Pressure on Sacramento to speed up offer for Kings
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The clock is ticking for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's efforts to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle.
Speaking at his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said Tuesday that the joint committee that will decide whether the Kings leave might want to discuss his city's proposal before the NBA Board of Governors meeting April 19.
Owners can vote on the pending sale and relocation of the Kings at any time, but the annual meeting in New York is typically when decisions about moving a franchise are made. NBA Commissioner David Stern said last week he combined the two committees that oversee sales and relocations and told them, "You guys figure it out."
"I'm under the assumption that the joint committee may want to hear from us sooner," Johnson said. "We're going to have all the agreements and all the actions and all the documents squared by March 1, as well as if there's an opportunity to present to the joint committee prior to mid-April, then I feel very confident. We're going to have all our ducks in order. We're going to be ready before mid-April if that's what it takes."
Johnson plans to be in Houston this weekend during All-Star festivities to lobby league owners and update Stern on Sacramento's latest efforts.
The Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, which has a pending purchase agreement for the Kings, already has filed for relocation. The relocation of a franchise requires a majority approval of the Board of Governors - which consists of league owners - and the sale of the franchise would require a three-fourths majority. Stern appointed the joint committee to work through the complex deal.
Johnson, a former NBA All-Star, has been promised a chance to present a bid to NBA owners to keep the team in California's capital city - with a plan to help finance a new downtown arena. The mayor has introduced more than 20 local investors who have pledged at least $1 million each to be minority owners in the team, but he has yet to announce the major equity partners he hopes will anchor a "fair and competitive offer" to present to the league.
Billionaire Ron Burkle, co-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, and 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov are among those who have had serious discussions with the mayor. Burkle also met with Stern at league headquarters last month.
In the days left before traveling to Houston, Johnson plans to talk with Sacramento's corporate community about pledging sponsorship and season-tickets sales to show "the viability of the market." That includes working with the grass-roots effort "Here We Buy," which helped boost attendance to 16,193 in Sacramento's win over Utah on Saturday night.
"You just cannot tell me that when Sacramento presents a comparable, fair, competitive deal to what Seattle's done and makes good on this arena that this team is going to be plopped and relocated somewhere else," Johnson said. "At the end of the day, you just can't tell me that's going to happen."
If nothing else, All-Star weekend has produced major developments about the Kings' future the past two years.
In 2011, Stern said in Los Angeles that that the Kings were exploring a move to Anaheim. Johnson ultimately convinced owners at their April meeting to give his city a chance to help finance a new arena.
In 2012, Johnson traveled to Orlando, Fla., where he reached a tentative agreement - signed off on by Stern - for a new downtown Sacramento arena with Kings owners Joe, Gavin and George Maloof. That agreement collapsed a few weeks later when the Maloofs said the deal didn't make financial sense for the franchise.
"2013 is kind of the final act," Johnson said. "It's act three. So we're going to Houston knowing what's at stake. The Seattle people would like you to believe that the deal is done. And the deal is not done in Seattle. We're going to make sure we get that message out loud and clear."
Speaking at his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said Tuesday that the joint committee that will decide whether the Kings leave might want to discuss his city's proposal before the NBA Board of Governors meeting April 19.
Owners can vote on the pending sale and relocation of the Kings at any time, but the annual meeting in New York is typically when decisions about moving a franchise are made. NBA Commissioner David Stern said last week he combined the two committees that oversee sales and relocations and told them, "You guys figure it out."
"I'm under the assumption that the joint committee may want to hear from us sooner," Johnson said. "We're going to have all the agreements and all the actions and all the documents squared by March 1, as well as if there's an opportunity to present to the joint committee prior to mid-April, then I feel very confident. We're going to have all our ducks in order. We're going to be ready before mid-April if that's what it takes."
Johnson plans to be in Houston this weekend during All-Star festivities to lobby league owners and update Stern on Sacramento's latest efforts.
The Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, which has a pending purchase agreement for the Kings, already has filed for relocation. The relocation of a franchise requires a majority approval of the Board of Governors - which consists of league owners - and the sale of the franchise would require a three-fourths majority. Stern appointed the joint committee to work through the complex deal.
