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Kings to Anaheim?

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conns7901

Post subject: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 12:09 pm

Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 11:36 pm
Posts: 19533

I have a hard time believing LA could support a third team. Especially now that Blake Griffin is on the Clippers.

Sources: Kings consider relocation

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

The Sacramento Kings are seriously considering the possibility of applying to the NBA by the league's March 1 deadline for relocation to Anaheim for next season, according to sources with knowledge of the team's thinking.

The Kings haven't made a final decision, but sources said team officials have been in Orange County, Calif., this month to gather more first-hand data on the feasibility and potential obstacles involved in trying to move to Anaheim's Honda Center at season's end after a 26-season run in Sacramento and numerous failed attempts to secure the financing needed for the construction of a new modern arena.

NBA commissioner David Stern publicly confirmed for the first time Saturday night at his annual All-Star Weekend news conference that the Kings have had discussions with Anaheim officials about a possible move.

“

Maloof We have to look at all of our options at this point. But we also want to concentrate on our team right now. Any of the arena stuff, we'll talk about that later.
” -- Joe Maloof

In a subsequent phone interview with ESPN.com, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof declined to discuss specifics but said: "We have to look at all of our options at this point. But we also want to concentrate on our team right now. Any of the arena stuff, we'll talk about that later."

Maloof also reiterated comments he's made to the Sacramento Bee newspaper about the Kings being approached by "many cities" besides Anaheim.

But sources close to the situation say, with no NBA-ready arena for the Kings to move into in the Maloofs' home base of Las Vegas, that Anaheim holds the greatest appeal to the Kings.

The Kings have been trying for nearly a decade to replace outdated Arco Arena (soon to be renamed Power Balance Pavilion) with a new revenue-generating building that would ensure they stay in a market that was once known as the home of one of the NBA's most fervent fan bases. That was before Sacramento's slide down the Western Conference standings.

The Kings are 13-40 this season and it will be their fifth straight season out of the playoffs after a run that took them to the brink of the NBA Finals in an unforgettable seven-game series with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002.

But Stern, at his news conference, confirmed the league no longer has an active role in trying to keep the team in Sacramento after originally backing the efforts of Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson -- the former star guard with the Phoenix Suns -- to find a solution to the arena issue.

"All I'll say is that we and they have tried very hard over the years to see whether a new building could be built, and with the collapse of the last attempt -- which took a few years, and several million dollars, on behalf of the league -- I said we are not going to spend any more time on that," Stern said. "That is for the Maloofs and the people of Sacramento.

"I don't know where that is right now. I mean, I do know -- I talk to Mayor Johnson from time to time in relation to the various projects he's engaged. But I'm not driving it and we'll see how it goes."

Among the issues that could dissuade the Kings from making the relocation request before next season's deadline in 10 days are the millions still owed by the Maloofs to the city of Sacramento in loans and the behind-the-scenes resistance they could potentially receive from the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.

The Kings would likely need favorable loan and lease terms in Anaheim to mitigate those financial obligations and the franchise might still face opposition from the Lakers and Clippers. Although those teams would only have one vote each -- and despite the fact franchise relocations in the NBA only require a 15-14 majority vote for approval from the league's other 29 teams -- it's certainly conceivable the Staples Center co-tenants would band together to try to rally support from other teams to oppose to a third NBA franchise moving into a building that sits roughly 30 miles away.

Officials at the Honda Center, according to the Bee, declined comment Friday when asked if they are in negotiations with the Kings.

The NBA's Board of Governors has the right to attach a relocation fee to any franchise move it approves, but such fees are distributed evenly among the league's other teams and wouldn't be paid directly to the Lakers and Clippers in the event of the Kings moving to Anaheim.

One league source, furthermore, reiterated that such relocation fees are "discretionary."

March 1, meanwhile, is not only the NBA's deadline for relocation applications for the 2011-12 season but also the day that Arco Arena's name officially changes to Power Balance Pavilion.

Yet it's believed that the naming-rights deal with Anaheim-based Power Balance is one of the least lucrative in league history because of the age of the building -- which opened in 1988 -- and the franchise's uncertain status in town.

The Kings and the Atlanta Hawks have each moved three times, more than any other NBA franchise. After originating as the Rochester Royals and moving to Cincinnati, the franchise became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings and then the Kansas City Kings before relocating to Sacramento.

Sacramento radio station KFBK (1530 AM) reported in January that Harry Samueli, owner of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, has offered to loan $100 million to Joe and Gavin Maloof to pay off the requisite debts and fees to move the Kings into the Samueli-owned Honda Center.

