Seahawks’ Russell Wilson says partnership with Chris Hansen’s arena group includes financial stake

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson says his motivations for partnering with the Sonics Arena Group include his longtime dream of owning a professional sports franchise as well as his desire to help bring the city together.

In his first public comments since announcing the partnership earlier this week, Wilson on Thursday spoke passionately about joining forces with Chris Hansen’s investment group in its efforts to build an arena in Seattle and bring the NBA and NHL to town. Wilson confirmed that he’ll be an investor in the arena – which the group has proposed to fund entirely and build in Seattle’s SoDo district – and that his plan is to have an ownership interest in an NBA team should the city get one.

“It’s going to be an exciting thing,” Wilson said. “But it’s not just the financial part; it’s also the passion behind it and the passion behind the people of the city and trying to bring people together. Every time I go to the mall, every time I go somewhere you see someone wearing a throwback (Sonics) hat or a throwback jersey or whatever. I remember, being from Virginia, wearing the old-school jersey. It means a lot to people. It means a lot to kids and like I said, just to be able to bring people together in divisive times and be able to bring people together, understand that everybody can be one, it’s going to continue to unify this city and hopefully we can continue to win football championships, too, and maybe some baseball ones and hopefully some basketball and hockey ones, too.”

Wilson becomes the fifth member of Hansen’s group along with Nordstrom co-presidents Pete and Erik Nordstrom and Wally Walker, a former Sonics player and later a team executive. Wilson has known the Nordstroms for several years as the family used to own the Seahawks and remains heavily involved in the organization. He met Hansen a few years ago and told him about his dream of one day owning a team. Asked on Thursday which side first approached the other about joining forces, Wilson described it as mutual. But Walker, appearing on “The Dori Monson Show” on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, credited Wilson for initiating the discussion.

“He reached out to Chris Hansen, who he’d met some years before, and then separately reached out through a mutual friend to me,” Walker said. “Then we all got together and the more we talked about it, the more everyone got excited. He’s such a positive guy and it has been really gratifying not just to get to know him some but to see how quickly he’s become engaged and grasped what’s going on.”

Wilson’s partnership is the latest in a recent series of significant developments in the efforts to build an arena in Seattle. Hansen’s group announced last month that it is willing to cover the full cost of the arena on its own, which would mean forgoing about $200 million in public funding. Days later, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that he’s looking into the possibility of a renovated KeyArena as an alternative to Hansen’s SoDo plan.

Asked if he’s prepared to lobby with the Mayor and the City Council on behalf of the group, Wilson said, “Of course.” He noted a few times that the SoDo arena will require the vacation of a portion of nearby Occidental Avenue, which the City Council rejected last spring.

“I think it’s just trying to encourage people and let them understand how important it is and it will open up tons of jobs for people, too, as well,” Wilson said. “It’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility and give people opportunity. So the key is the street vacation and getting that happening and we’ll be ready to roll, so it’s an exciting time.”

But Walker made it clear that Wilson’s involvement will not just be that of a spokesperson or a figurehead. He was also adamant that the group won’t disclose the terms of Wilson’s financial investment.

According to the website Spotrac.com, Wilson will have made more than $46 million in salary and bonuses from the Seahawks by the end of this season, his fifth in the NFL. He also has major endorsement deals with Nike, Microsoft, Bose, Braun, Alaska Airlines and American Family Insurance, to name a few.

“He’s a partner. He’s a business partner,” Walker said. “He’s engaged, he’s gonna invest and absolutely he’s gonna be involved in everything we’re doing.”

Walker added: “Here’s the important thing for Russell: He is engaged, as I said, on doing this and he’s a huge help to us, but it’s not like he’s forgotten about his day job. This is a focused guy and he’s gonna be completely focused and be the great player he’s always been.”

Wilson reiterated what he wrote in a recent column for The Players’ Tribune about the unifying power of sports. He recalled witnessing that during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl parade in February of 2014.

“I just remember seeing all the people, seeing a million-some people out in the city, and seeing how many black, white, Asian, different people of socioeconomic statues coming together for one cause and for one great experience,” he said. “I think basketball does that. I know it does because when I was a young kid, I remember playing with the Sonics all the time (in the “NBA Jam” video game) and remembering how cool the jerseys were and how cool Gary Payton was and what a great defender he was and how passionate he was for the game. I didn’t even live here.

“Now, obviously living here in the city and being a part of the city and just walking around and being around people wear their old-school Sonics hats and old-school Sonics throwback jackets and just seeing the people, it’s a great city to have an NBA team and … also the NHL. Obviously NHL’s a great sport too as well. I think it changes the hearts and changes souls and brings people together, and there’s nothing better than that.”

MyNorthwest.com’s Eric Mandel contributed to this story.