July 17, 2026 • 17 mins
Congressman Adam Smith from the 9th District of Washington state joins Dick Fain to talk about the Protect College Sports Act and how it aims to change the landscape of the NCAA and NIL, the World Cup and Seattle’s success as a site, the hopeful return of the NBA with the Sonics soon, and the Seahawks new ownership in the Khosla family.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, moving on to the six o'clock hour.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Been looking forward to this conversation all day as we
visit with now. I guess we can call him a
friend of the show when he's a multiple time guest
on our show. Congressman Adam Smith joining us again. How
are you, Congressman?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I am doing outstanding. It's great to be back with you.
I'm honored to have the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Ah, we appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And the reason we wanted to get you back on
to a lot of different reasons, but primarily this Protect
College Sports Act, which continues to just morph into something different,
seemingly almost on a weekly or even daily basis. Like
language that existed before this week seem to indicate that
teams could not move, but it sounds like Cantwell and
(00:46):
Cruise this week have backed off that provision. What's your
current understanding of what this bill says right now about
expansion within the Power for and expansion from the group
of six potentially into the Power for.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, you're right, it is a moving target. But the
thing to really understand about this bill, you know, we
started with the Score Act, and the Score Act was
basically an anti trust exemption with a few limited parameters.
But the bill that cruising can't well put together. It
is incredibly detailed if you looked at it. It gives
the anti trust exemption, but then it gets into transfers
(01:22):
and even you know, prohibiting coaches from you know, leaving
from one team and coaching another team the next. It
prohibits you know, conferences from growing. As you mentioned, it
gets into some pretty specific parameters around nil. So it
is much more detailed and much more specific in terms
(01:42):
of what it lays out, and they're getting pushed back.
I mean, obviously the biggest pushback they're getting right now
is from the large conferences because this bill places some
restrictions on them, so to get around that, they're negotiating.
They also continue to get pushed back from some of
the unions because it doesn't explicitly allow athletes to potentially
become employees. So they're they're trying to well, this is politics,
(02:06):
but the bill out try to figure out how to
get the votes, and they're negotiating and trying to figure
out how to get the votes and get the product
that they want.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So with the majority leader and the Speaker of the
House being from SEC country. If this is seen as
an anti big conference, anti SEC type bill, how does
it get through the House, What type of what type
of adjustments need to be made to get through the House.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, no, it's going to struggle. Well, look at it's
a difficult issue just in general, because you know, we've
got a lot of other things going on in Congress
right now, and getting members to focus on this is hard.
And then I don't know if you've noticed, but Congress
has really struggled here recently to pass anything, to pass
(02:49):
some of the basic bills we've had because it's deeply divided,
big differences, So it's an upbuilt battle. But look, I
mean Senator Cantwell is one of the more skilled legislators
I've ever worked with. Though she seems fairly determined, so
she's going to keep pushing and try to work around
those those roadblocks.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
What aspects of it do you like and what would
you like to see changed?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Personally?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Well, see, here's here's the thing that I wrestle with.
You know, as we've discussed before, I'm a huge sports fan,
particularly a college football fan college basketball, you know, and
I'm old school, which is to say I'm old you know,
and I remember the days when players stayed at the
same school, you know, and you could get to know them.
So all I'm very I'm fine with the nil stuff.
(03:33):
I think players should be compensated. But everybody moving around constantly,
I think is you know, undermines the experience, certainly from
a sports fan. But I think also for the university.
And remember, they are supposed to be college athletes connected
to the university, as we discussed last time. Yes, the
athletes generate a lot of the revenue, but also the
(03:54):
connection to the university generates a lot of the revenue.
If they weren't playing for the University of Washington, they
were just like you know, minor league football, you know,
they wouldn't be getting the same level. So I want
to keep the the university as part of it. And
then I have a real concern about the big conferences
crushing everybody else. I think what's happened at Washington State
(04:16):
is absolutely tragic that they were driven out of the
big conferences, and you know, they're trying to consolidate all
the power in the SEC and the Big Ten. So
I would support restrictions on that now, whether or not
we could get the votes over the SEC and the
Big ten's power. I don't know, but that's what I
would support. But the other part of it is, is
it really Congress's role to tell college sports how they
should govern themselves. I wrestled with that as well, you know.
