Tagged: NBA in Seattle

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has announced a new investor to help fill the role vacated by billionaire Ron Burkle in the city's bid to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle.

Johnson said at his weekly news conference Tuesday that Sacramento developer Mark Friedman has joined the group. The announcement comes a day after Burkle backed out because of a conflict of interest stemming from his ownership stake in Relativity Sports, which manages some NBA players' careers.

As the NBA weighs whether to allow the Kings basketball team to move to Seattle from Sacramento, the league has to consider the possibility of an antitrust lawsuit.

Why should the Sacramento Kings be worth more than $500 million when they’re nowhere near the top of the league? Sports economist Roger Noll of Stanford University says it’s simple: a scarce supply of teams. That's by design, he says, because NBA owners want to keep their franchises valuable. And that exposes the league to a possible lawsuit. 

Investor Chris Hansen says his group’s website has seen “stunning" interest from Seattleites who want to bring an NBA team to the city.

“We received requests for over 44,000 full season tickets, 268 suites and had 983 businesses interested in sponsorship opportunities,” he said, adding 32,000 of the requests for full-season tickets came within the first 24 hours after the priority ticket waitlist went live on sonicsarena.com.

Sacramento is in a stronger position to convince the NBA to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle with a deal now in place to build an 18,500-seat arena downtown.

The Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to approve a deal that contributes $258 million to the $447 million project. The city plans to use money earned from leasing parking garages for events at the arena to help pay the public cost of the new arena on the current site of an aging shopping mall.

Chris Hansen and his group of investors have released preliminary design renderings of Seattle’s next basketball arena.

The plan features “non-traditional elements” including three stacked balconies in lieu of top rows above the seating bowl, Hansen’s group said on sonicsarena.com.

The agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle investment group - with the goal of moving the team to Seattle - is not a slam dunk. It still needs NBA approval. And momentum is growing in Sacramento to try to keep the Kings there.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel tries to clear up some of the confusion Seattle fans may have about what's going on.

Two people familiar with the decision says the Maloof family has agreed to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group led by investor Chris Hansen.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Sunday night because the deal is still pending approval from the NBA Board of Governors.

One person said the Maloofs are selling all 65 percent of their share for $525 million to Hansen, who will move the team to Seattle and restore the SuperSonics name.

The Maloofs will still be allowed to look at other bids until the league approves the sale.