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Yesterday, AEG and the Oak View Group presented their ideas for a brand new KeyArena. Those plans will now be put in contention with Chris Hansen’s Sodo arena to determine what course of action will be taken. It would seem that, one way or another, we will emerge from this with an arena. It’s been a long, strange trip to get here but here we are. The city of Seattle determined it wanted to make this a contest. So let’s take a look at the competitors. Just for comparison’s sake, I’ve included KeyArena in its current form.
Seattle arena options
| Arena | Sq Ft | NBA Capacity | NHL Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena | Sq Ft | NBA Capacity | NHL Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
| KeyArena | 368,000 | 17,072 | 15,177 | 1962 | 1995 |
| OVG KeyArena redux | 660,000 | 18,350 | 17,100 | 1962 | 2020 |
| Seattle Coliseum (AEG) | 600,000 | 18,113 | 17,120 | 1962 | 2020 |
| Seattle Arena (Sodo) | 700,000 | 18,500 | 17,500 | TBD |
I know there has been a lot of talk of how these plans would stack up against current arenas in both the NBA and NHL. So I ran those numbers as well.
NBA arenas
| Arena | City | Sq Ft | Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena | City | Sq Ft | Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
| United Center | Chicago, IL | 960,000 | 23,500 | 1994 | 2010 |
| Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA | 892,000 | 21,600 | 1994 | 2006 |
| Little Caesars Arena | Detroit, MI | 650,000 | 21,000 | 2017 | |
| Quicken Loans Arena | Cleveland, OH | 750,000 | 20,562 | 1994 | 2005 |
| Verizon Center | Washington, DC | 1,050,000 | 20,356 | 1997 | 2015 |
| Vivint Smart Home Arena | Salt Lake City, UT | 743,000 | 19,911 | 1991 | 2017 |
| Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 820,000 | 19,812 | 1964 | 2016 |
| Air Canada Centre | Toronto, ON | 665,000 | 19,800 | 1999 | 2010 |
| American Airlines Arena | Miami, FL | 782,400 | 19,600 | 1998 | 2009 |
| Moda Center | Portland, OR | 780,000 | 19,441 | 1995 | 2007 |
| Target Center | Minneapolis, MN | 831,533 | 19,356 | 1990 | 2016 |
| American Airlines Center | Dallas, TX | 840,000 | 19,200 | 2001 | |
| Pepsi Center | Denver, CO | 675,000 | 19,155 | 1999 | 2013 |
| Spectrum Center | Charlotte, NC | 780,000 | 19,077 | 2005 | |
| Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA | 900,000 | 19,060 | 1998 | 2014 |
| Talking Stick Resort Arena | Phoenix, AZ | 1,000,000 | 19,023 | 1992 | 2003 |
| Amway Center | Orlando, FL | 875,000 | 18,846 | 2010 | |
| AT&T Center | San Antonio, TX | 750,000 | 18,797 | 2002 | 2014 |
| TD Garden | Boston, MA | 755,000 | 18,624 | 1993 | 2014 |
| Seattle Arena (Sodo) | Seattle, WA | 700,000 | 18,500 | TBD | |
| OVG KeyArena redux | Seattle, WA | 660,000 | 18,350 | 1962 | 2020 |
| FedEx Forum | Memphis, TN | 805,850 | 18,119 | 2004 | |
| Seattle Coliseum (AEG) | Seattle, WA | 600,000 | 18,113 | 1962 | 2020 |
| Toyota Center | Houston, TX | 750,000 | 18,055 | 2003 | |
| Philips Arena | Atlanta, GA | 680,000 | 18,047 | 1999 | 2017 |
| Chesapeake Energy Arena | Oklahoma City, OK | 586,000 | 18,023 | 2002 | 2010 |
| Chase Center | San Francisco, CA | 695,000 | 18,000 | 2019 | |