Johnson, a former NBA All-Star, has been promised a chance to present a bid to NBA owners to keep the team in California's capital city - with a plan to help finance a new downtown arena. The mayor has introduced more than 20 local investors who have pledged at least $1 million each to be minority owners in the team, but he has yet to announce the major equity partners he hopes will anchor a "fair and competitive offer" to present to the league.
Billionaire Ron Burkle, co-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, and 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov are among those who have had serious discussions with the mayor. Burkle also met with Stern at league headquarters last month.
In the days left before traveling to Houston, Johnson plans to talk with Sacramento's corporate community about pledging sponsorship and season-tickets sales to show "the viability of the market." That includes working with the grass-roots effort "Here We Buy," which helped boost attendance to 16,193 in Sacramento's win over Utah on Saturday night.
"You just cannot tell me that when Sacramento presents a comparable, fair, competitive deal to what Seattle's done and makes good on this arena that this team is going to be plopped and relocated somewhere else," Johnson said. "At the end of the day, you just can't tell me that's going to happen."
If nothing else, All-Star weekend has produced major developments about the Kings' future the past two years.
In 2011, Stern said in Los Angeles that that the Kings were exploring a move to Anaheim. Johnson ultimately convinced owners at their April meeting to give his city a chance to help finance a new arena.
In 2012, Johnson traveled to Orlando, Fla., where he reached a tentative agreement - signed off on by Stern - for a new downtown Sacramento arena with Kings owners Joe, Gavin and George Maloof. That agreement collapsed a few weeks later when the Maloofs said the deal didn't make financial sense for the franchise.
"2013 is kind of the final act," Johnson said. "It's act three. So we're going to Houston knowing what's at stake. The Seattle people would like you to believe that the deal is done. And the deal is not done in Seattle. We're going to make sure we get that message out loud and clear."
So Kevin Johnson is going to ASW this year and preaching why the Kings should stay with no ownership group and no announced arena deal in hand? That sounds like a idea that won't work to me. I thnk if he really wanted to stop this, he needed to have been further along by now. The Hansen group has a vast amount of money, plans to build an arena that are much further along in the process, and Seattle is a market that can and will increase the NBAs TV revenue. It's all about the money.
With a record of 19-34 it's gonna be hard to keep the team in Sacramento.
"You just cannot tell me that when Sacramento presents a comparable, fair, competitive deal to what Seattle's done and makes good on this arena that this team is going to be plopped and relocated somewhere else," Johnson said. "At the end of the day, you just can't tell me that's going to happen."
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Sure it can KJ. It can happen because California has more than 1 NBA team playing in the State of California right now !!Â
This is just a smoke screen for Johnson to save face and win votes. Anyone who knows anything about business knows that major purchases involve contracts and lawyers. The more people you involve the more complicated it becomes. There is no way that any responsible investor(s) can get the details worked out in the short time frame. No way is anyone going to invest serious money when they know that the contracts can't be drawn up in time. Had Johnson not screwed the deal earlier they wouldn't be in this situation.Â
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The fan base isn't there for the NBA to side with Sacramento. Not when you got 3 other teams in California. Add in teams in Portland, SLC, and Denver and the fan base just isn't there in that over saturated market. The NBA, like and pro sports team, is a buisiness. They will do what is financially wise. Seattle has a proven market and it is under utilized right now. It makes financial sense to move a team into an area that can bring dollars in.Â
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Like it or not the Kings are moving to Seattle.Â
There must be all of 500 people there for that game, wonder why they are fighting to keep the team there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@dale50000 look at the scoreboard Einstein.
It's a done deal. A contract has been signed and $30 million exchanged.Â
So much for announcing "the big whale" two weeks ago, KJ....
@Throbbinhood  K.J. is just desperate. He helped broker a deal to save basketball last year until the Maloofs backed out. I give the guy credit. If Seattle had politicians six years ago that would have cared as much, Shultz wouldn't have sold the team to an out of towner.
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That being said, it's over, stick a fork in Sacramento. Hopefully, they can get another team down the road.
Wow that stadium looks packed, no wonder the team is leaving.
