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Industry News

Seattle push for NHL expansion with ticket sales

Seattle NHL ice hockey fans are being invited to help with the push to bring an expansion team to the city by putting money down for season tickets.

Mayor Jenny Durkan of the Washington city and the Oak View Group (OVG), announced yesterday (Tuesday) that people can begin making refundable deposits for season tickets at NHLSeattle.com beginning on March 1.

The payments costs $500 per season ticket or $1,000 for club season tickets, which are located at the centre of the rink on the lower-level.

Oak View Group is leading the effort to bring the NHL to Seattle, with the bid group headed up by billionaire David Bonderman and Hollywood film producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

The application has now been sent to the league, as of last week, in addition to a fee of $10m (€8m/£7.1m).

The NHL has set Seattle an expansion fee of $650m, and the Seattle City Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OVG that commits the firm to a 39-year lease. This agreement also includes two eight-year renewal options for a total of up to 55 years, with OVG to contribute $600m to the project and cover cost overruns associated with the development.

However, this only forms part of the plan, with OVG having committed to a major redevelopment project at Seattle’s KeyArena. Should the city prove successful in its bid, OVG will spend $600m to renovate the 56-year-old venue in time for a potential debut season in 2020-21.

OVG has set a provisional start-date for work before the end of the year, with the group hoping to reopen the venue in October 2020.

Image: Tiffany von Arnim