http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9127111/44000-season-tickets-requested-seattle-nba-team so 10k people are waiting on season tickets, thats a lot of people wait listed for a team that hasn't even been confirmed that is coming back.
HANG TIME WEST – This battle has been Sacramento against Seattle all along. It’s not Sacramento against itself, because it was inevitable the city would build a new ownership conglomerate and a new arena plan. And it’s not Seattle against the NBA, because the league has been very clear in its interest in returning to Washington state. If Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer headed the same group to buy the Kings to play in Sacramento, it breezes through the approval process. If any city other than Seattle is trying to poach the team – Anaheim, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach – Sacramento mounts a successful comeback victory and probably wins easy. Sacramento against Seattle. Today, for the first time, they go head-to-head, with both mayors, representatives from both hopeful ownership groups and leaders from both West Coast locations on the East Coast to make presentations to NBA officials and select owners to gather information. That leads into the April 18-19 Board of Governors meeting and a vote on the future of the Kings. And that leads to an outcome that will impact the NBA for many years. Either a new arena is being built to keep a team in Sacramento or a new arena is being built to bring a team back to Seattle, and there is still no hint from the league office that the win-win scenario in both cities is possible. No expansion, commissioner David Stern said without wiggle room during All-Star weekend in February in Houston, the last comment on the matter. Every indication is that this will be a very tough call for the Board of Governors, with strong arguments each way as well as counter-arguments and more counter-arguments. Statistical data will be offered as supporting evidence, and so will emotion. The pitches will be so far reaching that Seattle may promote its massive international corporate base, and Sacramento will definitely promote Vivek Ranadive as the general partner of the proposed ownership group that will make the entire league money by broadening the appeal of the NBA in his native India. There are so many layers to this: If the Seattle bid is voted down later this month – if – don’t be surprised if the current owners, the Maloof family, holds on to the Kings for a while. It could be a few months to step back and see who else wants to play Monopoly now that the team is on the open market, but that would be long enough to have control over trades, draft and free agency. They could still sell late in the summer and give the new owner enough time to draw more than 3,500 fans a game.The Maloofs have not ruled out the possibility of owning the Kings next season. That’s more of a longshot than the July/August scenario, but the family is considering all options at this point. Including staying on and gauging the mood with a new commissioner, Adam Silver. If Seattle is denied and the Maloofs sell? It will have to be to a group that will own the team in Sacramento. Again, the Board of Governors vote is about location. If California’s capital city wins, the team stays no matter who is at the top of the masthead. Voting consideration No. 1: It makes sense that small-market owners would prefer competing against the local TV money of other small-market teams. Boost for Sacramento. Except that some owners, from markers of any size, could want the cut of the to-be-decided relocation fee. Boost for Seattle. (See, counters to every argument.) Voting consideration No. 2: Ranadive’s late addition to the Sacramento group, after Stern backhanded the first offer of its attempted counter-strike, is a positive. How much of a positive is unclear. Owners have to at least be intrigued by the potential of increasing the revenue stream in India, and the relationships he may have already built as No. 3 man in Golden State ownership group can help. But the Warriors may already have been in the Sacramento camp. It is possible Ranadive will not swing a vote. Voting consideration No. 3: Stern, who has worked for years to keep the Kings from moving, has lost one of his most compliant voters. The Maloofs historically followed the commissioner’s lead on most topics. They’re clearly looking out for their best interests on this one. Kobe Bryant, dismissing the notion that Saturday’s game at Sleep Train Arena was the last installment of Lakers-Kings, once a great rivalry before the Kings fell off the map: “They’ve been singing the same song for three years. Enough already.” He is sort of right. This has been the Sacramento saga on a loop. But it has never been like this. There has never been a relocation vote weeks away. There has never been a Seattle. One important clarification: When Stern said recently an outgoing owner will not dictate where that team would play, he was indicating the decision belonged to the Board of Governors once the owner had reached a sales agreement. It did not mean the BOG can makes the initial sales agreement. The governors’ power is in approving or denying a deal, not making it. Some people in Sacramento took that to mean owners can simply force the Maloofs to take a deal from the Ranadive-Mark Mastrov-Ron Burkle consortium. Not true. The read at the moment? Pick ‘em. Both sides have precedents in their favor, both sides have strong arguments, both sides have the emotional factor of passionate fan bases. The needle likely moves based on whatever feedback comes out of today’s important gathering, but this is setting up as a little more than two weeks of tension around the league, and especially around two cities. Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
I wonder if it'll come down to the Maloofs making the call. The committee can't force the Maloofs to sell to the Sac group -- all they're really empowered to do is accept/reject the Seattle bid. Couple that with pretty bad precedent about the NBA dictating sales terms and I think the self-interested owners wouldn't do that. On the other hand, if the Maloofs decide they want the Sac group to win, they just tell the committee that and sign a new purchase agreement with the Sac group asap. The spin would be interesting if this happens and I'm guessing it'd involve a lot of non-specific comments about Sac having a superior bid.