(04:40):
I mean, it is still working, college sports is still cool,
still enjoy it. It's got a lot of challenges, but
it's Congress really the best place to say, here's how
we're going to fix it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Congressman Aden Smith joins us. Just to be clear, and
then we'll move on to another topic. This bill would,
if it were to pass, it would supersede any lawsuits
and judicial brand involvement, right, so you would we would
hopefully not see any more of these constant lawsuits that
we're seeing in college sports.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It would supersede most of them. I don't want to
be so bold as to say it would supersede all
of them, but it would substantially reduce that litigation.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yes, okay, okay, Moving on to soccer, Adam Smith is
joining us. Congressman, boy, this country has shined, this city
has shined in the last three weeks with the World Cup.
I mean, do you think it expedites the return to
the United States and expedites the return to Seattle maybe
quicker than the what thirty two years it took the
(05:38):
last time.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
No, I think there's no question the United States and
America showed that, you know, we can host this tournament,
we can host it very well. I think having all
three countries do it was kind of cool. It's interesting
Mexico and Canada involved. So we could do that again,
or the US could do it. But yeah, I don't
think anyone would argue that it's been a huge success.
Certainly it's getting a lot of viewership, a lot of
(06:02):
people involved and engaged. So yeah, I could come back
in Seattle. I think did a spectacular job as well.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
And Seattle's role in all this, I mean they had
to really struggle to get be one of the cities selected,
and I almost feel like now, I mean, we've had
some national pundits, some very popular names in sports television
say call Seattle that the soccer capital of North America,
And did we get to a place where Seattle.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Really doesn't even have to struggle to get it next time?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That not only will they get one automatically next time,
they might get a quarter final semifinal next next time.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
And those of us who live around here have known
this for a while. I mean the Sounders and I'm
forgetting now what year it was that they came back
in their second iteration now, but from the day they
showed up, man sold out crowds. Enthusiasm for soccer in
Seattle is about as great. Well, I think it is
as great as it is anywhere in the country. And
we've all seen that. We've all known that, and now
the rest of the country, and for that matter, of
(07:01):
the rest of the world has gotten to experience it.
So yeah, I think I think there's going to be
a lot of enthusiasm to come back here, and we could.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Have a women's final before much sooner than the men
coming back, So we could have it here again in
just a few years.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Absolutely, that would be terrific to basketball.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Congressman Adam Smith joining US Adam Silver said this week
that the expansion process is continuing. Multiple bidders are interested
in Seattle, even though there's only one being made public.
I've got a little bit of skepticism on that because
I think that the one ownership group that is public here,
(07:40):
the Milinda French Gates Samantha Holloway group. I mean, it
just seems so rock solid that it seems like it's
just a big fan blowing anybody, any other potential suitors away.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
How do you see that? What do you know about
that situation?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yes, I don't have much more to add to what
you just said. I mean that certainly seems to be
the case, this group that seems well organized, ready to
take it. I don't know if there's you know, if
Adam Silba wants to make sure he maintains some leverage,
you know, so it doesn't just give it to them.
I don't know what the purpose behind that comment would be.
But yeah, I think you're right. I think the ownership
group that we all know about is the one that
(08:15):
isn't just in the lead. But I don't see anybody.
I don't see anybody visible in second place at this point.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And then we've got a terrible, really situation going down
south of us in Portland, a big picture. What is
your what's your take when you know owners buy these teams,
they come in like Tom Dundon has with the with
the Portland Trailblazers, knowing that there's an arena issue. I
think it was a little bit different situation with Clayton Bennett,
because I think Clayton Bennett came in here and with
(08:45):
the express intent of moving the Sonics. I don't necessarily
think that's Tom Dundon's situation. But he's buying this team.
