With the recent news of the Virginia Beach arena deal dead in the water, does Seattle move to the top of the list as the new home for the Sacramento Kings?
Seattle currently has a new arena in the works and the city already has a fan base established for an NBA team (from the former Super Sonics). Logistically it would be cheaper and easier for the Sacramento Kings to move to Seattle as opposed to relocating to a new coast and attempt to establish a new fan base. If the Maloofs really want out of Sacramento, Seattle has the best deal available right now.
With the lease set to expire for the Sacramento Kings after this current season ends, the options for the Kings are limited. As was shown in Virginia Beach, trying to get a new NBA city to build a suitable arena is hard to accomplish without a NBA signed to play there, so the Kings trying to find a new home in a new NBA city would be hard to do. Outside of Seattle, their only other options may be “smaller” cities such as Columbus, Cincinnati or Pittsburgh (cities that have arenas going unused during the winter or arenas being used by NHL teams). I’m not sure if that is what the Kings or the NBA want. Their best bet would be to move to Seattle and take over the new arena and a fan-base that has been clamoring for a team since the Sonics left for Oklahoma City.
Update –
A Seattle investor by the name of Chris Hanson has contacted the Maloof Brothers and now both parties are finalizing a deal to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle. The Maloof Brothers will agree to sell the team for more than 500 million dollars. The people of Sacramento should be very happy because for years they have been waiting for the chance a NBA Team would return.
1 Comment
Adam
January 9, 2013 at 12:15 amNo!! Come to Hampton Roads. These city leaders are not to sharp. They are giving away millions of dollars in rev and thousands of jobs. Especially in the”non-tourist” season