NHL to Seattle Volume XIV - Seattle sells 26,000 season ticket deposits in 2 hours

[BattleBorn]

that's what I stated, it is not the same rules as Vegas entered, since your team is exempt.....

Depends on how you want to look at it, I suppose. Either way is true.

 

[superdeluxe]

I don't know if I should be surprised or not but there really seems to be a big effort by media to get on this hockey story. I suppose I underestimated the interest for the NHL here. The ticket drive and interest I have seen has caught me by surprise in a very good way.

KJR wants Live events. They haven't had live events Since the Huskies left. Also I think they think..getting the NHL, gives them a upper hand with the Sonics.

 

[superdeluxe]

FYI for those in the Seattle area, they just opened up Athletic Seattle. Its 33% off your first year and you get a free tshirt. You get access to local content and national content. (I know there have been some great hockey content that sits behind the pay wall)

 

[snovalleyhockeyfan]

KJR wants Live events. They haven't had live events Since the Huskies left. Also I think they think..getting the NHL, gives them a upper hand with the Sonics.

SD has this pegged exactly. The media interest has really been most aggressive by two outlets - Q13 and KJR. To me, it's nice, of course, but I also see clues in this, and I think I have noted this in the past here, that this increased coverage by both outlets are signals, and if Oak View's not paying attention, they should be, that they want local broadcast rights for the potential NHL team. IIRC I have discussed Q13 before so I'll focus on KJR here in saying that this is not their first trip to the hockey rodeo - they have done Canucks postseason games in past years when VAN was actually making the playoffs, and one year IIRC they even had a small number of Canuck regular-season broadcasts. So these guys have dabbled in it, and are clearly making another push to this end. It also helps that as part of the recent Entercom/CBS radio merger and resulting divestitures of stations, KJR picked up the Thunderbirds' flagship 1090 The Fan station, which had been a CBS property. So that I think is also part of this - they're also attempting to promote that station a little bit on the side.

 

[gstommylee]

SD has this pegged exactly. The media interest has really been most aggressive by two outlets - Q13 and KJR. To me, it's nice, of course, but I also see clues in this, and I think I have noted this in the past here, that this increased coverage by both outlets are signals, and if Oak View's not paying attention, they should be, that they want local broadcast rights for the potential NHL team. IIRC I have discussed Q13 before so I'll focus on KJR here in saying that this is not their first trip to the hockey rodeo - they have done Canucks postseason games in past years when VAN was actually making the playoffs, and one year IIRC they even had a small number of Canuck regular-season broadcasts. So these guys have dabbled in it, and are clearly making another push to this end. It also helps that as part of the recent Entercom/CBS radio merger and resulting divestitures of stations, KJR picked up the Thunderbirds' flagship 1090 The Fan station, which had been a CBS property. So that I think is also part of this - they're also attempting to promote that station a little bit on the side.

What make anyone think OVG is gonna go for a local broadcast and give the rights to root sports instead?

 

[superdeluxe]

Yeah Tim has already talked about the team being a regional team. That screams RSN.

 

[brewski420]

Yeah Tim has already talked about the team being a regional team. That screams RSN.

Do the RSN's have any control over radio feed or am I correct to assume that the team controls that separately?

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Yeah Tim has already talked about the team being a regional team. That screams RSN.

OT but they should really try to get rid of the underscore mark in their twitter handle.

 

[superdeluxe]

OT but they should really try to get rid of the underscore mark in their twitter handle

It’s going to be changed soon, I guess the guy likely wanted too much $

 

[superdeluxe]

Do the RSN's have any control over radio feed or am I correct to assume that the team controls that separately?

Radio is different I think

 

[gstommylee]

Do the RSN's have any control over radio feed or am I correct to assume that the team controls that separately?

its probably separate rights.

 

[gstommylee]

It’s going to be changed soon, I guess the guy likely wanted too much $

They'll probably change it once the team name has been picked and revealed.

 

[S E P H]

So what's the percentage that NHL announce a team this summer/offseason? I am fully expecting them to have a team and to line up for the 2020-2021 season, just wondering if they decide to confirm it as soon as possible or wait since there is a lot of time left.

 

[Killion]

So what's the percentage that NHL announce a team this summer/offseason? I am fully expecting them to have a team and to line up for the 2020-2021 season, just wondering if they decide to confirm it as soon as possible or wait since there is a lot of time left.

Thats a very good question and I'm not entirely sure what the % or odds might be that they roll out an announcement this summer, or perhaps delay it to next fall/winter, perhaps around Christmas or the All Star break. I'm pretty much convinced its a done deal, would like to see them get an early start.

 

[superdeluxe]

So what's the percentage that NHL announce a team this summer/offseason? I am fully expecting them to have a team and to line up for the 2020-2021 season, just wondering if they decide to confirm it as soon as possible or wait since there is a lot of time left.

99.9%. I'll grant you the .1% for a Astreoid striking the earth or something.

 

[BattleBorn]

I'm still thinking that if they're doing everything with the same plan at Vegas that this summer is early for an announcement.