It's a community asset. The Moda Center is a community
asset down there in Portland, and he and he wants
money for Where are you on just this funding of
these arenas That seems like public funding was a lot
(09:08):
more plentiful thirty forty years ago than it's becoming now.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
It is really hard to justify public funding given how
much the money has exploded. And I'm going to get
the numbers slightly wrong, but you probably remember what Paul
Allen paid for the Seahawks. I want to say it
was less than two hundred million dollars. Am I am?
I right about that?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I think I do know that it's fifty x. This
sale was fifty x what Paul Allen.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Paid for, right, you know? And the same is true.
I mean Balmer paid two billion for the Clippers, so
you know, the ownership and then the salaries for the
athletes have continued to explode, so at the same time
you're seeing all of that, you also have the reality
and not not to dive, you know, into into my
world of politics and public policies. But the economy has
(09:59):
concentrated the wealth in the hands of a few people, where
a lot of people are struggling to pay the bills.
They're struggling to reford housing. You know, they're struggling to
pay for the education for their kids, you know, to
get to get healthcare, for gas and energy. And we're
going to take public dollars that could go to help
them with that and put it towards a sports stadium.
And don't misunderstand that. You know, I was an enthusiastic
(10:22):
supporter of both stadiums back in the mid nineties here
because I love sports A and B. I know what
sports does for our community. It's not just the personal thing.
I mean, guys, you saw it with the World Cup.
You see it. You saw it with the Seahawks when
they went on their run, when when the Mariners went
on their run last year. It brings a community together.
It's one of the things that makes for a strong community.
I don't doubt that. But the question is who should
(10:42):
pay for that? Should should the average taxpayer be paying
for that when you know billionaires are making so much
money off of the clubs. I don't think so. So
that puts Portland in a tough spot. If their particular
owner decides to play that game and say that he's
not going to pay for he's going to try to
force the tax payers in Portland, Oregon to pay for it.
(11:05):
So yeah, I'd be worried about where that comes out,
given where the politics are at, and given where the
new ownership down in Portland is at.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Not something we have to worry about here with our
basketball arena, it's perfectly ready to go for the NBA.
Are you Are you still as optimistic as as you
were the last time we talked to you about the
Sonics coming back in twenty eight twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I mean I am. You know, it's sort of one
of those things. It's like, you know, I don't know,
one of those sports fans that when your team's up ahead,
let's just go ahead and finish it. Let's just get
it done. Okay, Let's let's make it. You know, even
during the Super Bowl when the Patriots, you know, got
those that drive late and who you see that, I
was like Are you kidding me? We're dominating this game.
This should be over, you know, And that's what I
(11:47):
want Adam Silver to say. They're coming, let's go, let's
find the contract, let's do it. I'm still, you know,
very optimacy that's going to happen. But let's just go
ahead and get it done. Let's stop. You know, with
all the play around, I think everyone knows what's going
to happen. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Final few minutes with the Congressman Adam Smith graciously donating
his time with us here on ninety three point.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Three kJ RFM.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
How well, if at all, do you know Venode Coast
Low or at least have a cross paths with maybe
people that know Venode Coastlow for the last ten twenty years.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, I got a loose connection to some of the
people who owned the forty nine ers friend back in DC,
but I don't know him. Well. I think that's the
way we're all. I mean, even if you know him,
you don't know what it's going to mean for the Seahawks.
I mean, that's the one note of optimism I would say.
You know, when when Paul Allen died and Jody Allen
took over. I think there were a lot of a
(12:41):
lot of concern It's like, you know, is she going
to be as committed upon it? And you know she
put together we won a super Bowl, Okay, so you
know he certainly knows sports. I mean, it worries me
that he's been a San Francisco forty nine Ers fan.
But I would think once you own the team, don't
you loyalties just automatically float, getting get enthusiastics for the
(13:02):
new team. But we don't know it's the bottom line.
