A second bidder on a potential expansion NBA franchise in Seattle is developing a plan to build a new arena on land near Marysville, a Washington town located 35 miles north of the Emerald City.<\/p>\n
BlackSun Private Equity, a New York-based firm that in August submitted a bid to bring the NBA back to Seattle<\/a>, is working with the Tulalip Tribes to build the arena on tribal-owned land if it secures the franchise.<\/p>\n Nick Rathod, chief global strategy and communications officer for BlackSun, confirmed to The Athletic on Friday that BlackSun and the Tulalip Tribes are \u201c100 percent partnering\u201d\u00a0 to build a new arena and entertainment district, if the NBA chooses to move forward with their bid.<\/p>\n \u201cOur hope is that the fans really are the drivers of this,\u201d Rathod said. \u201cObviously, the NBA makes the final decision. But we want the fans to help make the decision here because we feel like our bid coming into this is different and the most compelling. We are coming in with the Tribes, who were the original inhabitants of that land. We want to center the local community and get feedback from the local community. I think the NBA could really use, at this moment, a different storyline around ownership. You saw what the Laker deal looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n How do NBA expansion teams get their players?<\/p>\n Tifo Sports<\/p>\n Rathod was referring to what happened in August, when Mark Walter agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> only 14 months after agreeing to purchase the team. Federal prosecutors are also looking into alleged financial improprieties involving Walter\u2019s insurance companies.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a couple billionaires passing this franchise around like it was a rental property,\u201d Rathod said. \u201cFor fans and teams, that\u2019s just terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n The SuperSonics left Seattle in 2008. Rathod said BlackSun\u2019s goal is to bring the team back to the Pacific Northwest permanently.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want it to stay in that community forever,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will do everything we can to make sure that happens. One of the challenges initially when the Sonics left Seattle had to do with the stadium there. We feel like the land we have designated now with the Tulalip Tribes is one where families can come.\u201d<\/p>\n A basketball arena on Tulalip tribal land near Marysville would represent a considerable commuting challenge for Seattle-area fans. Rush hour commutes from downtown Seattle to this location routinely take over an hour, and it would be even longer from the more populated areas south of the city (including the city of Tacoma and the Seattle airport).<\/p>\n Rathod said that BlackSun understands that, for many Seattle residents, commuting to home games at this proposed arena site would be a \u201chike.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to ask people to take 41 trips to a venue without a credible mobility plan,\u201d Rathod said. \u201cThat means we are currently studying highway capacity. Regional transit. Dedicated game transportation. A park-and-ride system. Shuttles. Really trying to examine the entire fan journey that would make it as comfortable and easy and seamless as possible for them to get up there. Once they get up there, it\u2019s not just the stadium. There is an entertainment district we will further build out. It will be a destination.\u201d<\/p>\n BlackSun CEO Atonn Muhammad told The Seattle Times<\/a> it can add enough investors to make a bid for up to $8.1 billion.<\/p>\n One Roof Sports and Entertainment, an umbrella company headed by Samantha Holloway that owns a majority stake in the NHL\u2019s Seattle Kraken, is the only other known bidder for the potential Seattle expansion franchise, industry sources with knowledge of the process told\u00a0The Athletic last week<\/a>. One Roof Sports also controls a stake in Climate Pledge Arena, which is located just north of Seattle\u2019s downtown.<\/p>\n