SEATTLE — If the hype around Governor Bob Ferguson’s meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wasn’t enough to excite Sonics fans, news from the Kraken ownership may have done it.
Monday morning, Tod Leiweke, former CEO of the Seattle Kraken announced the Kraken owner Samantha Holloway created a new parent company—One Roof Sports and Entertainment—that will run the hockey team, Kraken Community Iceplex, and take over a majority ownership of Climate Pledge Arena from the Oak View Group (OAG).
“I always believed our best days are ahead of us and I’m here to reiterate our best days are in front of us. One Roof Sports and Entertainment is incredibly well-positioned for opportunities that are forthcoming.”
While OAG will still manage the arena, the ownership change raises a big green and yellow flag for Dr. Natalie Welch, the director of Seattle University’s Sports and Entertainment department who has a PhD in Sports Management.
“Climate Pledge Arena was set up so that it would be ready to plug and play for an NBA team and this kind of puts their stake in the ground as far as saying, ‘We want to be the ones involved the NBA team,” Welch said. “So having that venue, it would make it harder for another ownership group to come in.”
Welch said it doesn’t preclude other owners, but if the NBA expanded to Seattle, owners would either need to lease or build their own arena if One Roof isn’t part of the ownership mix.
As far as Monday’s meeting, Ferguson’s spokesperson said it was “productive” and bringing back the Sonics remains a “priority” for the Governor.
“I honestly think it’s really just figuring out like the logistics and the timeline,” Welch said, “If there are any owners that are hesitant about expansion, maybe he’s kind of voicing those concerns to the Governor to see if there’s anything.”
On Wednesday, NBA owners will vote whether or not to open up the league for bids for new franchises in Seattle and/or Las Vegas. Longtime Seattle Sports talk host Jason Puckett, now of Puckett Sports, says the Kraken ownership, and Samantha Holloway particularly, have had an NBA expansion in their sights.
“We always knew the Kracken were going to be a part of this. How much involvement they were going to have was probably unanswered, but I think we got our answer today,” Puckett said.
Puckett sees the parent company as a way to keep things “under one umbrella.” He sees Silver as calling out Seattle as a deliberate move.
“It’s another step closer to getting that Sonic team back,” Puckett said, “I think Adam Silver wants to right what was a wrong and so this is a necessary first step.”
The “wrong” to Puckett is the Sonics being bought by an out-of-state owner and moving the team to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Since then, Climate Pledge Arena has been modernized, the Seattle Storm is a summer-time staple of the city’s sports scene, the Kraken Franchise has had high demand, and the newest franchise, Seattle Torrent, has set women’s professional hockey attendance records in its first year.
That’s on top of the Seahawks Super Bowl title and a memorable Mariners postseason run in 2025.
“Having this attention from the Seahawks, from the Mariners, the Torrent...I think all of that is good momentum,” Welch said, “It just makes the case even stronger, like look how passionate of a fan base you have and how diverse of a fan base you have.”
Any bid for a new franchise would be large, reportedly estimated between $7-$10 Billion.
“We hope there could be a big moment forthcoming and we’re going to be ready,” Leiweke said.