Even if you know the guy as a businessman, I
don't think you have any idea what type of you know,
majority sports owner he's going to turn out to be.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I think, are you paying nine point six billion dollars
for a team, You're probably going to be pretty invested
in that team.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I would just that would be me.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
That would be me, I.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Would I would hope. So, yeah, what what should.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Be the number one priority? What do you think will
be the number one party?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Because because certainly fixing the football team is not a priority.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, I think you know the number one priority is
getting the chain of command well understood, you know, because
you know, as you know, across all sports owners, some
owners they don't do much. Other owners are in the
middle of it twenty four to seven. And I think
the number one thing is to say, look McDonald and Schneider,
(13:54):
they know what they're doing. Okay, let's just make it clear.
I'm going to let those guys run. We're going to
keep them, We're going to let them keep doing it.
And there's not going to be a lot of interference.
So that's number one. It's just, you know, what is
the new sort of chain of command. It's the wrong
way to put it because obviously the owner is at
the top, but what is going to be the division
of responsibilities and how much trust and faith is that
(14:16):
owner going to place and is GM and head coach?
And I think everyone agree should would agree they should
place a lot of faith in their GM and head coach,
and that's what we hope they'll wind up doing.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I would imagine over the next five or ten years,
one of the priorities is going to be to upgrade
this football stadium that I'm sitting right in the shadow
of right now, loom And Field, and bring it up
to twenty thirty's standards because right now. It's a beautiful
stadium for two thousand, not a beautiful stadium for twenty thirty.
And also there's that thought that maybe Seattle could be
(14:51):
a super Bowl city. There's been some cold weather super Bowls. Heck,
the Seahawks played in a cold weather super Bowl at
the Meadowlands in New York and that stateum is not
as good as this one is right now. So you
know with indian Indianapolis obviously indoors, but still a cold
weather super Bowl weak Minneapolis, you got Nashville coming up
as well.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Is that something that you.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Think would be possible or even worth while for this
city to try to give it get a super Bowl?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Well, it'd be a lot to absorb. I'm not I
have to do more analysis to figure out whether that's
worth while, but I think it's distinctly possible. I think
you remember about the weather in Seattle. Is you know,
you do a super Bowl in New York. I mean
you could come into you know, ten degrees and two
feet of snow. It doesn't happen very often, but it
doesn't happen here. I mean in the winter, buy and large,
you can be cold. We don't get those like you know,
(15:42):
ice Bowl like temperature, so so it could be done.
And then yeah, the stadium, I mean, it's so funny.
I've been go to the Army Navy game most years,
so I've been to a fair number of different NFL
stadiums now and they're all great. But they just keep
getting you know, like you got so far, you got
Allegiance down in Vegas, you get the unbelievable stadiums. I mean,
(16:02):
I think, you know, Movement is a pretty darn good
football stadium. They just keep blowing it out and making
it more more and more. So, yeah, if you're gonna
get to the super Bowl level at this point, you'd
probably have to do that.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Congressman Adam Smith.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Before we let you go, you can weigh in on
the bracket contest that we just had in the last hour.
It was we were trying to determine the greatest uniform
in Pacific Northwest sports history, and we got down to
our actually our number one seed and our number two
seed actually played each other for the championship.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And I want to let you weigh in.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Our number one seed was the You know, you don't
have to look up what the your mind will tell
you what these two uniforms look like. Our number one
seed was the original Seattle Seahawks uniforms, which they have
since brought back for occasional games. And our number two
seed was the Don James Arrow Washington Huskies purple uniforms.
(16:57):
So the Purple Dog out together or the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I gotta go Don James erskies man has so many
great memories of that as a loyal Husky, I think
that that was that would be the best uniform to
my mind.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
God they were, So that's what I voted for.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I got out voted, though Jackson and Hugh Millen outvoted me.