2020 Expansion Draft, 2019 offseason announcement.

I know everyone's convinced I'm wrong, but I'm still having an issue with an announcement a mere matter of weeks/a couple months after arena renovations start in earnest.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm still thinking that if they're doing everything with the same plan at Vegas that this summer is early for an announcement.

2020 Expansion Draft, 2019 offseason announcement.

I know everyone's convinced I'm wrong, but I'm still having an issue with an announcement a mere matter of weeks/a couple months after arena renovations start in earnest.

that'll depend on if there are any setbacks once those renovations commence, in Vegas's case wasn't the arena priority one well before the opening of expansion and the awarding to Black Knight/Entertainment aka, Foley.

it took almost 2 years the last time Key was retrofitted, and that was with the Sonics still there.

 

[S E P H]

I'm still thinking that if they're doing everything with the same plan at Vegas that this summer is early for an announcement.

2020 Expansion Draft, 2019 offseason announcement.

I know everyone's convinced I'm wrong, but I'm still having an issue with an announcement a mere matter of weeks/a couple months after arena renovations start in earnest.

Not that I disagree, but it seems like it's one of the worst kept secrets in the sporting community and considering how successful the ticket drive was...perhaps the NHL decides to expedite the process.

 

[tony d]

I think this is inevitable but an offiical announcement's not made until early next year.

 

[BattleBorn]

that'll depend on if there are any setbacks once those renovations commence, in Vegas's case wasn't the arena priority one well before the opening of expansion and the awarding to Black Knight/Entertainment aka, Foley.

it took almost 2 years the last time Key was retrofitted, and that was with the Sonics still there.

My whole point is that there's a blueprint for how to have an expansion team join the league that was written two years ago, and thus far the powers that be have said they're following that plan. That plan includes the expansion rules which are confirmed to be the same, and, I'm guessing, the timeline as well. If you're going to have the same blueprint, and that blueprint included one year for the expansion team to get scouts and send them around the league/world, there's no reason to move that up for the next expansion. Especially if there's potential construction delays. Announcing this offseason for a 2020-21 expansion would give Seattle the 18-19 and 19-20 seasons with a staff and scouts, all while hoping the renovation stays on schedule, which isn't a given.

It's 100% Seattle's getting a team, I just don't see any logical reason the announcement happens this offseason.

 

[BattleBorn]

Not that I disagree, but it seems like it's one of the worst kept secrets in the sporting community and considering how successful the ticket drive was...perhaps the NHL decides to expedite the process.

The success of the ticket drive is more of a reason to delay an announcement than move it up, IMO. You've planned for 2020, you've announced 2020, and if people get tired of waiting for 2020, there's 15,000 other people with dibs on their spot.

If Key Arena was hockey ready right now, I could see them moving it up to this offseason for a 19-20 start due to the success of the drive and that it only took 10 minutes instead of a few months, but the arena's not ready and won't be ready until September 2020 at the earliest. We still don't know what's under Key Arena, in the unlikely event they dig down the extra 15 feet and find some brontosaurus fossils, that could set everything back months or years.

 

[PCSPounder]

We still don't know what's under Key Arena, in the unlikely event they dig down the extra 15 feet and find some brontosaurus fossils, that could set everything back months or years.

I will argue that we've been there before and, as these things go, finding such fossils usually happens early enough in the process as to not be a serious hindrance. Mammoth find: Beavers' site nets Ice Age fossils

 

[BattleBorn]

I will argue that we've been there before and, as these things go, finding such fossils usually happens early enough in the process as to not be a serious hindrance. Mammoth find: Beavers' site nets Ice Age fossils

It was just a silly example of a potential delay. It could be a labor dispute, an issue on site, just slow progress, crappy weather, etc. There's a thousand things that could go wrong to impact an already tight renovation schedule. According to the OVG site, they're planning on everything being done in September 2020 which is already cutting preseason a little tight.

 

[gstommylee]

The whole timeline is different that off Vegas.

Note we turned in our application and did the ticket drive at the same time. Vegas did drive first then turned in application. It took a year for the announcement cause they had to deal with quebec's application and study vegas' market as well.

Seattle blew away all expectations of the ticket drive. I don't see the NHL needing another half a year to year to review the application.

Regarding pre-season they can play games at the kent and Everett arena.

Regarding the FEIS. When they did the 95 renovation they also dug down and didn't find anything. Last i heard they have yet to hit into any red flags during the review so far.

 

[BattleBorn]

The whole timeline is different that off Vegas.

Note we turned in our application and did the ticket drive at the same time. Vegas did drive first then turned in application. It took a year for the announcement cause they had to deal with quebec's application and study vegas' market as well.

Seattle blew away all expectations of the ticket drive. I don't see the NHL needing another half a year to year to review the application.

Regarding pre-season they can play games at the kent and Everett arena.

Do you think the other 31 teams are interested in giving Seattle an additional year to scout and develop a draft plan after Vegas came in with one year and have done what they've done?

Like I said, if Key Arena was ready to go right now, I think the drive would potentially move an announcement up to this offseason and allow Seattle to hire a GM and staff for next season to start play in 19-20. That's not the case, though.

I'm working the timeline backward from the first time the puck drops in Seattle's new arena, not forward from the ticket drive. I think the league would think the same way.