Former NBA player Kevin Johnson, who’s now the mayor of Sacramento, along with franchise owners the Maloof family, and NBA Commissioner David Stern, recently met in Orlando, Fla. for three days of discussions during the league’s All-Star weekend and said the blueprint of the plan has been agreed to. Johnson said it took the cooperation of everybody involved to come to a mutual agreement and that’s exactly how things fell into place.
According to the proposed financial terms of the new deal, a new arena will cost approximately $387 million to build and the city of Sacramento will fund between $200 and $250 million of that total. It was reported that the city will raise some of that cash by renting out parking garages that are located around the venue. It’s also believed that a ticket surcharge will be introduced to raise additional funds. The arena would be built near the city’s rail yards and would be ready for the 2-15/16 basketball season.
The Maloofs agreed to put in a total of $75 million in cash up front and will raise it by selling the land which surrounds the club’s current arena. They also agreed to pay off a current loan of $67 million the city and have committed to putting more money into the arena in the future. In addition, arena operator AEG has also confirmed it will contribute about $60 million to the project.
Sacramento came close to losing the NBA franchise last year as it looked like it was headed down the road to Anaheim. However, Johnson and several other community leaders convinced Stern and the league to give the city and the club another chance to find a way to finance a new auditorium. Johnson admitted at the time that things didn’t look good, but he was willing to attempt a Hail Mary pass to see if things could be worked out.
Johnson helped the cause last year by coming up with $10 million in community commitments for the team this season, which included ticket sales, new advertising, and other types of financial support from local businesses. Clay Bennett, who heads up the league’s relocation committee and also owns the Oklahoma City Thunder, persuaded the NBA to give Sacramento one last shot and placed a deadline of March 1 on the franchise to come up with a financial plan for a new arena.
The Maloofs were pleased with the deal and said it’s a great day for the city, the NBA, and the franchise. He thanked Johnson and Stern for their hard work and support. They added that the family always wanted to keep the team in Sacramento and they’re excited that it looks like it’s going to happen.
However, if the deal isn’t okayed by Sacramento City Council, Anaheim mayor Tom Tait said his city would still like to take the team. He said everything’s in place for an NBA franchise in Anaheim, but offered his best wishes to Sacramento.
Written by Ian Palmer via FeedCrossing
We are the internet’s premiere content exchange for great sports articles and blog posts. We bring together publishers looking for a great source for sports-related content with writers and websites looking to promote their websites and blogs.