They picked They picked the Seahawks, but I voted for
the Dogs.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Hey, Adam, we really appreciate it. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
You've done it a couple of times now, and best
of luck the rest of the year, and hopefully next
time we have you on we'll have a basketball team
to talk about.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That would be very exciting. Thanks Tank. It's always players
talking
All right, moving on to the six o'clock hour.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Been looking forward to this conversation all day as we
visit with now. I guess we can call him a
friend of the show when he's a multiple time guest
on our show. Congressman Adam Smith joining us again. How
are you, Congressman?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I am doing outstanding. It's great to be back with you.
I'm honored to have the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Ah, we appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And the reason we wanted to get you back on
to a lot of different reasons, but primarily this Protect
College Sports Act, which continues to just morph into something different,
seemingly almost on a weekly or even daily basis. Like
language that existed before this week seem to indicate that
teams could not move, but it sounds like Cantwell and
(00:46):
Cruise this week have backed off that provision. What's your
current understanding of what this bill says right now about
expansion within the Power for and expansion from the group
of six potentially into the Power for.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, you're right, it is a moving target. But the
thing to really understand about this bill, you know, we
started with the Score Act, and the Score Act was
basically an anti trust exemption with a few limited parameters.
But the bill that cruising can't well put together. It
is incredibly detailed if you looked at it. It gives
the anti trust exemption, but then it gets into transfers
(01:22):
and even you know, prohibiting coaches from you know, leaving
from one team and coaching another team the next. It
prohibits you know, conferences from growing. As you mentioned, it
gets into some pretty specific parameters around nil. So it
is much more detailed and much more specific in terms
(01:42):
of what it lays out, and they're getting pushed back.
I mean, obviously the biggest pushback they're getting right now
is from the large conferences because this bill places some
restrictions on them, so to get around that, they're negotiating.
They also continue to get pushed back from some of
the unions because it doesn't explicitly allow athletes to potentially
become employees. So they're they're trying to well, this is politics,
(02:06):
but the bill out try to figure out how to
get the votes, and they're negotiating and trying to figure
out how to get the votes and get the product
that they want.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So with the majority leader and the Speaker of the
House being from SEC country. If this is seen as
an anti big conference, anti SEC type bill, how does
it get through the House, What type of what type
of adjustments need to be made to get through the House.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, no, it's going to struggle. Well, look at it's
a difficult issue just in general, because you know, we've
got a lot of other things going on in Congress
right now, and getting members to focus on this is hard.
And then I don't know if you've noticed, but Congress
has really struggled here recently to pass anything, to pass
(02:49):
some of the basic bills we've had because it's deeply divided,
big differences, So it's an upbuilt battle. But look, I
mean Senator Cantwell is one of the more skilled legislators
I've ever worked with. Though she seems fairly determined, so
she's going to keep pushing and try to work around
those those roadblocks.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
What aspects of it do you like and what would
you like to see changed?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Personally?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Well, see, here's here's the thing that I wrestle with.
You know, as we've discussed before, I'm a huge sports fan,
particularly a college football fan college basketball, you know, and
I'm old school, which is to say I'm old you know,
and I remember the days when players stayed at the
same school, you know, and you could get to know them.
So all I'm very I'm fine with the nil stuff.
(03:33):
I think players should be compensated. But everybody moving around constantly,
I think is you know, undermines the experience, certainly from
a sports fan. But I think also for the university.
And remember, they are supposed to be college athletes connected
to the university, as we discussed last time. Yes, the
athletes generate a lot of the revenue, but also the
(03:54):
connection to the university generates a lot of the revenue.
If they weren't playing for the University of Washington, they
were just like you know, minor league football, you know,
they wouldn't be getting the same level. So I want
to keep the the university as part of it. And
then I have a real concern about the big conferences
crushing everybody else. I think what's happened at Washington State
(04:16):
is absolutely tragic that they were driven out of the
big conferences, and you know, they're trying to consolidate all
the power in the SEC and the Big Ten. So
I would support restrictions on that now, whether or not
we could get the votes over the SEC and the
Big ten's power. I don't know, but that's what I
would support. But the other part of it is, is
it really Congress's role to tell college sports how they
should govern themselves. I wrestled with that as well, you know.
