NHL/NBA back in Seattle?

I would like to thank my good friend Jovan Heer for taking the time to write this post on the situation Seattle is facing. No, nothing serious just the fact that Seattle has been without an NBA team since 2008 and hasn't had an NHL back since the Seattle Metropolitains back in 1924. The Metropolitains became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup back in the 1917 beating the Montreal Canadians in 4 games in a best of 5 series. You can follow Jovan on Twitter @JovanHeer, he's happy to give his "professional" take on the Vancouver Canucks during the game. Bellow are his words, that's why I put them in bold lettering.

The Seattle Seahawks are on their way to the Super Bowl for only the second time in franchise history and all of Seattle is going absolutely insane over the team. The team has had an amazing amount of support throughout the years, this year more then ever. The last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl was back in 2006, where they lost to both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the refs 21-10. The team has worked so hard this season winning the NFC West and just recently winning one of the hardest fought NFC Championship games anyone has ever seen against the San Francisco 49ers. 

The 12th Man is being talked about all over the world and you see it on the back of jerseys, home decorations, and even on the side of buildings. Century Link Field may be the loudest stadium in the NFL with the greatest fans, this season the fans broke the record for the loudest crowd in a game against the 49ers and then after the Chiefs fans broke the record the 12th Man broke the record again. 

So that leaves us with the question, if the Seahawks win the Super Bowl will that open the door for an NBA and/or NHL team to arrive in Seattle? With a new arena in Seattle and with stable owners the city could support an NBA team again because of the passion that the fans in Seattle show towards both a departed NBA team and no NHL team. If a city can gather around a team and show as much and support for a team as they do for the Seahawks and the Mariners, it could open a door for another franchise coming in.

David Stern is set to retire from the NBA and I know a lot of Sonics fans are saying "Good ridden". In early February last year he was quoted saying "We're not focused on expansion at the moment. It wouldn't surprise me if Commissioner Silver was looking at strong applications from Las Vegas and Seattle in the coming years.", so that gives all those in Seattle hope for at least an NBA team in the upcoming years.

I personally don't see Las Vegas acquiring a team over a city like Seattle, just because of the limited fan base. Besides there's way too many things to do in Vegas, I mean who's going to want to go to an NBA game when they can go watch celebrities perform and lose all their money? Even when the SuperSonics were in around they were averaging 15,000 fans a game and around 600,000+ fans a season. The team was just starting to play well when Clay Bennett decided to team up with Stern and move the Sonics out of Seattle and breaking the hearts of thousands of Sonic fans. Since they have moved to Oklahoma City they have improve year after year and even earned a trip the NBA Finals 2 years ago but lost to the Miami Heat (no complaints).

Only time will tell if Seattle gets an NBA back, but nothing will change until the soon to be Commissioner of the NBA gets adjusted to the new position. On to the National Hockey League, Commissioner Gary Bettman is always reluctant to the idea of relocating teams even when in doubt.....just look at the Phoenix Coyotes situation. They have been losing money for several years and instead of folding the team and relocating it they have instead decided to pay for it until the new owner was found and lost money because of it.

Teams like Florida, Columbus, and Dallas are struggling to put fans in the seats but that may be because of the teams being down in the standings. That may open the door to them relocating any of these teams to a new city, but that doesn't mean it will be in Seattle. There are other cities in the US and Canada looking at the potential of also getting an expansion team or getting one of those franchise like Quebec City and Kansas City. In conclusion it will be easier to get an NBA team then an NHL team but both are something that fans might end up getting in the long run with it being a great opportunity to grow the city of Seattle once again.