Seattle has a history with All-Star Games.
T-Mobile Park and the Kingdome both hosted Major League Baseball All-Star Games, and the latter hosted the NBA version too. It even hosted the NFL's Pro Bowl back in 1977.
But Seattle has never hosted the National Hockey League (NHL) version.
That will change, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said with the opening of the New Arena at Seattle Center.
San Jose, California could provide some guidance, and the NHL Seattle group has a small delegation there getting some idea.
"You're learning every time you go to something like this," said NHL Seattle's Chief Operating Officer Victor de Bonis, who was on site meeting with league officials.
The NHL awarded its 32nd franchise to Seattle last month.
"This is a tremendous event to bring to a city," said John Poch, Executive Director of the San Jose Sports Authority.
Poch says, based on the Silicon Valley's other demands, room vacancies are low and required about three years of planning for the four day All-Star Weekend event. The NHL, he says, brings about 5,000 people alone, or 20,000 room nights.
San Jose's plan involved condensing the activity to limit the number of trips in and out of the downtown core.
"A walking footprint," he calls it to "make a hockey fantasyland in your downtown." That means San Jose placed its fan fair, full of activities and hockey-themed displays in the convention center. That building is surrounded by four different major hotel chains, on a light rail line, and is adjacent to a theater which held the All-Star media day. The Arena is roughly a half mile away from all the other activities.
Ralph Morton, of the Seattle Sports Commission, did not make the trip but told KING 5 based on the recent construction, the downtown core has roughly 15,000 hotel rooms and more than enough to handle the NHL events. Morton's group, right now, is focused on bringing the MLB All-Star Game back to Seattle prior to the NHL event.
The appeal of the event is more than money. Franchises view them as a sign of their standing within a league.
"Who doesn't want to come to Northern California in middle of January?" said San Jose Sharks President John Tortora, with a smile across his face.
Tortora said his franchise, in particular, is looking forward to the Seattle franchise.
"We welcome Seattle to the National Hockey League, we welcome Seattle to the Pacific Division,” said Tortora. “We're looking forward to the rivalry, and we have no doubt Seattle can host these type of events."
NOTES:
The All-Star Game at the SAP Center will be played under new lights from a Puget Sound company. PlanLED, which is based in Federal Way, supplied and installed the 400-watt bulbs in the fall of last year.
The San Jose Sharks paid $1 million for more than 300 lights, and they received rave reviews.
"The way they aim, focus and cover the ice," said SAP Center VP Rick Sotelo, "It is the look the feel is so different than incandescent lighting - the color of the jerseys, the color of the ice surface, and the way you view it on TV, it is a whole another step."
The Sharks replaced the original 1,000-watt bulbs. Sotelo says they've save hundreds of thousands of watts in electricity as a result.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also announced chips would be implemented in pucks and jerseys beginning in the 2019-2020 season, which will allow for real-time data collection. It has been tested in a couple of games this season and will be a part of the All-Star Game festivities. It will allow viewers to see just how fast players are skating, or hitting a shot, for instance.