City Hall
Potential Arena Investor Makes Rare Public Appearance
In a rare public appearance, potential Seattle NBA benefactor and San Francisco hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen---looking a bit dazed and disheveled in a gray sweater, white button-down shirt, and a walking cast on one leg---spoke to the city's arena review panel and the media about his plans to build a new arena, and bring NBA and NFL teams, to Seattle.
Hansen was long on reasurances ("this was the right thing to do for the city") but short on specific answers to questions about whether he's talking to NBA supporters who want an arena in Bellevue ("I'm not going to answer that"), what impact a SoDo arena would have on local industry ("It'd be pretty premature for me to act like I have a solution to the Port's problems"), and concerns that the city might not be able to secure both an NBA and an NHL franchise within a reasonable time ("I'm a very patient person. ... I think it's unrealistic to assume that we are going to have both an NBA team and an NHL team willing to relocate on the same day.")
Hansen was also reticent on the question of who the still-unidentified members of his "investment group" would be, saying, "It isn't my place to put people's names out there," but adding, "I think it's safe to say that our ownership group will have a very healthy local ownership participation."
In response to questions about how committed that ownership group would be if, for example, the teams and arena turned out not to be profitable, Hansen insisted he was committed to sticking by the proposal even if it faltered for a while. "We're putting up a reserve fund to start that grows over time ... that would make up for any shortfalls," Hansen said. That reserve fund, he continued, would eventually be large enough to pay for three years of arena operations.
"If I thought there was a high probability of losing a substantial amount of money, I would not be undertaking this effort."
In a brief media appearance after the panel meeting---in which the diminutive Hansen looked a bit dazed in the glare of dozens of lights and cameras---the reclusive Hansen said he was willing to be in the media spotlight only "as much as I have to be," adding that the media attention "goes with the territory," but looking less than thrilled at the attention. "I'm not going to be a person who is going to be out to get attention for my own ego," Hansen said.
Hansen was long on reasurances ("this was the right thing to do for the city") but short on specific answers to questions about whether he's talking to NBA supporters who want an arena in Bellevue ("I'm not going to answer that"), what impact a SoDo arena would have on local industry ("It'd be pretty premature for me to act like I have a solution to the Port's problems"), and concerns that the city might not be able to secure both an NBA and an NHL franchise within a reasonable time ("I'm a very patient person. ... I think it's unrealistic to assume that we are going to have both an NBA team and an NHL team willing to relocate on the same day.")
Hansen was also reticent on the question of who the still-unidentified members of his "investment group" would be, saying, "It isn't my place to put people's names out there," but adding, "I think it's safe to say that our ownership group will have a very healthy local ownership participation."
In response to questions about how committed that ownership group would be if, for example, the teams and arena turned out not to be profitable, Hansen insisted he was committed to sticking by the proposal even if it faltered for a while. "We're putting up a reserve fund to start that grows over time ... that would make up for any shortfalls," Hansen said. That reserve fund, he continued, would eventually be large enough to pay for three years of arena operations.
"If I thought there was a high probability of losing a substantial amount of money, I would not be undertaking this effort."
In a brief media appearance after the panel meeting---in which the diminutive Hansen looked a bit dazed in the glare of dozens of lights and cameras---the reclusive Hansen said he was willing to be in the media spotlight only "as much as I have to be," adding that the media attention "goes with the territory," but looking less than thrilled at the attention. "I'm not going to be a person who is going to be out to get attention for my own ego," Hansen said.
