Seattle just took a major step forward with their approval of a major arena redevelopment memorandum of understanding for KeyArena. Hopefully going to advance their chances of landing an NHL team vastly. Go Thunderbirds/Totems/Breakers/Kraken/whatevers. Do that and then move the Yotes to Houston, and we'd have a pretty solid western conference market-wise.
Seattle's success/failure is going to hinge on *how* they renovate the dump that is Key Arena.
If they keep it like it is...think Barclays...except worse. Obstructed views and horrible sightlines. Hell, it spoke volumes that their WHL team couldn't get out of there fast enough and drew more in a 6000-seat arena.
If they renovate it intelligently, to negate all obstructions, it could possibly work.
Personally, they should have dynamited that eyesore to the ground and built a real arena...but that's Seattle for you. They had a chance to build a real arena down south that would have kept the Sonics but they voted it down.