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 @Steve Cardin You realize that it's well before tip off in that picture right? The Kings have a great fan base. They are the only show in town. They sold out 19 of 27(28?) seasons. When a team dwells in the basement for that long and has an inept ownership group this is the result. The Kings potential move has NOTHING to do with the fans. Just like the Sonics leaving had NOTHING to do with the fans here.
@Steve Cardin  Well, we had a similar situation during the last season of the Sonics. Of course Bennet purposly sabatoged the team to fail to drive away the fan base. The Maloofs just didn't care that their team was bad.Â
At this point, it's a done deal. Â The owners of the Kings have agreed and Seattle will have a The Sonics again. Â The only reason it the battle lasted so long in seattle was due to a lease agreement. Â Sacramento politicians are just puffing up for the cameras.
We have a more solid plan than SacTown does right now. Â KJ and his city is doing it all at the last minute again. Â He could've had something going on longer, but last summer he basically had given up after last year's deal fell through - been a while since I saw that article, but I can provide proof of that upon request. Â Their city had quite a few years to get this done. Â The Hansen team is solid.
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If Hansen and his crew can change the minds of the stubborn city council and county council...in other words, they're not just talking out of their ***. Â Hansen has been nothing but honest in his mission to listen to all concerns. Â If SacTown wants to blame someone, they can blame the Maloofs for lying to the Kings fans all this time.
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They also shouldn't be hypocrites - after all, their team came from somewhere else.
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- Dawn M. Welch, Sonics Nation Facebook Page Manager
Oh, it's "done," all right...
I want the NBA back. We aren't getting an expansion team any time soon, so we need the Kings here. KJ's time is up... you can only have so many last shots and win before you lose one.
We keep building new stadiums that are mostly unsupported by the King County residents. This is just another spectator sport which most of us cannot afford tickets to attend (not to mention the taxes that will eventually be tossed our way). Down with it. It has to stop here. Sacramento, please look elsewhere. The BB players won't like all this rainy weather anyway.
 @Sugar Ray You know that the NBA requires a certain amount of tickets to be sold at a certain low price? It's something like a few thousand for under $20. It's cheaper than an NFL game and a lot cheaper than a NHL game.
 @Sugar Ray Please explain the "taxes that will eventually be tossed our way."  Name a tax that you have ever paid or will ever pay for Centurylink, Safeco, or this proposed new arena.  And yes, most of us can afford tickets to attend.  The Seahawks sell out nearly every game.  The Sounders do to.  The Mariners would if they could become competitive again.
 @Sugar Ray You deny that CenturyLink field was voted on and passed? Safeco field was paid for by Hotel, Motel and Rental Car tax, as a resident, you wouldn't pay that very often AND the bonds were paid back well ahead of schedule.
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What is the problem exactly? Are you against all the jobs it creates? All the tax revenue that is generated?
There is no guarantee that it will come to Seattle. I don't know, ask the Longshoremen and the suit they have against this. I'm not the only one.
 @Sugar Ray Who are you responding to?
Why don't you take your anger and aim it at your Starbucks' buddy, Howard Schultz. He's your culprit!
 @Sugar Ray I really hope you are not going to use the Longshoremen as a good reason not to build a new arena. They are mad that nobody lined their pockets with money and included them in the conversation. All of their arguments against the arena are flawed.
 @Sugar Ray This just shows your ignorance as to how the voting process works.  I'm not going to check your facts that it was voted down 3 times, but if it was, Safeco itself was not voted down three times.  Different funding packages were voted down 3 times.  The vote was never "Say yes or no to a new stadium."  It was "Say yes or no to a tax package to build a new stadium."  In the end, Safeco was funded by tourists and out of towners through taxes on hotels and rental cars that apparently didn't need your vote.Â
Safeco was voted down three times and yet was built. Truth be told.
 @Sugar Ray I'm a King Country resident and I support the stadium and the NBA returning. Speak for yourself.
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@Ethan Allen You don't get to change my words either.
 @Sugar Ray  @Ethan You spoke about King County RESIDENTS. You should have said "We keep building new stadiums that are mostly unsupported by me".
Please keep them in Sacramento.......
Yes, Yes, Yes, Please Keep Them in Sacramento! (I would never trust a Hedger anyway!)