Tune in April 3rd for the next twist in the Sacramento Saga
On the 9th January, Adrian Wojnarowski, a prominent NBA reporter tweeted:
“The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.”
and
“The deal will sell the Kings for approximately $500 million, with the Seattle group seeking relocation to Key Arena for the 2013-’14 season.”
Sacramento fans were stunned, as were many NBA fans in general. Even though Kings fans had been expecting something like this for a long time, it still came as a shock. It appeared at first as though it was a done deal, headlines all over the internet were stating the Kings had reportedly been sold. However this was only the start.
Since the 9th January there have been many highs and lows, both for Seattle fans and Sacramento fans. Shortly after the sale was reported it was announced that local Californian investors had emerged to buy the team and keep it in Sacramento. Fan favourite Chris Webber defended the Sacramento Kings on national TV and argued that they should remain in Sacramento. King’s fans also showed their support for keeping the team in town by pledging over $23 million worth of season tickets through the HereWeBuy grassroots organisation.
On January 22nd, Sacramento Mayor and Ex-Phoenix Suns player, Kevin Johnson, revealed the names of 19 local investors who were prepared to buy a portion of the team.
On the same day it was reported that billionaire Ron Burkle and founder of 24-hour fitness Mark Mastrov may join forces, with the possibility of becoming large equity partners in the Sacramento Kings. On Friday 1st March it was officially announced that Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov would become partners in a bid to buy the Sacramento Kings and build a new arena in downtown Sacramento. It was then later revealed that a formal offer had been put forward by the new partnership Mastrov and Burkle to buy the Sacramento Kings.
David Stern called an impromptu news conference regarding the Sacramento Kings last week and stated that Mastrov’s offer had to be raised. However, Stern also made it clear that the Maloofs – current owners of the Kings – would not decide who to sell the team to and it would be decided by a committee of other NBA owners on April 3rd. This could be good news for Sacramento fans as it appeared the Maloofs were set on selling the Kings to the Seattle group.
This saga appears to be coming to an end, however history would suggest that this rollercoaster ride is far from over.
