Could Facebook’s Success Bring the NBA Back to Seattle?
A major Northwest U.S. newspaper notes the upcoming Facebook Initial Public Offering (IPO) could have a direct effect on the possibility of Seattle earning some clout in their efforts to convince the NBA to grant them an expansion franchise to replace what we know now at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Chris Hansen, a San Francisco-based hedge fund manager is part of a team that has developed a new arena proposal for the Key City, and to have one of its first tenants be a new professional basketball franchise.
It’s estimated that Facebook’s IPO could earn Hansen’s investment firm, Valiant Capital, around $800 million if stock prices were to stay at $35 per share following the IPO. Hansen owns around 36.3 million shares of stock in Facebook which were purchased during the company’s private 2010 stock buy in initial preparations to go public.
If indeed Chris Hansen earns this $800 from his position with Facebook, he theoretically could personally finance both the arena and the administrative costs required to potentially bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle.
Hansen is not alone in his pursuit of a new arena deal, however, and the other yet-to-be-named investors that are a part of his team would have to be willing to buy into this approach before anything really gained too much momentum.
Basketball fans in the Upper Northwest will take this news as a huge positive, but it’s always advisable to remember in deals like this where massive amounts of money is changing hands, nothing is ever certain until the final signature is inked on the dotted line.
Plenty of factors could intervene– the least of which being owners hesitant to place another NBA franchise in Seattle given how poorly the Supersonics performed from a business perspective while there–and make Chris Hansen’s plans much more difficult than he could possibly imagine.
Having $800 million of liquid income to work with will give Hansen a leg up in negotiations with the NBA, but even he will need the blessing of owners across the league, and most importantly, David Stern, who may all be hesitant to return to a place that still to some extent harbors so much ill will due to the team they just lost.
Grudges often become a major roadblock in deals like this.
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Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports. If you enjoy his takes, you can follow Kris on Twitter, check out his personal Facebook page, or stop by his personal Tumblr page.
