Anaheim Kings?

[Sodboy13]

Idaho needs a pro team.

No, no they don't. Neither does Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota... and there are a lot of other states without major-league pro sports teams. That's because these states have small populations which are mainly rural and spread out, and their largest cities fail to meet even the loosest definition of "major market." There's a lot more that goes into moving a sports franchise - or creating a successful new one - other than saying "Well, this place doesn't have one, let's put it there."

Boise has an ECHL team and a D-League team. They're fine.

[pmoehrin]

I think the Kings are gone from Sacramento and I think its for reasons that are almost identical to what happened with the Sonics.

There's one huge difference between the two - the Sonics were moved in no small part because the NBA desperately wanted a team in Oklahoma City. No analogous situation exists here.

I don't think OKC really had all that much to do with the Sonics leaving. It may have helped quicken the process but that's about it. The number one reason in both cases though was that they couldn't get the arena funding. If Seattle builds the Sonics an arena, no way the NBA lets them bolt for OKC or any other city for that matter.

I'm sure that if OKC was not an option for the Sonics they would have simply found some other city for them to move to. St. Louis, Anaheim, Montreal. I really think the Sonics were leaving regardless if OKC got involved or not. The NBA feels very strongly about having a team's arena demands met by their home city, and will punish those who aren't willing to play ball. It works the other way as well. You really think Memphis would have a team if they hadn't agreed to build the FedEx Forum? Or Charlotte would have been awarded another expansion team had they not had the Tim Warner Arena deal in place?

Make no mistake about it, getting franchises publically financed arena is the number one business priority for the NBA. I think that also holds true for all sports as well, but I think the NBA is the most agressive about it.

[The_Admiral]

I know the Lakers and Clippers won't be happy with the move, but push comes to shove the NBA values an owner's freedom to move if the city doesen't want to build a new stadium over territory rights. I'm sure they will find a way to make it worth it for Jerry Buss and Donald Sterling to at least be willing to not put too much of a fuss over it, which from what I can tell at least they really haven't made a fuss over it. My initial guess would be that the Clippers aren't going to be in LA for much longer, and the NBA will look to move them to a monster market (think Vegas, London, Paris) in exchange for allowing the Kings to come into the LA metro area. Again it's a guess or mine, nothing more then that, and I'm not really going to defend it too much. I'll just say that I think the NBA having teams over in Europe in going to happen sooner then later. The markets are just too valuable to pass up even with the difficulties of having teams spread out across mutliple continents.

Owners like being able to move, but this is being seen as the vanguard for a new era of moving to places where teams already are. That makes a big difference to the league's power brokers, most of whom just so happen to be the owners in cities with extra arenas.

The Clippers make millions in Los Angeles. Going nowhere. And Las Vegas is not a monster market, unless the monster you're thinking of is Gamblor.

[pmoehrin]

I know the Lakers and Clippers won't be happy with the move, but push comes to shove the NBA values an owner's freedom to move if the city doesen't want to build a new stadium over territory rights. I'm sure they will find a way to make it worth it for Jerry Buss and Donald Sterling to at least be willing to not put too much of a fuss over it, which from what I can tell at least they really haven't made a fuss over it. My initial guess would be that the Clippers aren't going to be in LA for much longer, and the NBA will look to move them to a monster market (think Vegas, London, Paris) in exchange for allowing the Kings to come into the LA metro area. Again it's a guess or mine, nothing more then that, and I'm not really going to defend it too much. I'll just say that I think the NBA having teams over in Europe in going to happen sooner then later. The markets are just too valuable to pass up even with the difficulties of having teams spread out across mutliple continents.

Owners like being able to move, but this is being seen as the vanguard for a new era of moving to places where teams already are. That makes a big difference to the league's power brokers, most of whom just so happen to be the owners in cities with extra arenas.

The Clippers make millions in Los Angeles. Going nowhere. And Las Vegas is not a monster market, unless the monster you're thinking of is Gamblor.

Population wise Vegas is not a major market, but the value of a team in Vegas has been placed at being on of the top five teams in NBA if they were to exist.

The two key issues are obviously the gambling problem, and the amount of tourisim dollars they would need to rely on for a team to succeed. Most of the city works at night, so your fans have to come from the strip.

