Arena Issue

Set aside the talk of billionaire executives and flashy plans to redefine downtowns. The final stretch of the Kings saga will likely come down to which city – Sacramento or Seattle – has the more solid arena plan.

Describing the Sacramento Kings saga as too complicated to settle in a day, NBA Commissioner David Stern said Wednesday that the league needs "a lot more data and information" before it can decide whether the team moves to Seattle or stays put.

NEW YORK - Investors and officials trying to keep the Sacramento Kings from leaving town finished pleading their case before the NBA today but said they can't predict how the league will rule on the tug-of-war with Seattle.

With Sacramento about to plead its case for keeping the Kings in town, two lawyers served notice Tuesday that they will sue the city to block its deal for a new downtown arena.

Dueling teams of billionaires and mayors are heading to New York for a pivotal Wednesday showdown over the future of the Sacramento Kings.

The campaign to keep the Kings in Sacramento has developed into a larger civic plan, with some of California's richest business leaders promising to inject money and energy into the neglected heart of the capital city.

Sacramento Kings minority owner John Kehriotis said Friday he has pulled the plug on his effort to put together an investment team to bid for control of the team.

The basketball war between Sacramento and Seattle ratcheted up Wednesday as both cities made moves to strengthen their claim to the Sacramento Kings.

Mayor Kevin Johnson wanted the Sacramento City Council to send an unmistakable message to the NBA about the city's commitment to a new arena for the Kings.

"We are on track to do something very historic. We get a chance to say we are going to keep our team. We want to be able to keep what's ours. We get a chance to change the trajectory of this community for many, many years. We're going to go back to New York and let them know."
-- Kevin Johnson - voted yes

The downtown properties that Sacramento officials are proposing to give to developers as part of a $448 million arena deal will increase sharply in value once the arena is built, several commercial real estate experts said.

Learn more about the three men who are key to Sacramento's effort to keep the Sacramento Kings and build a new arena downtown: investment billionaire Ron Burkle, 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive, and the Jacobs Family of San Diego, founders of Qualcomm.

Sacramento would create a bit of history if it can spin its downtown parking garages and meters into cash to buy a new home for the Kings.

Sacramento officials announced Saturday they have reached a deal for the largest redevelopment project in city history – a $447.7 million arena at the Downtown Plaza, with up to 1.5 million square feet of offices, housing, stores and a high-rise hotel.

Sacramento arena negotiations continued today with no financing agreement - and no prognosis on when one will happen.

Sacramento's drive to keep the Kings took a dramatic detour Thursday as a new lead investor emerged for the team and the city missed its self-imposed deadline for wrapping up a deal for a new arena.

Bee columnist Marcos Breton hosted a live chat to talk about the big new investor for the Sacramento Kings, the latest on financing for a new arena and more. Replay it here.

City officials said late Wednesday that they expect the details of an arena financing plan to be made public today.

The frantic process of hammering out a financing plan for a new downtown sports arena has reached its most pivotal day.

As the city enters the stretch run in its quest to keep the Kings, one of the team's biggest fans is hitting the road to promote the cause.

Responding to calls from the public and City Council for a more open discussion about the details of an arena financing plan, the city has now scheduled three forums next week to discuss the proposal.

In a public letter to City Hall, two Sacramento attorneys challenged the validity Thursday of public funding for a downtown arena and said they may seek a public vote on any city-approved funding action.

Outside Sacramento, one can find knowledgeable people who think it's a fool's errand for the city to be pursuing a last-minute arena deal to retain the Kings.

Eight more days. That's the deadline top city officials have given themselves to craft the financing plan for a new downtown sports arena that could cement the future of the Kings in Sacramento.

Sacramento has less than six weeks to convince the NBA that the Kings are better off not moving to a larger, wealthier city where investors have made a more generous offer to buy the team.

Last week, a triumphant Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced a potential Kings purchase group had submitted a fair and competitive offer to keep the team in town. Friday night, NBA Commissioner David Stern said no, not quite.

Mitch Richmond, a retired Sacramento Kings legend, walked into a midtown bar Thursday to greet a few dozen fans and sign autographs. His goal: to rally fans in the ongoing effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

The task force trying to keep the Sacramento Kings in town revved up its publicity machine Tuesday, unveiling a report arguing that Sacramento is a better NBA market than Seattle.

Now that Mayor Kevin Johnson has bagged his "whales," the pressure is on Sacramento to make good on the second part of its over-time effort to keep the Kings basketball team.

A few weeks ago I addressed an audience of more than 300 senior citizens, many of them quite hostile to the idea of a public subsidy to finance a downtown arena for the Kings.

Each city has a wealthy basketball fanatic with a burning desire to own an NBA franchise – and the backing of an even wealthier financier who has the muscle to make it happen.

Now that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has bagged his "whales," it's up to City Manager John Shirey and his arena negotiating team to come up with a viable way to pay for demolishing part of Downtown Plaza and replacing it with an arena -- at a price tag estimated at $400 million.

For more than a year, Southern California grocery tycoon Ron Burkle and his business associates have pursued a plan to build a new arena in Downtown Plaza to cement the Kings' future in Sacramento.

Do the whales finally surface tonight?

For the first time in the latest effort to keep the Kings, the Sacramento City Council has opened its checkbook and dispatched top city officials to enter into formal negotiations over the financing of a new downtown sports arena.

Sacramento's new plan to finance a downtown sports arena may wind up being vastly different than the deal reached last year between the city and the owners of the Sacramento Kings.

In a sign that Sacramento's arena effort is gaining urgency, City Manager John Shirey will ask the City Council on Tuesday for the OK to enter into arena financing negotiations with a private investment group as early as Wednesday.

Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty sits a few feet from Mayor Kevin Johnson on the council dais, but miles away when it comes to their views on financing a downtown entertainment and sports arena.

Seattle's attempt to grab the Sacramento Kings withstood a legal challenge Friday, putting the onus back on Mayor Kevin Johnson to develop a plan to prevent the team from leaving.

The NBA wants to bring a team back to Seattle but is eagerly waiting to hear Sacramento explain why the Kings shouldn't move there. Seattle's proposal to lure the Kings is "quite strong" – but it's certainly possible the NBA board of governors could reject it and keep the team in place.

Parachuting into Houston to plead his case for the Sacramento Kings, Mayor Kevin Johnson arrived Friday at the site of the NBA All-Star Game to lobby to keep the team from relocating to Seattle.

It appears unlikely that the ongoing saga involving the future of the Kings will end with teams in both Sacramento and Seattle.

These All-Star Weekends aren't what they used to be.

NBA Commissioner David Stern dealt a blow to the dreams of basketball fans in both Seattle and Sacramento that the ongoing Kings saga will result in teams in both cities.

The Sacramento City Council will vote next week on a symbolic resolution voicing its support of keeping the Kings in town and for building a new downtown arena.

Those standing up with Mayor Kevin Johnson in hopes of keeping the Kings in Sacramento includes some very familiar names in the regional business community. And some not-so-familiar names.

A lawsuit that could derail a Seattle group's plans to build an arena and buy the Sacramento Kings has been set for a Feb. 22 hearing in King County Superior Court.

A lawsuit that could derail a Seattle group's plans to build an arena and buy the Sacramento Kings has been set for a Feb. 22 hearing in King County Superior Court.

The next shoe has fallen in Seattle's effort to wrestle the Kings away from Sacramento.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson still wasn't ready Tuesday to reveal the identities of the deep-pocketed investors he's recruited to make a pitch to buy the Kings.