Matt Calkins: Chris Hansen pulls off genius move by bringing Russell Wilson aboard

SEATTLE – Debate all you want about whether Chris Hansen’s arena plan is the best one for the city. It has been a source of contention, confusion and consternation for years.

But you can’t debate whether Hansen’s recent PR strategy is anything short of brilliant. It’s a perfect 10 out of 10. Actually, make that a 12.

Monday, Seattle scepter holder Russell Wilson announced that he was partnering with the Sodo arena group to help bring the NBA and NHL back to the Emerald City. He elaborated further in the Players’ Tribune, writing how the video game “NBA Jam” molded him into a Sonics fan at an early age.

The news swept across social media instantly, igniting fresh enthusiasm among the Supes faithful. No surprise: Most people around here know that when you need a huge play at a critical time, you turn to Russ.

“We live in divisive times, and sports have a way of bringing people closer together,” Wilson said in the Players’ Tribune. “They allow us all – children and adults – to use our imaginations and dream. I want kids in Seattle to grow up dreaming of playing basketball or hockey for their hometown team.”

If the Hallmark Channel is short on script writers, they might have one in the Seahawks quarterback. But regardless of how florid the prose is, Wilson’s endorsement is going to resonate with locals.

It would be one thing for the city to disappoint Sonics fans clamoring for their team back. But to disappoint Wilson and his unrivaled Seattle following? That could be tough to recover from.

You have to think that was part of Hansen’s thinking when he and Wilson partnered up. With a KeyArena renovation drawing interest from the Oak View Group and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the Sodo team needed a counterpunch, and Russell has George Foreman-esque power.

Will this ultimately lead to a Sodo victory? Impossible to say at this point. But it likely put Sodo back in the game.

In January, the City of Seattle will issue a request for proposals (RFP) pertaining to the redevelopment of KeyArena. And for the next few months, studies will be conducted as to how viable/beneficial that project will be.

During that time, Hansen’s group will try to prove that its plan is the better deal for the city. And then, theoretically, some type of decision will be made.

So how does Wilson’s partnership factor into all this? Well, that depends.

When the city council voted down the Occidental street vacation 5-4 last May, the “no” voters cited traffic and the potential loss of port jobs as the primary reasons why. Since then, Hansen’s group has offered to privately finance the project while bringing Wilson on board as a partner.

Now, neither the private funding nor the addition of Wilson counters the council’s publicly-stated concerns. But if it comes down to a popularity contest between the Sodo project and KeyArena, the added pressure from Wilson’s fan base could cause a member to change her mind – and the absence of public funding could be the reason she cites as why.

On the flip side, if it is determined that KeyArena is the better option – a notion that many are highly skeptical of – Wilson’s attachment to Sodo might not matter as much. While there is a contingent of Sonics fans that want to see an arena built in Sodo, their first priority is simply to get their team back.

So if Sodo doesn’t work out but there is still NBA/NHL somewhere in the city, few members of the pro-arena crowd are going to lash out.

Having said all that, if recent history has taught us anything, it’s that predicting how votes will go can be futile. The May street-vacation outcome was widely considered to be a surprise, so prognosticating at this point seems silly.

But it is important to note that if Hansen had any sort of an image problem in the local government’s eye, Wilson likely rectified that. And while it’s unclear how much money the QB is going to contribute, his brand is irreplaceable.

So was adding Wilson to the mix Hansen’s version of a Hail Mary? That’s a valid question. But as to whether it was a genius move?

There’s no question about it.