Report: Seattle unlikely to build new NHL/NBA arena until 2016

The city of Seattle will unlikely start construction on an arena to house an NHL or NBA team before 2016, according to The Seattle Times. 

The NHL hasn't said definitively that it will expand the league, but it did allow prospective owners in Las Vegas to go ahead to see if they can gain interest with fans. 

Nathan Torgelson, Seattle's deputy director of Planning and Development, wasn't confident that the city could break ground on an arena in 2015. 

"It’s an ambitious timeline," Torgelson said, according to the report. 

According to the report, Chris Hansen, who once tried to buy the Sacramento Kings, still needs approval over paperwork related to a request for the city to vacate a portion of Occidental Avenue, which runs through the potential arena site. The city will also look at the impact on traffic should the arena be built at the proposed site.

- Scooby Axson