still be viable? Key arena was considered outdated 10 years after it was remodeled (it was just over 30 years old when it needed the remodel).
Hammtime on
Hit the send button too soon…..
At first sniff, I like this plan.
The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the Hornets from New Orleans?
– Would like to see details (aka numbers) on how ArenaCo plans to make money or enough money to pay for the building and lease to the City.
– 30 years is a long time for a lease. We know the NBA biz model sucks, can Hansen and ArenaCo make enough money to pay the bills with an NBA franchise? What about in 10, 15, 20 years? The city and county are shielded from a lot of the risk but there is still some risk especially when dealing with the NBA business model. Some parts of this sound close to the deal struck in 1994 for the Key Arena remodel which goes to show how a great plan can turn into a nightmare in 10 years. I hope this doesn’t happen to this plan.
– The city will take ownership of the arena after 30 years. Will it still be viable? Key arena was considered outdated 10 years after it was remodeled (it was just over 30 years old when it needed the remodel).
Hammtime on
Art, can you delete this comment? I hit the send button too soon.
sportspressnw on
Went ahead and deleted it for you. -Tim
Anonymous on
How is $200 million in liability to the City and County a “good” thing, exactly? Both are stretched pretty thin already. Who should that money be taken away from? If this arena was such a great business proposition, you’d have more than one private investor asking the public sector to cover 40% of cost to build it…you’d have private investors coming up and saying they’ll foot the entire bill because they’ll end up making a profit. Or is Amazon asking the City and County to pay for 40% of their new block of buildings in Seattle?
Put a $5 or $10 surcharge on each ticket to events at this new arena as the public contribution. That would be no different from paying a toll to take the 520 bridge or all those “service fees” that TicketMaster adds on to tickets they’re selling…let the users pay the public’s share of the new arena.
RadioGuy on
How is $200 million in liability to the City and County a “good” thing, exactly? Both are stretched pretty thin already. Who should that money be taken away from? If this arena was such a great business proposition, you’d have more than one private investor asking the public sector to cover 40% of cost to build it…you’d have private investors coming up and saying they’ll foot the entire bill because they’ll end up making a profit. Or is Amazon asking the City and County to pay for 40% of their new block of buildings in Seattle?
Put a $5 or $10 surcharge on each ticket to events at this new arena as the public contribution. That would be no different from paying a toll to take the 520 bridge or all those “service fees” that TicketMaster adds on to tickets they’re selling…let the users pay the public’s share of the new arena.
9 Comments
At first sniff, I like this plan.
The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the
Art, can you delete this comment? I hit the send button too soon.
Went ahead and deleted it for you. -Tim
Hit the send button too soon…..
At first sniff, I like this plan.
The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the Hornets from New Orleans?
– Would like to see details (aka numbers) on how ArenaCo plans to make money or enough money to pay for the building and lease to the City.
– 30 years is a long time for a lease. We know the NBA biz model sucks, can Hansen and ArenaCo make enough money to pay the bills with an NBA franchise? What about in 10, 15, 20 years? The city and county are shielded from a lot of the risk but there is still some risk especially when dealing with the NBA business model. Some parts of this sound close to the deal struck in 1994 for the Key Arena remodel which goes to show how a great plan can turn into a nightmare in 10 years. I hope this doesn’t happen to this plan.
– The city will take ownership of the arena after 30 years. Will it still be viable? Key arena was considered outdated 10 years after it was remodeled (it was just over 30 years old when it needed the remodel).
Hit the send button too soon…..
At first sniff, I like this plan.
The good:
– $200 million limit to City/County liability
– $290 million plus any construction cost overruns plus capital repairs/upgrades are paid for privately by ArenaCo
– I-91 requirements are met
– Arena owner (ArenaCo) also owns the main tenant(s) – the NBA franchise and maybe the NHL franchise too
– Establishes fund to pay for Arena debt if tenant/owners fall behind
– NHL fanchise comes to Seattle!!!
The Bad:
– NBA has to be part of the deal (this kills me! After what Stern did I would prefer to have nothing to do with him or his NBA)
– requires stealing both an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise from other cities
The Questions/Unknowns:
– The deal is contingent on BOTH acquiring an NHL franchise and ArenaCo BUYING an NBA franchise. Could take some time, are the Maloofs interested in selling the Kings? Would the NBA be open to selling and moving the Hornets from New Orleans?
– Would like to see details (aka numbers) on how ArenaCo plans to make money or enough money to pay for the building and lease to the City.
– 30 years is a long time for a lease. We know the NBA biz model sucks, can Hansen and ArenaCo make enough money to pay the bills with an NBA franchise? What about in 10, 15, 20 years? The city and county are shielded from a lot of the risk but there is still some risk especially when dealing with the NBA business model. Some parts of this sound close to the deal struck in 1994 for the Key Arena remodel which goes to show how a great plan can turn into a nightmare in 10 years. I hope this doesn’t happen to this plan.
– The city will take ownership of the arena after 30 years. Will it still be viable? Key arena was considered outdated 10 years after it was remodeled (it was just over 30 years old when it needed the remodel).
Art, can you delete this comment? I hit the send button too soon.
Went ahead and deleted it for you. -Tim
How is $200 million in liability to the City and County a “good” thing, exactly? Both are stretched pretty thin already. Who should that money be taken away from? If this arena was such a great business proposition, you’d have more than one private investor asking the public sector to cover 40% of cost to build it…you’d have private investors coming up and saying they’ll foot the entire bill because they’ll end up making a profit. Or is Amazon asking the City and County to pay for 40% of their new block of buildings in Seattle?
Put a $5 or $10 surcharge on each ticket to events at this new arena as the public contribution. That would be no different from paying a toll to take the 520 bridge or all those “service fees” that TicketMaster adds on to tickets they’re selling…let the users pay the public’s share of the new arena.
How is $200 million in liability to the City and County a “good” thing, exactly? Both are stretched pretty thin already. Who should that money be taken away from? If this arena was such a great business proposition, you’d have more than one private investor asking the public sector to cover 40% of cost to build it…you’d have private investors coming up and saying they’ll foot the entire bill because they’ll end up making a profit. Or is Amazon asking the City and County to pay for 40% of their new block of buildings in Seattle?
Put a $5 or $10 surcharge on each ticket to events at this new arena as the public contribution. That would be no different from paying a toll to take the 520 bridge or all those “service fees” that TicketMaster adds on to tickets they’re selling…let the users pay the public’s share of the new arena.