"Expanding to Seattle makes the National Hockey League more balanced, even more whole and even more vibrant," Commissioner Bettman said. "A team in Seattle evens the number of teams in our two conferences, brings our geographic footprint into greater equilibrium and creates instant new rivalries out west, particularly between Seattle and Vancouver."
Seattle's ownership group, led by David Bonderman, a private equity CEO, will pay a $650 million expansion fee, which is $150 million more than Bill Foley and his group paid to bring the Vegas Golden Knights into the NHL for the 2017-18 season.
"I love Seattle," Bonderman said. "I went to school here, graduated from the [University of Washington]. … I worked on the Space Needle in 1962. So, what goes around comes around. Seattle is one of my favorite cities and it's a pleasure to be here. If it was someplace else, I wouldn't have done it."
The Seattle team will play at Seattle Center Arena, the former KeyArena.
The Seattle ownership group will break ground on a privately financed $800 million renovation of the arena Wednesday, NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke said.
The renovation project was awaiting NHL approval of the expansion team before it could begin.
"We believe it'll be one of the finest arenas in the world," Leiweke said.
The capacity for an NHL game at Seattle Center Arena will be approximately 17,400.
KeyArena opened in 1962 and was the home of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics from 1967-78 and 1985-2008 prior to them relocating to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season.
The ownership group is also scheduled to pay approximately $75 million to build a 180,000-square foot practice facility with three ice sheets in Northgate, a shopping area north of the city.
"Sixteen years ago, they started saying the arena didn't work," Leiweke said. "Over the course of that time we lost an NBA team. We're not even close to where we should be relative to concerts. How can a world-class city like Seattle not have a world-class arena? Tomorrow, we break ground and we solve that issue. Tomorrow, we start building our team, and it's really exciting."
The Seattle ownership group was hopeful to have the 2020-21 season be its inaugural season but beginning in the 2021-22 season allows for full completion of the renovations to Seattle Center Arena and the training facility with time to spare.
Leiweke said the Seattle expansion draft will be held at Seattle Center Arena. Commissioner Bettman said that would take place in June 2021 and the rules in place for the Vegas expansion draft in June 2017 will be the same for Seattle. The Golden Knights will be exempt from exposing players for the draft.
The arena will likely open in March or April 2021 with concerts, Leiweke said. The Seattle Storm of the WNBA will play their 2021 schedule in the renovated arena.