Sacramento Attempting to Keep the Kings

About two months ago, it was reported that the Sacramento Kings were sold to a group headed by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer a Microsoft executive. This group planned to take the team to Seattle. I wrote about the impact that the move would have on both cities and the National Basketball Association.

The NBA Board of Governors have the final decision in whether or not the deal goes through. This decision is expected in mid-April. The city of Sacramento have recently made this decision more complicated.

Sacramento Mayor, Kevin Johnson, has strongly opposed any move that would take the Sacramento Kings to another city. Mayor Johnson and other Sacramento city officials have put together a preliminary deal to build an arena in Sacramento. The purposed plan would cost a total of $447 million.

Kevin Johnson

The $447 million cost would be paid for by the city and by a new investment group. The city of Sacramento would contribute $258 million to the project. The new investment group made up of Vivek Ranadive (Silicon Valley software), Mark Mastrov (24 Hour Fitness founder), and Ron Burkle (billionaire) would contribute the remaining $189 million.

The next step in moving forward with this plan is to get approval from the city council. This vote will happen TODAY.

Final Thought
The result of the city council's decision could be impactful on the NBA Board of Governors decision. If the arena deal is approved, the city of Sacramento may seem more fit to continue to host the NBA franchise. At the end of this deal, either the city of Sacramento or the city of Seattle will be devastated. The city of Sacramento could lose the franchise that they have been cheering for years. The city of Seattle thought they were finally getting an NBA franchise back to the city, that dream could be destroyed.

@dmrosen7