A second bidder has emerged in pursuit of an NBA expansion franchise in Seattle. BlackSun Private Equity, a New York-based firm that submitted a bid in August to bring the NBA back to Seattle, is working with the Tulalip Tribes to construct the arena on tribal-owned land if the bid succeeds. The groups are developing plans to build a new arena on land near Marysville, Washington, a town roughly 35 miles north of Seattle

Nick Rathod, BlackSun's chief global strategy and communications officer, confirmed the partnership to The Athletic on Friday.

"Our hope is that the fans really are the drivers of this," said Rathod. "Obviously, the NBA makes the final decision. But we want the fans to help make the decision here because we feel like our bid coming into this is different and the most compelling. We are coming in with the Tribes, who were the original inhabitants of that land. We want to center the local community and get feedback from the local community. I think the NBA could really use, at this moment, a different storyline around ownership. You saw what the Laker deal looked like."

Rathod referenced Mark Walter's agreement to sell the Los Angeles Lakers just 14 months after purchasing the team, along with a federal investigation into alleged financial improprieties involving Walter's insurance companies.

"That was a couple billionaires passing this franchise around like it was a rental property," said Rathod. "For fans and teams, that's just terrible."

The Seattle SuperSonics left the city in 2008, and Rathod said BlackSun's goal is to ensure any new franchise remains in the Pacific Northwest permanently.

"We want it to stay in that community forever," said Rathod. "We will do everything we can to make sure that happens. One of the challenges initially when the Sonics left Seattle had to do with the stadium there. We feel like the land we have designated now with the Tulalip Tribes is one where families can come."

Rathod acknowledged that commuting to the proposed site from downtown Seattle, where rush hour drives routinely exceed an hour, would present challenges for fans, particularly those traveling from areas south of the city such as Tacoma.

"We are not going to ask people to take 41 trips to a venue without a credible mobility plan," said Rathod. "That means we are currently studying highway capacity. Regional transit. Dedicated game transportation. A park-and-ride system. Shuttles. Really trying to examine the entire fan journey that would make it as comfortable and easy and seamless as possible for them to get up there. Once they get up there, it's not just the stadium. There is an entertainment district we will further build out. It will be a destination."

BlackSun CEO Atonn Muhammad told the Seattle Times the group can bring on enough investors to support a bid worth up to $8.1 billion.

One Roof Sports and Entertainment, led by Samantha Holloway and majority owner of the NHL's Seattle Kraken, is the only other known bidder for a potential Seattle expansion franchise, according to industry sources who spoke to The Athletic last week. One Roof Sports also holds a stake in Climate Pledge Arena, located just north of downtown Seattle.

"If done the right way, an NBA team is additive," Holloway told The Athletic earlier this year. "It's been important that we've had enough time to build the Kraken brand and get to where we want to be. There's always room to grow, but it's a great time to add basketball, and they're complementary if done correctly."