In December of 1989 when the NHL announced a new round of expansion for the 1992-93 season. Two groups quickly established themselves as contenders for a Seattle franchise. The first was financed by Microsoft millionaire Chris Larson and led by former Seattle Totem Bill MacFarland. The other was headed by Bill Ackerley, son of Seattle Supersonics owner Barry Ackerley.
Ackerley had already applied for a franchise and the two camps decided to pool their resources.
presentation to the Board of Governors took place on December 5. The Seattle contingent consisted of four representatives: MacFarland, Larson, Barry Ackerley, and Bill Lear, a financial advisor for Ackerley. They met for breakfast and discussed their strategy, then adjourned to a room to await their turn to present.
Ackerley then made a strange request. He asked if he and Lear could speak to the Board first in private before the others did their portion of the presentation. It was a complete surprise – they had not discussed this over breakfast, but MacFarland and Larson reluctantly agreed.
Ten minutes later Stein returned with a strange story. Apparently Ackerley introduced himself to the Board and informed them that the Seattle group was withdrawing its application. No reason was given. Ackerley and Lear then left the room through another exit. MacFarland and Larson were stunned.
Completed in 1995, the newly renamed Key Arena was a palace for basketball with 17,000 seats and over 50 luxury boxes. Unfortunately the remodel reduced the building’s seating capacity for hockey, leaving it with only around 10,000 unrestricted view seats. MacFarland has stated that he believes this was part of Ackerley’s plan all along – prevent the city from getting an NHL team that would compete with the Supersonics and then remodel the Coliseum to ensure his team remained the building’s key tenant.