(04:40):
I mean, it is still working, college sports is still cool,
still enjoy it. It's got a lot of challenges, but
it's Congress really the best place to say, here's how
we're going to fix it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Congressman Aden Smith joins us. Just to be clear, and
then we'll move on to another topic. This bill would,
if it were to pass, it would supersede any lawsuits
and judicial brand involvement, right, so you would we would
hopefully not see any more of these constant lawsuits that
we're seeing in college sports.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It would supersede most of them. I don't want to
be so bold as to say it would supersede all
of them, but it would substantially reduce that litigation.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yes, okay, okay, Moving on to soccer, Adam Smith is
joining us. Congressman, boy, this country has shined, this city
has shined in the last three weeks with the World Cup.
I mean, do you think it expedites the return to
the United States and expedites the return to Seattle maybe
quicker than the what thirty two years it took the
(05:38):
last time.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
No, I think there's no question the United States and
America showed that, you know, we can host this tournament,
we can host it very well. I think having all
three countries do it was kind of cool. It's interesting
Mexico and Canada involved. So we could do that again,
or the US could do it. But yeah, I don't
think anyone would argue that it's been a huge success.
Certainly it's getting a lot of viewership, a lot of
(06:02):
people involved and engaged. So yeah, I could come back
in Seattle. I think did a spectacular job as well.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
And Seattle's role in all this, I mean they had
to really struggle to get be one of the cities selected,
and I almost feel like now, I mean, we've had
some national pundits, some very popular names in sports television
say call Seattle that the soccer capital of North America,
And did we get to a place where Seattle.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Really doesn't even have to struggle to get it next time?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That not only will they get one automatically next time,
they might get a quarter final semifinal next next time.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
And those of us who live around here have known
this for a while. I mean the Sounders and I'm
forgetting now what year it was that they came back
in their second iteration now, but from the day they
showed up, man sold out crowds. Enthusiasm for soccer in
Seattle is about as great. Well, I think it is
as great as it is anywhere in the country. And
we've all seen that. We've all known that, and now
the rest of the country, and for that matter, of
(07:01):
the rest of the world has gotten to experience it.
So yeah, I think I think there's going to be
a lot of enthusiasm to come back here, and we could.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Have a women's final before much sooner than the men
coming back, So we could have it here again in
just a few years.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Absolutely, that would be terrific to basketball.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Congressman Adam Smith joining US Adam Silver said this week
that the expansion process is continuing. Multiple bidders are interested
in Seattle, even though there's only one being made public.
I've got a little bit of skepticism on that because
I think that the one ownership group that is public here,
(07:40):
the Milinda French Gates Samantha Holloway group. I mean, it
just seems so rock solid that it seems like it's
just a big fan blowing anybody, any other potential suitors away.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
How do you see that? What do you know about
that situation?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yes, I don't have much more to add to what
you just said. I mean that certainly seems to be
the case, this group that seems well organized, ready to
take it. I don't know if there's you know, if
Adam Silba wants to make sure he maintains some leverage,
you know, so it doesn't just give it to them.
I don't know what the purpose behind that comment would be.
But yeah, I think you're right. I think the ownership
group that we all know about is the one that
(08:15):
isn't just in the lead. But I don't see anybody.
I don't see anybody visible in second place at this point.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And then we've got a terrible, really situation going down
south of us in Portland, a big picture. What is
your what's your take when you know owners buy these teams,
they come in like Tom Dundon has with the with
the Portland Trailblazers, knowing that there's an arena issue. I
think it was a little bit different situation with Clayton Bennett,
because I think Clayton Bennett came in here and with
(08:45):
the express intent of moving the Sonics. I don't necessarily
think that's Tom Dundon's situation. But he's buying this team.