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conns7901 wrote:

Not over yet.

Yes it is.

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Douchebag

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 12:20 pm

Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:03 pm
Posts: 43742

Why not Vegas?

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NearWessSideHussra

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 1:35 pm

Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:31 pm
Posts: 6513
pizza_Place: sit down

Thought the NBA in Vegas idea went downhill after the All-Star game there a few seasons back. The arena was too shite.

I assume the Kings would share the Honda Center with the Ducks, while the Clips and Lakers are both in commute hell for-Eastsiders-and-inland-emperor-penguins downtown LA.

What's up with LA and NY having multiple NBA/NHL franchises while Chicago only has 1 each.
Without Milwaukee having an NHL team the far Northern burbs could maybe support an NHL franchise (Gurnee?) . Or put one out in Northern Indiana so the DaMaNeils wouldn't have to commute into the city to get their puck fix and hockey crazed west Michiganders could cruise down and catch games.

At least Chicago has more than one MLB team, well, 1.5 major league teams.

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Beebo

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 1:50 pm

1000 CLUB

Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 9:58 am
Posts: 4456
Location: @ ROH Show Near Me.
pizza_Place: Freezer.

You're saying there's a full MLB team, or that you have two 0.75 teams?

I'm fairly certain Chicago could support two football teams. You tell me about basketball and hockey.

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NearWessSideHussra

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:00 pm

Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:31 pm
Posts: 6513
pizza_Place: sit down

Well, they have NBA type hoops a few hours South in Indy and an hour and a half North in Milwaukee as well as D League in Ft Wayne, but no NHL in those places.

A 2nd NFL team with a dome/retractable would be sweet. Super Bowl!

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W_Z

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:33 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:56 pm
Posts: 37958
Location: ...

JAWS wrote:

It amazes me that places like Atlanta, Phoenix, Miami, Carolina, and a few other suspect cities have franchises when places like Milwaukee or Hamilton ON. don't.

are you trying to tell me that atlanta is NOT a great hockey town???

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NearWessSideHussra

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:55 pm

Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:31 pm
Posts: 6513
pizza_Place: sit down

Isn't the NBA talking about a reloc of the league owned New Orleans team to Kansas City or possibly Chicago even? Prolly should the number of NBA teams, given how thin the talent pool is. If it wasn't for Blake Griffin being a nomimal rookie, this rookie class would have no one worthy of winning any sort of ROTY award.

Some info on the LV NBA situation, 40,000 seems to big for an NBA arena. Pistons are another franchise that could be on the move. Some guy from California is looking to buy them.

Quote:

That long-rumored Las Vegas NBA franchise could be much closer than it once was. A new UNLV stadium could draw an NBA franchise to Las Vegas, or it could even draw an
NHL franchise to the facility. One of the two roadblocks to a major sports franchise in those two sports coming to Las Vegas was where they would play, and it could be quite soon that the roadblock no longer exists.

Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld brought up the fact that Ed Roski, the CEO of Majestic Realty and part owner of the NHL's L.A. Kings and the NBA's L.A. Lakers, is developing a 40,000-seat arena in Las Vegas. That arena would be right on the UNLV campus, and could easily house an NBA franchise. It's highly doubtful that it would be the Lakers that Roski tries to bring to the area, but it does suggest that he might be interested in owning 100 percent of an NBA team that he would then move to the big city.

There are a number of teams around the NBA that are really struggling to bring in fans, and several of them have been rumored at potentially moving in the near future. Leading that list has to be the Sacramento Kings, a young and exciting team to watch that simply isn't drawing as many fans as they used to. The franchise wants a new stadium in the area, but an impasse has been reached in that situation that might be too tough to overcome. It could lead to the owners finding the best solution, and getting to go to Las Vegas might not be so bad.

One of the other teams that is always at risk of moving are the New Orleans Hornets, even though they have had an increase number of fans showing up to recent games. It's pretty remarkable what fans will do when there is a good product on the floor, and that is exactly what Chris Paul has going for him. However, if Paul decides that he is going to test free agency, the Hornets could become a franchise running in place for years to come (again).

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... ollow.html

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Walt Williams Neck

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:17 pm

Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:43 pm
Posts: 18494
Location: end of lonely street
pizza_Place: Obbies

Douchebag wrote:

Why not Vegas?

Vegas + Thug League = Bad idea

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

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NearWessSideHussra

Post subject: Re: Kings to Anaheim?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:27 pm