It's a risk reward city. If the team is competitive then I think a Vegas team would be right up there with the Knicks and Lakers for league revenues. But if they are in the cellar, they might very well be dead last for league revenues.

I think the gambling issue is what the NBA and all sports are really worried about though. That's not going to be easy to sort out, and the fact that Vegas doesen't really have an NBA ready arena is another factor. But the summer league is in Vegas, they had the All-Star game there, the NBA is trying to get a team there.

[The_Admiral]

I don't think OKC really had all that much to do with the Sonics leaving.

Are you wholly unfamiliar with the timeline and the actors here? It had everything to do with Oklahoma City. Aubrey McClendon, who was the money man behind Clay Bennett, was a major underwriter of the Hornets' Oklahoma City seasons through his energy company. He saw firsthand how surprisingly well Oklahoma City took to the NBA in less than one season, and saw an opportunity. However, despite the fact that New Orleans was still a mess and George Shinn was taking a bath on the team, the league was dead-set on making New Orleans work, and prevented McClendon and his consortium from locking the Hornets down. The Supersonics were for sale at the time because Howard Schultz did such a puppy-crap job running the show that he just wanted to wash his hands of the whole affair, so he sold the team to McClendon, Bennett, and the rest of the Oklahoma City wolves in sheep's clothing who had underwritten the Hornets in a pinch but couldn't get on board with them. The reason that the Sonics under Bennett couldn't procure public financing for an arena, besides the fact that the state didn't really have the money, is the manner in which all these Dust Bowl boors stormed in and made hilariously exorbitant demands for their public financing, like a $500 million arena in the south suburbs near a giant expressway snarl and no public transit. It's like if you had a lawyer trying to mitigate your speeding ticket by saying "you guys got it so wrong, how's about YOU pay HIM," getting laughed out of court, and having him say "hey man, I made an offer."

[IceCap]

I know the Lakers and Clippers won't be happy with the move, but push comes to shove the NBA values an owner's freedom to move if the city doesen't want to build a new stadium over territory rights. I'm sure they will find a way to make it worth it for Jerry Buss and Donald Sterling to at least be willing to not put too much of a fuss over it, which from what I can tell at least they really haven't made a fuss over it. My initial guess would be that the Clippers aren't going to be in LA for much longer, and the NBA will look to move them to a monster market (think Vegas, London, Paris) in exchange for allowing the Kings to come into the LA metro area. Again it's a guess or mine, nothing more then that, and I'm not really going to defend it too much. I'll just say that I think the NBA having teams over in Europe in going to happen sooner then later. The markets are just too valuable to pass up even with the difficulties of having teams spread out across mutliple continents.

Owners like being able to move, but this is being seen as the vanguard for a new era of moving to places where teams already are. That makes a big difference to the league's power brokers, most of whom just so happen to be the owners in cities with extra arenas.

The Clippers make millions in Los Angeles. Going nowhere. And Las Vegas is not a monster market, unless the monster you're thinking of is Gamblor.

Population wise Vegas is not a major market, but the value of a team in Vegas has been placed at being on of the top five teams in NBA if they were to exist.

The two key issues are obviously the gambling problem, and the amount of tourisim dollars they would need to rely on for a team to succeed. Most of the city works at night, so your fans have to come from the strip.

It's a risk reward city. If the team is competitive then I think a Vegas team would be right up there with the Knicks and Lakers for league revenues. But if they are in the cellar, they might very well be dead last for league revenues.

I think the gambling issue is what the NBA and all sports are really worried about though. That's not going to be easy to sort out, and the fact that Vegas doesen't really have an NBA ready arena is another factor. But the summer league is in Vegas, they had the All-Star game there, the NBA is trying to get a team there.

It doesn't matter. The. Clippers. Are. Not. Leaving. Los Angeles. How many times must that be said?

[pmoehrin]

I don't think OKC really had all that much to do with the Sonics leaving.