It's a community asset. The Moda Center is a community
asset down there in Portland, and he and he wants
money for Where are you on just this funding of
these arenas That seems like public funding was a lot
(09:08):
more plentiful thirty forty years ago than it's becoming now.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
It is really hard to justify public funding given how
much the money has exploded. And I'm going to get
the numbers slightly wrong, but you probably remember what Paul
Allen paid for the Seahawks. I want to say it
was less than two hundred million dollars. Am I am?
I right about that?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I think I do know that it's fifty x. This
sale was fifty x what Paul Allen.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Paid for, right, you know? And the same is true.
I mean Balmer paid two billion for the Clippers, so
you know, the ownership and then the salaries for the
athletes have continued to explode, so at the same time
you're seeing all of that, you also have the reality
and not not to dive, you know, into into my
world of politics and public policies. But the economy has
(09:59):
concentrated the wealth in the hands of a few people, where
a lot of people are struggling to pay the bills.
They're struggling to reford housing. You know, they're struggling to
pay for the education for their kids, you know, to
get to get healthcare, for gas and energy. And we're
going to take public dollars that could go to help
them with that and put it towards a sports stadium.
And don't misunderstand that. You know, I was an enthusiastic
(10:22):
supporter of both stadiums back in the mid nineties here
because I love sports A and B. I know what
sports does for our community. It's not just the personal thing.
I mean, guys, you saw it with the World Cup.
You see it. You saw it with the Seahawks when
they went on their run, when when the Mariners went
on their run last year. It brings a community together.
It's one of the things that makes for a strong community.
I don't doubt that. But the question is who should
(10:42):
pay for that? Should should the average taxpayer be paying
for that when you know billionaires are making so much
money off of the clubs. I don't think so. So
that puts Portland in a tough spot. If their particular
owner decides to play that game and say that he's
not going to pay for he's going to try to
force the tax payers in Portland, Oregon to pay for it.
(11:05):
So yeah, I'd be worried about where that comes out,
given where the politics are at, and given where the
new ownership down in Portland is at.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Not something we have to worry about here with our
basketball arena, it's perfectly ready to go for the NBA.
Are you Are you still as optimistic as as you
were the last time we talked to you about the
Sonics coming back in twenty eight twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I mean I am. You know, it's sort of one
of those things. It's like, you know, I don't know,
one of those sports fans that when your team's up ahead,
let's just go ahead and finish it. Let's just get
it done. Okay, Let's let's make it. You know, even
during the Super Bowl when the Patriots, you know, got
those that drive late and who you see that, I
was like Are you kidding me? We're dominating this game.
This should be over, you know, And that's what I
(11:47):
want Adam Silver to say. They're coming, let's go, let's
find the contract, let's do it. I'm still, you know,
very optimacy that's going to happen. But let's just go
ahead and get it done. Let's stop. You know, with
all the play around, I think everyone knows what's going
to happen. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Final few minutes with the Congressman Adam Smith graciously donating
his time with us here on ninety three point.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Three kJ RFM.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
How well, if at all, do you know Venode Coast
Low or at least have a cross paths with maybe
people that know Venode Coastlow for the last ten twenty years.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, I got a loose connection to some of the
people who owned the forty nine ers friend back in DC,
but I don't know him. Well. I think that's the
way we're all. I mean, even if you know him,
you don't know what it's going to mean for the Seahawks.
I mean, that's the one note of optimism I would say.
You know, when when Paul Allen died and Jody Allen
took over. I think there were a lot of a
(12:41):
lot of concern It's like, you know, is she going
to be as committed upon it? And you know she
put together we won a super Bowl, Okay, so you
know he certainly knows sports. I mean, it worries me
that he's been a San Francisco forty nine Ers fan.
But I would think once you own the team, don't
you loyalties just automatically float, getting get enthusiastics for the
(13:02):
new team. But we don't know it's the bottom line.
