The Kraken Owner Is Making a Power Move to Bring the SuperSonics Back to Seattle

Picture this: NBA basketball back at Climate Pledge Arena. Not a fantasy. Not a fever dream. Actually happening, and sooner than you might think.

Samantha Holloway, the co-owner of the Seattle Kraken, is leading the charge to bring an NBA expansion franchise back to Seattle, and the timeline is aggressive. We're talking as early as the 2028-29 season. The SuperSonics left town back in 2008 when they relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. That's 18 years of waiting for Emerald City fans to hear an NBA game called live again.

Why This Is Actually Happening

The NBA is actively looking at expansion franchises over the next few seasons, and Seattle keeps coming up as a frontrunner. That makes sense. The city already proved it can support major league sports when the Kraken launched their inaugural season in 2021-22. But here is the kicker: with hockey, football, baseball, and soccer all represented in Seattle, the NBA remains the only big four American sports league without a local franchise. That gap is about to get filled.

Holloway has already brought in the heavy hitters to make this work. She retained JPMorgan Chase and Moelis & Co. to help construct the winning bid for a new NBA team, per Bloomberg. This is not some casual exploration. This is organized, funded, and moving fast.

Who Is Samantha Holloway?

If anyone can pull this off, it is Holloway. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and both an MA in Forensic Psychology and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Denver. She co-founded or co-owned four other companies, including the 2nd & Filmore investment group and software startup Hat Labs. But her most relevant credential is this: she was a core member of the ownership group that brought the Kraken to the NHL and made it work from day one.

Translation: she knows how to build a franchise in this city.

The Wait

Here is the reality check. Nothing is confirmed yet. The timeline to officially land a new franchise is still probably a few years away. But the odds are looking high that SuperSonics basketball is coming back to Seattle soon. Just not this week.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.