Is Seattle a Five Sport City?
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
With baseball season over for the Seattle Mariners and with both the NHL season starting and the NBA season about to kick off in two and a half weeks, the city of Seattle only has the Seahawks and the Sounders to cheer for. But you know, Seattle really should be cheering for their own NHL team and NBA as well.
Back on July 31st of this year, Forbes came out with an article calling Seattle one of the most miserable sports cities in America. The article said that the city’s sports teams have combined for 115 seasons and have only seen the playoffs eleven times with the only major championship coming from the 1979 Seattle Sonics.
Now, I will admit that the of Seattle has had its bad luck with sports teams; with the Sonics being taken from us in 2008, the Mariners winning 116 games in 2001 and not winning the World Series. Hell, they haven’t made the playoffs since, the only titles we have seen have come from the Seattle Storm!
Right now, Seattle has the Seahawks as a possible Super Bowl contender and the Washington Huskies ranked at #16 in the country, so that’s a good start. But here’s the thing, Seattle shouldn’t just have the Seahawks, Mariners, and Sounders as pro teams to cheer for. Seattle should still have an NBA team and an NHL team readying to play. If we had that then guess what? Seattle would have sports teams to cheer for all year-long.
Chris Hansen is doing his best to bring the Sonics back to Seattle and with the new arena plan getting all done he’s also on the hunt for an NHL team. So, the question is; Will Seattle see an NBA and an NHL team come?
The answer is yes. As the 15th largest Metropolitan Statistical Area and the 12th US TV market, the Puget Sound region is the largest market in the United States that has two of the traditional major sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) represented. Considering the region’s incredibly strong corporate base, and the fact that Seattle is also among the fastest growing and most affluent major markets in the US, I believe that Seattle could easily support five teams.
Now, what is the time-frame for the wait for an NBA and NHL team? I say another two or three years until Seattle sees the NBA and the NHL come to the city.