A second group is growing a plan to convey an NBA enlargement franchise again to Seattle, with BlackSun Personal Fairness partnering with the Tulalip Tribes on a proposed enviornment and leisure district north of town.
The Athletic reported Friday that BlackSun, a New York-based non-public fairness agency that submitted a bid for an NBA franchise in August, is working with the Tulalip Tribes to construct a brand new enviornment on tribal-owned land close to Marysville, roughly 35 miles north of Seattle.
Nick Rathod, BlackSun’s chief international technique and communications officer, confirmed the partnership to The Athletic and mentioned the 2 teams are “one hundred pc partnering” on the undertaking if the NBA selects their bid.
“Our hope is that the followers actually are the drivers of this,” Rathod mentioned. “Clearly, the NBA makes the ultimate determination. However we would like the followers to assist make the choice right here as a result of we really feel like our bid coming into that is totally different and essentially the most compelling.”
The proposal provides a brand new enviornment choice to Seattle’s enlargement race at a time when the NBA is evaluating whether or not so as to add one, two or zero groups. The league is targeting the 2028-29 season for potential expansion and is anticipated to decide by the top of 2026.
Seattle is competing with Las Vegas because the main potential enlargement markets. The NBA has already carried out a second spherical of detailed submissions for Las Vegas, whereas Seattle has gone by way of one spherical, with sources indicating that the league could select a Las Vegas ownership group before turning to Seattle.
The Seattle discipline can also be being affected by the anticipated sale of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, which may draw investor capital towards that transaction somewhat than an NBA enlargement bid.
BlackSun’s proposal reportedly values an enlargement franchise at $8.1 billion. That determine falls throughout the broader reported vary of $7 billion to $10 billion for an NBA enlargement price, underscoring the monetary scale of the league’s enlargement course of.
Rathod additionally emphasised the position of the Tulalip Tribes in BlackSun’s proposal and mentioned the group desires to position the area people on the middle of the undertaking.
“We’re coming in with the Tribes, who had been the unique inhabitants of that land,” Rathod mentioned. “We need to middle the area people and get suggestions from the area people.”
If Seattle in the end receives an enlargement franchise, the return would additionally carry vital historic implications. The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder presently retain the SuperSonics’ franchise historical past after the group relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma Metropolis in 2008, however a brand new Seattle franchise could be anticipated to obtain that historical past again.
The NBA Board of Governors is scheduled to satisfy in September, offering one other vital checkpoint within the enlargement course of. A proper enlargement determination requires approval from 23 of the league’s 30 governors.
With BlackSun and the Tulalip Tribes now presenting a brand new enviornment and possession proposal, Seattle has one other contender searching for to persuade the NBA that the SuperSonics ought to return.
