The issue with hedge fund manager Chris Hansen's bid to bring an NHL team to Seattle, even in the wake of a possible competing bid, has been twofold: Hansen's arena proposal wasn't approved on an environmental level, and it was unclear whether he was willing to house a hockey team ahead of an NBA team.
We got clarity on Thursday: Hansen has the necessary environmental clearance to continue the permit process, via the city's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), and he's willing to go hockey-first.
"(We) remain 100 percent supportive of the NHL returning to Seattle and playing in the arena — and are completely open to the prospect of that occurring prior to the NBA," Hansen's group said in a statement released after the "major milestone" EIS.
"In light of recent speculation, we would just like to clarify that we have sought to be as accommodating as possible in our negotiations with potential NHL partners, with our only major requirements being that such a deal does not jeopardize the process or put the City, County, Taxpayers or us in a worse financial position," the Hansen group's statement continued.
That's relevant because in late April, another group, RLB Holding Sports and Entertainment, started the process of securing permission to build an arena in nearby Tukwila, Wash. That group, led by Ray Bartoszek, is more NHL-centric than Hansen's.
Bartoszek tried to buy the then-Phoenix Coyotes in 2013 and move them to Seattle, and has met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman multiple times, including in April, to talk about a Seattle expansion team, according to ESPN.com's Craig Custance.
"There's no doubt (Bartoszek) is a substantial, smart person who is passionate about the game," Bettman told ESPN.com. "We're having conversations to the extent that the interested parties want to talk to us. It hasn't gotten beyond that."
So, re-enter Hansen, who doesn't have an NBA team to buy at the moment. That league is less focused on expansion than the NHL, where the effort to prove the sustainability of a Las Vegas team continues. Two Western Conference teams would leave the NHL with two 16-team conferences, rather than the current 16/14 split.
The downtown Seattle arena would open in 2018; a Tukwila arena could open a year later.
"We’re one step closer to bringing NHL hockey and NBA basketball to Seattle," mayor Ed Murray said on Thursday morning, according to TV station King 5's Chris Daniels.
The next step for the league is June's Board of Governors meeting, where team executives will discuss the Las Vegas group's ongoing season-ticket drive and, presumably, both Seattle proposals. Then comes a possible vote to open the expansion process.