$10 Billion and a Dream: Who's in Line to Own Seattle's NBA Team
The Sonics comeback is closer than ever. So who's actually going to write the check?
For what seems like an eternity, Seattle sports fans have been told the NBA is coming back. We’ve heard whispers, watched press conferences, and endured many false starts. But this time feels different — and the calendar agrees.
The NBA’s Board of Governors is set to vote next week on whether to formally move forward with Seattle and Las Vegas as the sole expansion targets. If approved, the goal would be for both teams to begin play in the 2028-29 season. That’s not a rumor. That’s a vote happening in days.
Which raises the obvious question: who’s actually going to own this thing?
The Frontrunner: Samantha Holloway and the Kraken Group
If you’ve been paying attention, this one isn’t a surprise. Kraken co-owner Samantha Holloway and CEO Tod Leiweke lead the group widely expected to be the local bidders for NBA expansion. They have consistently said they’re prepared to bring the Sonics back.
The case for Holloway’s group is about as clean as ownership bids get. Climate Pledge Arena was built with basketball explicitly in mind. “We built the arena in a very, very specific way to accommodate basketball,” Kraken President Tod Leiweke said. “We spent a lot of time because we knew there was another big moment coming in the NBA.”
The arena already has an NBA locker room sitting ready in its lower level — it’s been waiting.
Holloway herself is the daughter of the late David Bonderman, co-founder of private equity giant TPG Capital, and she has also been a minority owner of the Boston Celtics for years. That Celtics stake — and the NBA rule prohibiting cross-ownership of two franchises — had been a structural obstacle, but the Celtics’ $6.1 billion sale cleared that path.
The supporting cast around Holloway is equally compelling. Tod Leiweke has NBA executive experience with the Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, and Trail Blazers. Brothers Chris and Ted Ackerley, minority owners of the Kraken, are the sons of former longtime Sonics owner Barry Ackerley. Hall of Fame NBA executive Rick Welts has also served as an advisor to the group.
The Wild Card Names: Bezos and Benioff
Holloway’s group may be the presumptive favorite, but a bid of this scale — industry executives are projecting franchise fees in the $7-10 billion range — would likely attract names with very large checkbooks.
Jeff Bezos has long been linked to sports ownership and has deep Seattle roots. Marc Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce, is a known basketball enthusiast with connections to the Golden State Warriors organization. Neither has formally declared an interest in a Seattle bid, but at this price, having a Bezos or Benioff as a minority partner wouldn’t hurt anyone’s application.
The Financial Reality: Two Franchises for Sale, One Market
The potential for the Sonics’ return means Seattle is being asked to do something almost unprecedented in professional sports — absorb two massive franchise transactions at around the same time.
Seahawks owner Jody Allen has been legally obligated to sell the team since her brother Paul Allen died in 2018, and the Super Bowl win has put the franchise squarely on the clock. That sale, whenever it comes, will almost certainly set records of its own. And now, on top of it, the city’s ownership market is being asked to fund an NBA expansion bid that could push $10 billion.
The NBA will want to see that the Seattle ownership group has the financial firepower to pursue a bid regardless of who ends up buying the football team. The two transactions don’t have to be connected — but they’re competing for attention, capital, and potentially some of the same deep-pocketed investors in the same window. As Seattle Times reporter Tim Booth put it, the question worth asking is whether there’s enough available capital in one market to support both. It’s a fair concern. But Holloway’s group has a structural advantage no outside bidder can easily replicate: they already own the building. This helps when you’re talking about a franchise fee that could push $10 billion.
The Bottom Line
The Sonics are coming back. The vote is next week. The arena is ready. And for the first time in nearly two decades, it seems like the team is finally coming back. Like, for real.
Samantha Holloway and the Kraken ownership group are the overwhelming favorite to lead the bid — and frankly, it would be fitting. The same people who delivered hockey to Seattle are positioned to complete the job. They just need the league to say yes. Now we wait. Again. But hopefully for the last time.