Seattle’s new hockey team hasn’t even come close to hitting the ice, but the Kraken have already been hit with a $3.5 million lawsuit over the name of the franchise.
Filed Thursday in King County Superior Court on behalf of the Kraken Bar & Lounge, the lawsuit alleges that the franchise’s plan to open the Kraken Bar & Grill within the vicinity of the team’s training facility “is sure to ruin the Kraken Bar and its near decade-old, cherished image and reputation as one of Seattle’s last dive bars,” according to The Seattle Times.
Though the owners of the bar were willing to tolerate new patrons showing up at their watering hole dressed in “hockey-themed attire,” the planned opening of the Kraken Bar & Grill was the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to the lawsuit.
“That the Kraken Bar would or should become a ‘hockey bar’ or a sports bar of any kind was anathema to the Kraken Bar and its regular patrons,” the lawsuit states. “The Kraken Bar’s regular patrons frequented the bar precisely because it was a dive bar, associated with affordable food and drinks as well as cutting edge live music performances by well-known punk and metal bands.”
According to bar owners William Knupp, Kat Colley and Daniel Colley, the $3.5 million they are seeking is equivalent to the work they’ve put into building their business.
“The Kraken Bar remains one of the few dive bars left in the neighborhood and region,” the lawsuit states. “Its patrons are loyal. Many cannot stand the thought of losing The Kraken Bar to a corporate-sponsored bar, devoid of personality and consumed by an investor mandate to extract premium prices.”
Reached for comment, the Kraken said the team has not been served with the lawsuit yet.
After paying the NHL’s $650 million expansion fee, the team is set to hit the ice in October.
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