'THANK YOU:' Seattle reaches 10,000 NHL season ticket deposits in 12 minutes



SEATTLE -- "Thank you, Seattle."

The group looking to bring an expansion team to Seattle for the 2020 season said says it reached 10,000 season ticket deposits in just 12 minutes Thursday morning.

The season-ticket drive is one the steps required by the NHL as part of the expansion process and is meant to gauge the interest in the market.

Fans were required to put down a deposit of $500 per ticket or $1,000 for club tickets.

"We're now at 25,000 (deposits) and counting," NHL Seattle tweeted just over an hour after the ticket drive began.



If the first day is any indication, Seattle and Oak View Group will have no problem demonstrating the desire for an NHL franchise in Seattle. For comparison, it took Las Vegas, the last NHL expansion team, two days to reach 5,000 deposits and about six weeks to reach 10,000.

NHL Seattle said their site was running a little slow due to the demand, but that they would continue accepting deposits.

"THANK YOU -- you're making history!"



Famous supporters trying to bring professional hockey to Seattle say they hope to hear in June whether their application for an expansion team succeeds.

Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, billionaire David Bonderman and Oak View Group Chief Executive Tim Leiweke spoke with reporters in a series of interviews Wednesday. The interviews came before Thursday's launch of a season-ticket deposit drive meant to demonstrate fan interest in a hockey franchise.

It was the first time Bruckheimer and Bonderman have publicly discussed their interest in bringing a team to Seattle.

They say the city deserves one: It's been more than a century since the old Seattle Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup and a decade since Seattle's last major men's professional winter sports franchise, basketball's SuperSonics, bolted for Oklahoma City.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.