Bonderman said Seattle's group would like to have more season-ticket drive sales than Las Vegas didGETTY IMAGES
Optimism is "already running high" among Oak View Group and the prospective Seattle NHL ownership group led by financier David Bonderman and filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer, even before the "upcoming morale boost of the season ticket drive" that begins today, according to Alex Prewitt of SI.com. Two dozen temporary employees "form the sales force, along with another dozen borrowed from OVG." The NHL "hasn't set any target number" for season-ticket sales. But Bonderman said the group would "like to do better" than the Golden Knights did in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights' campaign "reached 5,000 deposits in two days and maxed out at 10,000 in a month and a half." Prewitt noted the Seattle owners "play coy when asked for specific goals," but "expect to surpass Las Vegas' numbers faster." Unlike the Golden Knights, who only "accepted credit cards linked to local addresses, Seattle has already solicited commitments from residents of Alaska and Canada" (SI.com, 2/28). ESPN.com's Emily Kaplan noted OVG in February "submitted paperwork" and a $10M down payment to the NHL. The league is "likely to accept the bid pending the results of the season-ticket drive." The Seattle ownership group "says it is not focused on a benchmark for season tickets." The NHL "set the expansion fee" for Seattle at $650M -- a "steep increase" from the $500M the Golden Knights paid to enter the league (ESPN.com, 2/28).
WORK TO BE DONE: OVG CEO Tim Leiweke said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is "going to look" at the expansion application submitted by the Seattle ownership group and is "going to protect the best interests of the other thirty-one owners." Leiweke: "He, ultimately, is the one that decides whether or not we're going to get a franchise." Leiweke added if Bettman does award a franchise to Bonderman's group, "I promise you the one thing David has said for fifteen years of this journey is, 'Let's put together the greatest management team we could possibly put together.'" Leiweke: "And that will be easy to do in Seattle." Bonderman said Bettman has "made it very clear that they see what we are doing here as a test -- the willpower of the people in Seattle and the fans to step back from the various traumas that have been here before, step up and prove that the city is ready for a franchise." Bonderman: "We're aiming to get an approved franchise by June and get up and running with the construction in October" ("Brock & Salk," ESPN Radio 710 Seattle, 2/28). In Toronto, Kevin McGran noted the Seattle ownership group is "taking nothing for granted." Leiweke: "We have to assume the worst-case scenario. We still have work to do to get the league comfortable. We have work to do to get this approved" (TORONTO STAR, 2/28).
ONE STEP AT A TIME: Bonderman said of owning a potential NBA franchise in Seattle, "If there is a basketball franchise available, we're going to go after it." But he added, "I don't want to get people's hopes up too soon for too much because there's processes and all kinds of issues here. We're going to start with hockey and I'm glad we're able to do that" ("Brock & Salk," 2/28). In Seattle, Geoff Baker notes Bonderman and Bruckheimer "insisted they would do what it takes to bring a basketball franchise" to the city and "become owners in that as well." Bonderman, already a minority owner in the Celtics, said that he is "prepared to sell his stake in that team so he could become a Sonics owner." Bonderman: "It makes a lot of sense, actually. And if there's a franchise on offer, we would be in the thick of the fray trying to bring it home to Seattle." Bonderman said that his fellow NBA owners "already hold Seattle in high regard." Bonderman: "It's fair to say that everybody I've talked to among the NBA owners think that we're doing the right thing by coming to Seattle. A lot of them said 'Why hockey? Why not NBA?' And what we said to them is 'We love hockey and it's the place to start here'" (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/1).
STRONG INTEREST: Leiweke yesterday said that "six major companies have asked to discuss naming rights for the remodeled KeyArena." Leiweke: "This is the 19th arena-stadium I've worked on for naming rights in my 40-year career, and this is the first time in my career that I am being chased. ... It does not shock us that companies are interested. What shocks us is the sheer magnitude of the companies." Leiweke said that a naming-rights deal has "not been signed, and declined to comment when asked if Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Expedia or Boeing are among those interested" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/28).
