When the decision was ostensibly made by the Maloof family to keep their NBA franchise in Sacramento for at least one more year, an interesting thing occurred. The city, including its mayor, expressed self-congratulatory words, praising their efforts and the changing attitude of Joe Q. Public in keeping the team in town.
Indeed, Mayor Kevin Johnson did a fine job of lining up additional corporate sponsors to the tune of about $11 million. More importantly, he found a magic bullet in billionaire Ron Burkle, the man who saved Pittsburgh's NHL franchise, who offered to buy the team. That proposal kept the Maloofs honest in their dealings--for the time being, anyway.
However, downtown rallies and Color Me Purple days, while impressive in appearance, had little to do with the Maloofs' decision not to file for moving the Kings franchise to Anaheim. It felt good for a city economically beat down, the capital of an economically beat-down state. It meant nothing.
Why did the Maloofs change their mind? They didn't. They would have filed for the move except for commissioner David Stern's courtesy call which allowed the owners to save face. Simply put, the Maloofs did not have the votes for the move to proceed. Stern told them as much. A simple majority of NBA owners is required for a franchise move to be approved. A majority of owners were opposed to it.
Why? Can you spell Dr. Jerry Buss? Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Buss is as popular with NBA owners as L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling is not. On the Kings-move-to-Anaheim issue, they were united in opposition. A third team in Southern California, in the L.A. basin no less, was not in their best interest. Nor was it in the league's. The Lakers new 20-year television deal has a penalty clause costing the team 10% of the contract's value if a third NBA team moves into the broadcasting market. That's roughly a $15 million penalty annually, according to estimates.
Besides the other logical reasons for opposing a new NBA neighbor, such as the impact on merchandise sales and attendance, television revenue penalties made Dr. Buss' decision easy. He relayed his opposition to other NBA owners. Considering what the Lakers have meant to the league as one of the top four franchises, most of the other owners had no problem siding with him.
The commissioner's office conducted a straw poll and told the Maloofs that victory was not theirs. Adding insult to injury, they even encouraged the Maloofs to change their public strategy and treat the city of Sacramento as an ally, not an adversary. On May 2, the miffed Kings ownership followed that suggestion by starting a public relations campaign and media blitz to once again attempt to endear the team to the community.
On that day, a disgruntled and obviously disappointed Joe Maloof told a local Sacramento sports radio station that the Kings would add fire and quality players to the mix, rewarding the community for its loyalty. With the lowest payroll in the NBA, there's nowhere to go but up.
The Maloofs succeeded in putting a good spin on circumstances. The Kings' diminished fan base is happy. Mayor Johnson is happy. Local sports talk is happy. Arena staffers and team announcers are very happy. Current players are not saying it, but most of them are probably very unhappy. Instead of beaches and the O. C. night life, they still have tule fog and the less glamorous "cowtown" label for eight months of the year.
What has really changed for Sacramento? The city retains its NBA franchise. Its mayor is more popular than ever. There is still no new arena nor viable arena plan. A new arena will still cost private and public sources about $350 million to build. That means, according to local sources, the Kings will have to pay about $35 million a year in loans and interest for about twenty years. As of May 14, 2011, no financing plan has been announced.
David Stern wrote an editorial that appeared May 15, 2011 in the Sacramento Bee saying it was the fan base, local government representatives, and the regional business community that saved the Kings for another year. Really? Then he proceeded to lobby for a new entertainment-sports complex to be built through a public-private partnership. One sentence was spent on the Maloofs' potential contribution to the financing of the new arena.
Perhaps in the piece, the commissioner is sending two warning shots. First, he is warning the Maloofs to get their own finances in order and input more capital into the franchise or sell a big piece of the team to more solvent individuals or entities eagerly waiting in line. Second, he is warning the Sacramento community and its leaders to establish a realistic plan to build a new arena before the end of next season or the team will move with his blessing.
Of course, where the Kings will ultimately wind up if the region does not construct a new arena remains an issue. Perhaps San Jose. Perhaps San Diego. Perhaps Seattle. Perhaps Kansas City.
The soap opera continues. In a new showing of unity between ownership and city, Mayor Johnson will be present in New York City representing the Kings next week when the NBA draft lottery order is established.
Mayor Johnson, government entities, and unspecified private third parties have until the end of March, 2012, to come up with a new arena proposal with validated financing. Good luck,Sacramento!
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