Even if you know the guy as a businessman, I
don't think you have any idea what type of you know,
majority sports owner he's going to turn out to be.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I think, are you paying nine point six billion dollars
for a team, You're probably going to be pretty invested
in that team.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I would just that would be me.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
That would be me, I.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Would I would hope. So, yeah, what what should.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Be the number one priority? What do you think will
be the number one party?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Because because certainly fixing the football team is not a priority.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, I think you know the number one priority is
getting the chain of command well understood, you know, because
you know, as you know, across all sports owners, some
owners they don't do much. Other owners are in the
middle of it twenty four to seven. And I think
the number one thing is to say, look McDonald and Schneider,
(13:54):
they know what they're doing. Okay, let's just make it clear.
I'm going to let those guys run. We're going to
keep them, We're going to let them keep doing it.
And there's not going to be a lot of interference.
So that's number one. It's just, you know, what is
the new sort of chain of command. It's the wrong
way to put it because obviously the owner is at
the top, but what is going to be the division
of responsibilities and how much trust and faith is that
(14:16):
owner going to place and is GM and head coach?
And I think everyone agree should would agree they should
place a lot of faith in their GM and head coach,
and that's what we hope they'll wind up doing.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I would imagine over the next five or ten years,
one of the priorities is going to be to upgrade
this football stadium that I'm sitting right in the shadow
of right now, loom And Field, and bring it up
to twenty thirty's standards because right now. It's a beautiful
stadium for two thousand, not a beautiful stadium for twenty thirty.
And also there's that thought that maybe Seattle could be
(14:51):
a super Bowl city. There's been some cold weather super Bowls. Heck,
the Seahawks played in a cold weather super Bowl at
the Meadowlands in New York and that stateum is not
as good as this one is right now. So you
know with indian Indianapolis obviously indoors, but still a cold
weather super Bowl weak Minneapolis, you got Nashville coming up
as well.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Is that something that you.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Think would be possible or even worth while for this
city to try to give it get a super Bowl?
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Well, it'd be a lot to absorb. I'm not I
have to do more analysis to figure out whether that's
worth while, but I think it's distinctly possible. I think
you remember about the weather in Seattle. Is you know,
you do a super Bowl in New York. I mean
you could come into you know, ten degrees and two
feet of snow. It doesn't happen very often, but it
doesn't happen here. I mean in the winter, buy and large,
you can be cold. We don't get those like you know,
(15:42):
ice Bowl like temperature, so so it could be done.
And then yeah, the stadium, I mean, it's so funny.
I've been go to the Army Navy game most years,
so I've been to a fair number of different NFL
stadiums now and they're all great. But they just keep
getting you know, like you got so far, you got
Allegiance down in Vegas, you get the unbelievable stadiums. I mean,
(16:02):
I think, you know, Movement is a pretty darn good
football stadium. They just keep blowing it out and making
it more more and more. So, yeah, if you're gonna
get to the super Bowl level at this point, you'd
probably have to do that.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Congressman Adam Smith.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Before we let you go, you can weigh in on
the bracket contest that we just had in the last hour.
It was we were trying to determine the greatest uniform
in Pacific Northwest sports history, and we got down to
our actually our number one seed and our number two
seed actually played each other for the championship.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And I want to let you weigh in.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Our number one seed was the You know, you don't
have to look up what the your mind will tell
you what these two uniforms look like. Our number one
seed was the original Seattle Seahawks uniforms, which they have
since brought back for occasional games. And our number two
seed was the Don James Arrow Washington Huskies purple uniforms.
(16:57):
So the Purple Dog out together or the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I gotta go Don James erskies man has so many
great memories of that as a loyal Husky, I think
that that was that would be the best uniform to
my mind.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
God they were, So that's what I voted for.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I got out voted, though Jackson and Hugh Millen outvoted me.
They picked They picked the Seahawks, but I voted for
the Dogs.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Hey, Adam, we really appreciate it. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
You've done it a couple of times now, and best
of luck the rest of the year, and hopefully next
time we have you on we'll have a basketball team
to talk about.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That would be very exciting. Thanks Tank. It's always players
talking
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.