I don't see why a group would want to purchase the Kings for $525mil, pay a $50mil+ relocation fee, and $77mil the Kings owe to Sacramento. $650mil for a team that isn't worth half of it? Sounds unlikely.
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Well Chris Hansen already has been approved to start building the arena. I believe the first shovel will go in the ground sometime at the end of 2013, and the arena should be finished by 2016. If they don't secure the Kings now, I'm not sure when another NBA franchise will be available. If they miss on the Kings, who knows when another NBA team will pop up. Seems like a supply and demand type of thing.Comment -
Why do you say that....because your a die hard Kings fan?
I said the same thing about my Sonics 6 years ago and look where they are. I think every fan wants to stay optimistic, but when you look at it from an outside perspective, you guys have a very slim shot.
As a local Sac investor, why overpay for a franchise that was estimated at only $300 million? Oh yeah, and after you buy them, you have no building to play in. So essentially your overpaying for a team, and then your losing money each year because your arena is inadequate.Comment -
just now off csn bay area...Ray Ratto reporting
If the Comrade Steinmetz report that the Sacramento Kings have been sold to Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer to be relocated for $525 million is true, then let us be the first to say this:
Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer are out of their tiny little minds.
And this as well.
Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer are diabolical genii.
Oh, and one last thing.
He’d better have the jack to do this. Especially if Mark Mastrov’s offer to buy the team and keep them in Sacramento appeals to the Maloofs. It probably doesn’t, of course, because a team in Sacramento would always be a reminder to the Maloofs of their own catastrophic failures, and a bidding war would always appeal more to the guy with the bigger plan.
And the bigger plan is the Kings-to-be-SuperSonics, the NHL team that Hansen/Ballmer are hunting for, and the arena to house them both. That’s a heap’o’acquiring, and the fact that they are willing to negotiate not only with the Maloof Family Singers and the people who helped give you the NHL’s third lockout in 17 years means they are having a particularly hyperactive burst of acquisitiveness.
The guess here is that the Maloofs will turn it into a bidding war to more easily cover the relocation and bribe-Sacto fees, but the guess here is that Hansen and Ballmer are too far along to walk away, either.
So let’s say money is the usual no object, that they can pay almost twice the growing rate just to get a team they can call Washington’s own, and then presumably do the same thing with the Columbus Blue Jackets or Edmonton Oilers. And let’s say they can even throw enough cash around to keep the construction unions happy, too.
In that case, they’re about to become even more seriously rich than they already are. And they will also find out how short a public honeymoon actually lasts.
They’ll have made a better purchase than Joe Lacob did when he and a slew of partners bought the Warriors for $460M. They’ll be the new public owners in a city that has the reclusive Paul Allen and the essentially invisible Mariners’ owners. He’ll be the savior who returned the NBA to town, and threw in a hockey team the town didn’t even know it wanted on the side. And once he hooks up with a TV network . . .
Ching. As in Cha-.
See, that’s the real hit here. Hansen and Ballmer can have two marginally profitable teams (or one pretty profitable team like the NeoSonics and a team is marginally not like the Metropolitans/Eskimos/Ironmen/Bombers/Americans/Totems/Breakers/Thunderbirds) and do okay. But the real estate will mean more, and the TV money even more than that.
And for that, they may even be willing to endure the Maloofs as not-so-silent partners, and conference calls with Gary Bettman.
So yes, they certainly did overpay for the Kings, and they won a whole metropolitan area that hates their guts in Sacramento, though the state capital will never forget the Maloofs.
And as an aside, never forget that you can’t spell “Maloof” without “Mal” and “Oof.”
But Hansen and Ballmer will take all of that and more, because they are on the verge of being big shots in a big town, with all the money that entails.
Ray Ratto is a columnist for CSNBayArea.com
<section class="field field-name-field-article-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix"> Tags:
Sacramento kings, Seattle SuperSonics, NHL, NBA, SEATTLE, Top Stories </section>
Ray Ratto is CSNBayArea.com's Senior Insider. Follow him on Twitter @RattoCSN.Comment -
Don't point fingers at Hansen and Ballmer. You can only blame the Maloofs.Comment -
Seattle has a lot more than just coffee shops. Way better than Sacramento.Comment -
Love driving down to Seattle for a seahawks or Mariners game. Love Pike Place....love the atmosphere of the city. Great food, shopping, beautiful scenery....plus close to a bunch of mountains for skiing/snowboardingComment -
Seattle is a great place. The one thing that stands out is that they can try and have a good team. The thing is they can only wish they have the team that they could of had. The deserve the team way more. Sacramento has had the chance.Comment -
beat this
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Seattle deserves a team much more than Sacramento. Seattle had a franchise for 40+ years that originated in Seattle. Sacramento has had the Kings for only 27 years, and they didn't originate in Sacramento.
There is no doubt Sac has great fans. But I can't stand listening to people say that Sacramento is a better basketball city than Seattle.Comment -
DeMarcus CousinsComment -
Yeah buddy. Although they need to completely tear that team apart. There is not one player you can build around on that team. DeMarcus has the talent to build around, but I just don't see it. Only way to turn around Cousins is to bring in a disciplinary coach.....so not Keith Smart.Comment -
they will be the only team in the entire state...compared to 3rd team in california. Easy move. People who say they overpaid, just wait like 10 years and they will be valued around 750 million. Its the digital age we live in, the owners make back most of the money through TV deals and ads.Comment -
I will fly down to San Fran if 49ers and Seahawks both win. Also will be down there to see Swedish House Mafia play...Comment -
Not a huge Mariners fan but it's one of the nicest parks. Always go down to see Red Sox or Yankees play. May go see the Jays when they come to town.Comment -
West Coast
1. Seattle
2. Vancouver
3. San Francisco
4. Portland
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......
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8998. Bakersfield
8999. Fresno
9000. Tijuana
9001. SacramentoComment -
Our second home is in Marin County. Rarely make it down there, except for the occasional Art gallery opening or yacht race.Comment -
Nobody gives a shit about the Mariners in Seattle. Literally, no one. I'd trade them away for an NHL team anyday, and I don't even watch hockey.
Don't forget we got the Seahawks who should have a very bright future. Never count out Husky basketball or football.Comment
get a life we know u cant afford it so put all the cali cities at the bottom