Chris Hansen's Latest Arena Offer is the One That Can't Be Refused

The Seattle political process has greedily feasted on many former basketball stadium proposals, ultimately creating the circumstances by which the SuperSonics both skipped town and have remained absent.

If only someone as tenacious as Chris Hansen owned the team the first time around.

The billionaire hedge fund manager has approached his dealings with the Seattle City Council and King County as one would expect a successful investor to. He's been shrewd and patient with his proposals and counter proposals. When he tried to advance his agenda an inch when the city or the NBA wanted a mile, he dug his heels in and waited. Aside from the disastrous attempt to purchase and relocate the Sacramento Kings, he never overplayed his hand.

Without the availability of a team to relocate and expansion talks waiting on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement to be completed, Hansen has had the luxury of doing things on his own terms. Even the Seattle City Council's rejection of his request to vacate the desolate Occidental Avenue, which the Port of Seattle calls a critical freight route, seemed short sighted. Many wondered if Hansen would do as many before him have and concede defeat to the Council's inflexible demands.

Perhaps Hansen learned his lesson on going all-in at the wrong time from the Kings saga. Operating without the ego or bluster of Steve Ballmer as his chief financier or the threat of further harming the NBA's image with a relocation scar, Hansen has been able to bide his time and be strategic. He's listened to the (like it or not) legitimate concerns of the Seattle City Council about committing public financing for a basketball stadium. More importantly, he's likely had time to get back in the good graces of the NBA's brain trust after he turned the Kings mishap toxic and left himself branded a saboteur to another city's stadium plan and public funding.

The man is nothing if not calculating, which makes today's letter from Hansen and his investors stating he'll forgo the final year of his five-year Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2012 and calling for $200 million in public financing, raise some eyebrows.

Hansen has sunk over $100 million dollars and countless hours in to a pursuit that at times has been fruitless and frustrating, yet he's been undeterred. Why Hansen has taken the Mutumbo-esque rejection from the SCC and NBA may appear frivolous, but with a closer look, perhaps not. Maybe he's always known that he'd have another legitimate chance at getting the NBA back to the Emerald City. The NBA, at least publicly, is quiet when it comes to expansion or relocation. Hansen has learned to be quieter.

A hedge fund manager makes safe yet aggressive bets, and they wait for the right time to place them. Hansen knows something about the River and just pushed all his chips to the middle of the table.

Instead of crying foul when the SCC rebuked his already historically good stadium proposal, Hansen simply planned his next move accordingly. The stars aligning on a number of key issues is what today's announcement is about. The Lander overpass project received more government grant money, significantly narrowing the gap he'd need to contribute to get that project done and appease the obstructionist Port of Seattle's final grievance. The land he's been buying at the arena site in piecemeal for the last half-decade is only getting more expensive, records showing overpaying at close to three times the valuation of parcels around the arena site. And most importantly, the NBA, with it's lucrative TV contract in place and the average value of its franchises now twice what Hansen proposed to pay for the Kings in 2013, are on the verge of announcing a new long term CBA deal. If the NBA is looking at expansion, now is the time for Hansen to give everyone his best deal.

Seattle has always been at the front of the NBA expansion line, but arena issues and economic conditions in other NBA markets precluded granting a 31st franchise. With today's announcement of Hansen offering to privately finance the entire project while also funding critical public projects like the Lander overpass, he's created an offer too good for even the SCC to refuse. Civic investments of this caliber, from private developers, no less, are unprecedented. Occidental Avenue and the Port of Seattle's pride are not worth passing this up.

And, while the SCC has been oft-maligned since their 5-4 Occidental Avenue vacation vote in May appeared to finish the tombstone engraving for the Sonics, they deserve a ton of credit if this thing gets done. It's unclear if they believed Hansen would pony up the rest of the money if they shut him down, but for now, they can draw a bulls eye around their arrow.

Seattle committed too much public money to the Mariners and Seahawks facilities, and with public contributions for new stadiums like the Raiders deal in Las Vegas bursting through the stratosphere at $750 million dollars, the council's efforts should be applauded. Getting Seattle, King County, and its residents a historically great deal at zero risk to taxpayers while freeing up money for other projects is a big win. In a city badly needing to address homelessness, education, and infrastructure, building basketball arenas or elaborate police precincts should not be their priority.

Hansen's investors and the NBA should be happy that he's exhausted every resource on getting a better deal as well. The NBA wants Seattle and their tech dollars back in their pocketbooks, and Hansen worked every conceivable angle on the arena front while remaining vigilant. The SCC can say Hansen blinked first, but he probably always knew this was the endgame. Had he gotten a better deal with public financing, even better.

An NBA franchise is a crown jewel in today's pro sports market, an investment only set to continue the trend of increased valuation. It will never be worth less than the purchase price. A team in Seattle, the league's 14th largest media market, and ownership over a brand new facility and the surrounding area in a city with surging real-estate prices would immediately be a top-ten valued franchise and asset. A smart investor pursues that deal every time.

But, everyone has their limit. If the SCC doesn't need to take this deal, they will have overplayed their own hand. Hansen may not stop chasing his dream of bringing the Sonics back to town, but it may not matter. The NBA will rightly choose other suitors for expansion and close it's doors on Seattle forever.

Hansen has put the ball back in the court of the NBA and SCC, and this time, they need to play.