I think the Maloofs are past caring what the people of Sac think about them. They will sell to the highest bidder and I don't think other owners are going to keep them from doing that. Shit the Seattle to OKC deal was 28-2....... Owners are about the $$$$$$$. Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
Agreed, HCP. I think the Maloofs would be swayed to go with the Sac group only if the $ bid was better than the Seattle deal. Consensus is that Sac is upping the bid but no one seems to have any clue how much or whether it compares well to Seattle. It'd be interesting to know what the Maloofs would do if the two offers were exactly the same or close to.
I don't think Sacramento has the deep pockets that Seattle has. I'm 99% sure this will go in Seattle's favor.
@SpearsNBAYahoo: Seattle group just finished Kings presentation to NBA ownership group in NY with emphasis on economic strength,source said. Sac group up now Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
@KBergCBS: Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn says there is "political and public support" to bring the NBA back to Seattle, calls it a "very positive meeting." Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
@KBergCBS: King County executive Dow Constantin said owners wanted assurances that local government continues to stand behind Seattle arena deal. Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
@daldridgetnt: Constatntine: George Maloof spoke and said the family wanted to "move forward" with the deal it had with Seattle. Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!
The Maloofs stating they want to go forward with the Seattle deal has to be a big point for the owners. They don't want to be told who they can sell to when they decide to sell.
Agreed about Maloofs -- huge advantage to Seattle that they're still fired up to sell to Seattle. Sounds like the Maloofs are sitting in on the Sac presentation...that'll make it a little difficult to bash the Maloofs during the presentation.
Hmmm. I'm pretty sure the agreement between the Maloofs and Hansen had a no-shop provision, meaning the Maloof's couldn't solicit offers. I could also imagine they had covenants requiring that the Maloofs use reasonable efforts to close the deal. All that goes out the door when Sac began their presentation...I wonder if the Maloofs stuck to the party line or switched sides. Don't think we'll know the answer to that until the NBA announces the decision.
Meh. I'd bash them regardless. Hell, the whole speaking on behalf of the Seattle group shows how crooked they are.
They have a signed purchase agreement with the Seattle group and are probably contractually obligated to support them. I don't think that speaking on behalf of the deal says anything about how crooked they are. On the other hand, you could make strong argument that selling to the Seattle group without making any kind of announcement that they were selling the team or first approaching Sac potential owners was slimy. Of course, as bad off as the Maloofs were financially, you'd think that Sac potential owners might have approached the Maloofs. It's not too surprising the Maloofs needed to sell.
Interesting Sac press conference on right now...KJ is leading it. Seems like the owner group should be in the lead, but it's the KJ show.
KJ making a big deal that the Kings outsold the Sonics in 20 of 23 seasons. Not sure if that's a sign of strong Kings support or further proof that the Sonics arena was too small. When your arena is smallest in the NBA, ticket sales are a tough metric.
Also kind of shows just how far the Kings have fallen. Aren't they in the bottom 3 in attendance now? Not sure this helps their point all that much.