| Bankers Life Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, IN | 750,000 | 17,923 | 1997 | 2015 |
| Barclays Center | Brooklyn, NY | 675,000 | 17,732 | 2012 | |
| Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center | Milwaukee, WI | 714,000 | 17,500 | 2018 | |
| Golden 1 Center | Sacramento, CA | 675,000 | 17,500 | 2016 | |
| KeyArena | Seattle, WA | 368,000 | 17,072 | 1962 | 1995 |
| Smoothie King Center | New Orleans, LA | 571,000 | 16,867 | 1995 | 2013 |
NHL arenas
| Arena | City | Sq Ft | Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena | City | Sq Ft | Capacity | Opened | Renovated |
| United Center | Chicago, IL | 960,000 | 19,717 | 1994 | 2010 |
| Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA | 892,000 | 19,543 | 1994 | 2006 |
| Little Caesars Arena | Detroit, MI | 650,000 | 20,000 | 2017 | |
| KeyArena | Seattle, WA | 368,000 | 15,177 | 1962 | 1995 |
| OVG KeyArena redux | Seattle, WA | 660,000 | 17,100 | 1962 | 2020 |
| Seattle Coliseum (AEG) | Seattle, WA | 600,000 | 17,120 | 1962 | 2020 |
| Seattle Arena (Sodo) | Seattle, WA | 700,000 | 17,500 | TBD | |
| Air Canada Centre | Toronto, ON | 665,000 | 18,819 | 1999 | 2010 |
| Amalie Arena | Tampa, FL | 600,000 | 19,092 | 1996 | 2012 |
| American Airlines Center | Dallas, TX | 840,000 | 19,200 | 2001 | |
| BB&T Center | Sunrise, FL | 872,000 | 15,700 | 1998 | |
| Barclays Center | Brooklyn, NY | 675,000 | 15,795 | 2012 | |
| Bell Centre | Motnreal, Quebec | 780,000 | 21,288 | 1996 | 2015 |
| Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 750,000 | 17,113 | 1996 | 2015 |
| Canadian Tire Centre | Ottawa, Ontario | 600,000 | 19,153 | 1996 | 2014 |
| Gila River Arena | Glendale, AZ | 612,900 | 17,125 | 2003 | |
| Honda Center | Anaehim, CA | 650,000 | 17,174 | 1993 | |
| KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY | 872,000 | 19,070 | 1996 | 2016 |
| Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 820,000 | 18,006 | 1964 | 2016 |
| MTS Centre | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 440,000 | 15,294 | 2004 | 2011 |
| Nationwide Arena | Columbus, OH | 685,000 | 18,144 | 2000 | |
| Pepsi Center | Denver, CO | 675,000 | 18,007 | 1999 | 2013 |
| PNC Arena | Raleigh, NC | 700,000 | 18,680 | 1999 | 2015 |
| PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, PA | 720,000 | 18,387 | 2010 | |
| Prudential Center | Newark, NJ | 858,000 | 17,625 | 2007 | |
| Rogers Arena | Vancouver, BC | 475,000 | 18,910 | 1995 | 2014 |
| Rogers Place | Edmonton, Alberta | 1,110,900 | 18,641 | 2016 | |
| Soctiabank Saddledome | Calgary, Alberta | 474,000 | 19,289 | 1983 | 1994 |
| SAP Center | San Jose, CA | 450,000 | 17,562 | 1993 | |
| Scottrade Center | St Louis, MO | 664,000 | 19,150 | 1994 | |
| Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA | 900,000 | 18,230 | 1998 | 2014 |
| TD Garden | Boston, MA | 755,000 | 17,565 | 1993 | 2014 |
| Verizon Center | Washington, DC | 1,050,000 | 18,506 | 1997 | 2015 |
| Xcel Energy Center | St Paul, MN | 650,000 | 17,954 | 2000 | 2017 |
| T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, NV | 650,000 | 17,368 | 2016 |
There you have it. No commentary, no rhetoric, no spin. Just raw numbers.