Are you wholly unfamiliar with the timeline and the actors here? It had everything to do with Oklahoma City. Aubrey McClendon, who was the money man behind Clay Bennett, was a major underwriter of the Hornets' Oklahoma City seasons through his energy company. He saw firsthand how surprisingly well Oklahoma City took to the NBA in less than one season, and saw an opportunity. However, despite the fact that New Orleans was still a mess and George Shinn was taking a bath on the team, the league was dead-set on making New Orleans work, and prevented McClendon and his consortium from locking the Hornets down. The Supersonics were for sale at the time because Howard Schultz did such a puppy-crap job running the show that he just wanted to wash his hands of the whole affair, so he sold the team to McClendon, Bennett, and the rest of the Oklahoma City wolves in sheep's clothing who had underwritten the Hornets in a pinch but couldn't get on board with them. The reason that the Sonics under Bennett couldn't procure public financing for an arena, besides the fact that the state didn't really have the money, is the manner in which all these Dust Bowl boors stormed in and made hilariously exorbitant demands for their public financing, like a $500 million arena in the south suburbs near a giant expressway snarl and no public transit. It's like if you had a lawyer trying to mitigate your speeding ticket by saying "you guys got it so wrong, how's about YOU pay HIM," getting laughed out of court, and having him say "hey man, I made an offer."

Believe me, I know the timeline. And all I think OKC did was speed up the process. The Sonics were going to be gone without a new arena no matter what. If not OKC then somewhere else. Certainly OKC played a part but I viewed them more as the people being there to swoop in and pick up the pieces. I really think had Clay Bennett never come into the picture somebody else would have gotten involved. What happened with Seattle was just wrong, and I think what's happening with Sacramento is wrong as well for much the same reasons. Cities should not have to be blackmailed into building new arenas and stadiums.

That's all I'm gonna say about it. I know people are very emotional about it on both sides. I've gotten into it with both Sonics and Thunder fans elsewhere for what I feel happened and I just don't feel like repeating myself.

As far as the chances of the Clippers leaving LA, we'll see. Who knows what the impact will be on the Kings coming into Anaheim. I think that's going to be the driving factor in any decision made, and its not known right now what effect if any it will have on the Clippers. What I said with them is simply an uneducated so if people want to bash it, I'm not going to stop them. It's based on nothing.

[BaltimoreNewYorkGirl]

Sacramento Kings Possible Destinations

Anaheim. Cincinnati, Kansas City, KANSAS!. Kansas City, Missouri (why is the city named after another city/state?), Birmingham, Green Bay, New Jersey/Brooklyn. San Diego, Austin,

I say Kansas City Kings

[dfwabel]

Sacramento Kings Possible Destinations

Anaheim. Cincinnati, Kansas City, KANSAS!. Kansas City, Missouri (why is the city named after another city/state?), Birmingham, Green Bay, New Jersey/Brooklyn. San Diego, Austin,

I say Kansas City Kings

I say your are wrong. You should read the earlier parts of this thread so that you can eliminate each of the cities outside of Anaheim.

Green Bay illustrates that either really are under the age of 13, or just trying to volume post have have no idea of the sports or business.

[omnivore]

http://blogs.sacbee.com/sports/kings/archives/2011/04/post-75.html

Webber getting involved, trying to save the Kings

A short while ago on TNT's post-game show, analyst Chris Webber and cohorts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley devoted an interesting (and potentially significant) segment to the Kings' possible relocation to Anaheim. I transcribed the tape and will include most of the conversation below, the significance of which includes this: Webber saying he is engaged in talks with individuals intent on keeping the Kings in Sacramento; Barkley (jokingly?) saying he will invest "$10-15 million" to assist; Smth, also a former King, saying that, on the Kings worst nights, the fans were as lusty as they were during the years they contended.

Though Webber refused to be specific on-air about the extent of his commitment, after making a few late-night phone calls, I reached original Sacramento Kings executive vice-president Greg Van Dusen, who offered a few specifics. According to Van Dusen, Webber is willing to facilitate a deal - headed by Roger Stewart of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to "restructure" the city's $77 million loan to the club. Van Dusen, who is working with Arco I and II architect Rann Haight.

"We've been working on this for about three months," said Van Dusen. "The idea is to relieve some of the financial pressure on the Maloofs and the ownership group. Roger had a very positive conversation today (Tuesday) with Chris, who isn't only interested in helping, he wants to lead the effort to keep the Kings here. He loves Sacramento and thinks this is where the Kings belong."

Although I was unable to reach Webber at his home in Atlanta late Tuesday night, I am aware that he has made overtures about buying into the Maloofs' majority ownership, but has been rebuffed. Anyway, until further clarification, here is the majority of the conversation on the TNT show. Smith starts off by declaring that Kings fans were the same when the team was 9-29 and when Webber led the team that contended during the 1999-2004 seasons:

Webber: "I didn't want to go there (Sacramento). I tried to run away from there. They still accepted me. I can't imagine what Sacramento would be like without basketball ... I hope we do not lose the team. I've been talking to people there. I know everyone thinks the team is gone, but I'm doing all I can to keep the team there. I may sound like a fool on national TV, but I'm working to do that. Other people are working to do that ... It's very selfish. I won't have a basketball home if Sacramento doesn't have a basketball team. I was talking to (former Sonics star) Gary Payton. He doesn't have his jersey hanging in any arena. There is no team in Seattle. Selfishly for myself, and for the fans in Sacramento ....

Ernie Johnson: "What are you doing (to further efforts)?"

Webber: "What am I doing? I'm trying to keep the team here. We don't want to talk about it, but ... what else am I supposed to do? I love this team. I still want to have a home in Sacramento. Hopefully it's not a lost cause. I love Sacramento."

Barkley: "You know, it's very frustrating to me because I love the city of Sacramento, and I've said before, they had the best fans in the NBA for a long time. I really like the Maloof brothers. I want to make that clear. But I'm very disappointed ... because they should have found a way to keep that team in Sacramento ... I agree with Chris. Even when the team sucked, they (fans) were great. I mean, they were raising hell every night. I've always had great respect for the Maloof brothers. They've always been great to me. I'm just disappointed they didn't try harder to make it work ... It's like they (NBA, owners) screwed Seattle. That place was crazy. But Sacramento ... I agree with both of you guys. You all were great when you weren't very good. It was all the same.That place was loud. I hate the fact they're leaving Sacramento."

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/sports/kings/archives/2011/04/post-75.html#ixzz1JRTIPN14

[The_Admiral]

Believe me, I know the timeline.

Well, no, I don't believe you, because it's plain as day what happened, which was that the OKC goons swooped in on a desperate seller and promised to bring them back home with them virtually immediately because they weren't allowed to buy the team they were already sponsoring. Had this whole thing not been hurried through, local ownership would have stepped up. There are some not insignificant fortunes around Seattle, after all.

[BaltimoreNewYorkGirl]

Sacramento Kings Possible Destinations

Anaheim. Cincinnati, Kansas City, KANSAS!. Kansas City, Missouri (why is the city named after another city/state?), Birmingham, Green Bay, New Jersey/Brooklyn. San Diego, Austin,

I say Kansas City Kings

I say your are wrong. You should read the earlier parts of this thread so that you can eliminate each of the cities outside of Anaheim.

Green Bay illustrates that either really are under the age of 13, or just trying to volume post have have no idea of the sports or business.

um im a big sports fan. football. baseball. hockey. basketball. racing. wrestling. Softball. and others. I dont know why I put Green Bay in there. but hey man

[The_Admiral]

Oh, here's the shootout nobody asked for.

[pmoehrin]

Believe me, I know the timeline.

Well, no, I don't believe you, because it's plain as day what happened, which was that the OKC goons swooped in on a desperate seller and promised to bring them back home with them virtually immediately because they weren't allowed to buy the team they were already sponsoring. Had this whole thing not been hurried through, local ownership would have stepped up. There are some not insignificant fortunes around Seattle, after all.

Could local ownership have stpped in had OKC not gotten involved so early? Perhaps, but I don't think a group like that existed. It just wasn't worth it to build a privately financed arena simply for an NBA team and that's the only way they were going to stay. Had it been Howard Schultz would probably still own that team. The entire he sold was that he felt like he wasn't going to get a new arena built for him, and because of that the franchise's value wasn't going to go up anymore, so he got out while he was still ahead. He was selling the team and I don't think he really cared who was buying. The Sonics were an investment to him and not much more.

What happened with Seattle I really felt was going to happen no matter what. It's going to be talked about for years, and there's alot of different views for exactly what happened and I've learned people tend to be very emotional about it. That's why I don't like talking about it anymore.

[rams80]

move the Kings to Boise. name them the Royals and be done with it

Fine, I'll bite. Why?

Idaho needs a pro team. Boise is the Capital of Idaho. so move the Kings there.

Please go back to 4chan. I'm begging you.

[rams80]

I know the Lakers and Clippers won't be happy with the move, but push comes to shove the NBA values an owner's freedom to move if the city doesen't want to build a new stadium over territory rights. I'm sure they will find a way to make it worth it for Jerry Buss and Donald Sterling to at least be willing to not put too much of a fuss over it, which from what I can tell at least they really haven't made a fuss over it. My initial guess would be that the Clippers aren't going to be in LA for much longer, and the NBA will look to move them to a monster market (think Vegas, London, Paris) in exchange for allowing the Kings to come into the LA metro area. Again it's a guess or mine, nothing more then that, and I'm not really going to defend it too much. I'll just say that I think the NBA having teams over in Europe in going to happen sooner then later. The markets are just too valuable to pass up even with the difficulties of having teams spread out across mutliple continents.

Owners like being able to move, but this is being seen as the vanguard for a new era of moving to places where teams already are. That makes a big difference to the league's power brokers, most of whom just so happen to be the owners in cities with extra arenas.

The Clippers make millions in Los Angeles. Going nowhere. And Las Vegas is not a monster market, unless the monster you're thinking of is Gamblor.

Population wise Vegas is not a major market, but the value of a team in Vegas has been placed at being on of the top five teams in NBA if they were to exist.

The two key issues are obviously the gambling problem, and the amount of tourisim dollars they would need to rely on for a team to succeed. Most of the city works at night, so your fans have to come from the strip.

It's a risk reward city. If the team is competitive then I think a Vegas team would be right up there with the Knicks and Lakers for league revenues. But if they are in the cellar, they might very well be dead last for league revenues.

I think the gambling issue is what the NBA and all sports are really worried about though. That's not going to be easy to sort out, and the fact that Vegas doesen't really have an NBA ready arena is another factor. But the summer league is in Vegas, they had the All-Star game there, the NBA is trying to get a team there.

There are also two other problems that you missed.

1. The town is on a pace to dig out from the Great Recession at some point in the middle of this century.

2. The population demographics and jobs of most of their residents do not lend themselves well to fielding a financially successful NBA franchise. A lot of the residents work in service industry positions that don't pay all that well or in casinos...at which point they would be on the clock when the basketball team is playing. Vegas wouldn't work for really anything besides an NFL team. And its too hot for one of those.

[The_Admiral]

Also, if the NBA is urpy about putting a team in the gambling capital of America, what about the league whose popularity is largely predicated on gambling?

[rams80]

Sacramento Kings Possible Destinations

Anaheim. Cincinnati, Kansas City, KANSAS!. Kansas City, Missouri (why is the city named after another city/state?), Birmingham, Green Bay, New Jersey/Brooklyn. San Diego, Austin,

I say Kansas City Kings

I say your are wrong. You should read the earlier parts of this thread so that you can eliminate each of the cities outside of Anaheim.

Green Bay illustrates that either really are under the age of 13, or just trying to volume post have have no idea of the sports or business.

um im a big sports fan. football. baseball. hockey. basketball. racing. wrestling. Softball. and others. I dont know why I put Green Bay in there. but hey man

But not soccer.

[rams80]

Also, if the NBA is urpy about putting a team in the gambling capital of America, what about the league whose popularity is largely predicated on gambling?

Yeah, that's also a not insignificant hurdle. Vegas isn't going to get a pro team for a long time.

[BBTV]

BaltimoreNewYorkGirl is not the biggest idiot in this thread - the people that respond to him/her and attempt to get him/her to expand on his/her point or engage him/her in debate are.

I've replied and flamed him/her, so I'm not acting all high and mighty here because I've been wrong too. But seriously - if we just stop responding and acknowledge his/her posts, he/she will eventually get the hint and go away.