Arena Issue

Restaurateur Patrick Mulvaney got a shock a few weeks ago when he contacted a client, the Sacramento Kings, to discuss last-minute details for a banquet at his midtown eatery.

This latest example of arena envy strikes close to home – too close to home.

Mayor Kevin Johnson was scheduled to be in Los Angeles on Monday night for a fundraiser hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that could have an impact on Sacramento's ongoing – although faded – arena effort.

A letter written by Sacramento businessmen last month asking the NBA to encourage the Kings owners to sell has suddenly become the center of intrigue.

Let's call them the original dream team, this group of local architects and engineers and businessmen that accomplished something amazing 25 years ago, only to fade into the area's major league sports background.

The city of Sacramento spent $680,000 between September and April in its unsuccessful effort to build a sports and entertainment center in the railyard, according to an analysis to be presented to the City Council tonight.

Sacramento and its Kings are locked in a stalemate that could take months – or years – to resolve.

With a downtown arena deal now dead, the focus turns to a horrendous city budget where Sacramento may have to lay off scores of cops and firefighters.

According to George Maloof, this $391 million downtown sports and entertainment complex was a terrible deal for the city, a terrible deal for the fans and a terrible deal for his family.

The commissioner of the National Basketball Association said Friday that the Kings are making a mistake by passing up a good deal on a new $391 million arena in downtown Sacramento.

Mayor Kevin Johnson's last-ditch effort to salvage a downtown arena for the Sacramento Kings will last at least one more day.

A year ago, tearful Sacramento Kings fans thought they had lost their team forever. Now, it's the team that faces potential rejection.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Kings co-owner George Maloof spoke again Tuesday morning and have decided to meet in person within the next few days in what will likely be a make-or-break session.

Former Councilman Robbie Waters has filed a Public Records Act request with the city of Anaheim, seeking communications between that city and the Kings, the company that runs Anaheim's Honda Center, and the economist hired by the Maloofs to dissect the collapsed Sacramento arena plan.

Even as Mayor Kevin Johnson worked late last week to revive an arena deal in the downtown railyard, city officials said they would push forward with development of the property regardless of the outcome.

Have you checked out the calendar of upcoming events at the former Arco Arena? It's a vast wasteland of empty dates, with no shows scheduled for the entire month of July and only a Neil Diamond concert set for Aug. 27.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and the Maloofs are suddenly on speaking terms again.

The arena deal rejected by the Sacramento Kings' owners would have brought the team around $11 million a year in profits, according to the company that would have operated the building.

The Maloofs continued their outreach efforts to the community Wednesday, this time targeting the Sacramento business owners who called for new ownership of the Kings.

Sacramento officials began changing course on their arena effort Tuesday, even as resentment over the failure of the city's most recent plan continued to smolder.

It's all a smoke screen to cover up the fact that they can't make a deal because they don't have the money.

City Manager John Shirey said that just because the city's arena deal has collapsed, it doesn't mean City Hall will ignore other key projects linked to the deal.

Three days after the collapse of the Sacramento arena deal, the future of the Kings remained a tantalizing mystery Monday.

On a brilliantly sunny Sunday afternoon in Sacramento, the weather inside Power Balance Pavilion settled in cloudy with a 100 percent chance of continued uncertainty – leaving the basketball public with no clear picture on the future of the local professional team.

Want to get to the bottom of the recent arena developments?

The Kings return home to Power Balance Pavilion today to face a city stewing in a mix of scorn and disappointment.

What now, Sacramento? The owners of the Kings have tanked a proposal to build a downtown arena that both the NBA and AEG, the Los Angeles-based arena operators, thought was a good deal.

Unlike a year ago, when Joe and Gavin Maloof disappeared after almost relocating the franchise to Anaheim, the Kings' co-owners are not going into hiding.

Sacramento's arena deal is dead. And the Kings' reign in the city is once again clouded by uncertainty.

FEB. 27

The Sacramento Kings have numerous and substantial disagreements with the arena financing term sheet, ranging from big-picture revenue-sharing issues such as naming rights, to small items, such as when the Kings can use the arena for practice.

Earlier today I spoke briefly with Commissioner Stern.

In a sharply-worded letter to the Maloof family, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson told the Kings owners late tonight that a handshake agreement agreed upon for the financing of a new arena is not up for negotiation.

Before the talks begin today in New York, with the Maloofs pleading their case for a more favorable chunk of the arena proposal, and their fellow owners debating the issues, those involved in the negotiations should remember a few things.

A group of 25 Sacramento business people will send a letter to the NBA today asking it to consider new ownership for the Sacramento Kings.

Substandard ownership has allowed a rabidly followed franchise to deteriorate into a distressed property.

Sacramento's arena drama switches this week to Manhattan, where the Maloof family will ask their fellow NBA owners for support in forcing the city to negotiate a better deal with the team.

So here is the $3.26 million question: What are the Maloofs doing? Or better yet, what are they plotting?

A month ago, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and the Maloof brothers emerged from an Orlando hotel conference room after three days of negotiations to announce a handshake deal on financing a new downtown sports and entertainment arena.

The dispute over who should cut the first checks for a downtown arena intensified Tuesday, with the leader of the state Senate saying that the owners of the Sacramento Kings "seem to be looking for every reason not to proceed" and the mayor accusing the Maloof family of "tactics and antics."

Sacramento is going to be hard-pressed to build a downtown arena to house the Kings as long as the Maloof brothers are the Kings owners.

Mayor Kevin Johnson lashed out at the Maloof family today, calling their statements that the family never agreed to pay for pre-development costs of a new arena "disingenuous."

The Sacramento city attorney gave the legal go-ahead Monday to a group planning a petition drive to prohibit the city from providing financial support to a downtown arena without voter approval.

The Sacramento City Council tonight faces another key vote on the funding of a $391 million downtown sports arena. This decision, however, comes with a new layer of uncertainty, and a rising level of frustration among council members.

Facing a major rift with the Sacramento Kings over funding the new downtown sports arena, city officials are postponing the expenditure of any city money until the dispute is solved.

The Sacramento Kings today reaffirmed their commitment to a new downtown arena even while they said there are significant disagreements over project funding.

In a wild day of behind the scenes activity, the Sacramento arena deal hit a major snag Thursday, then was rescued late in the day by National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern.

A group of downtown activists on Wednesday took the first step toward launching a petition drive opposing the city's $391 million downtown arena plan.

Anschutz Entertainment Group had plenty of reasons to pass on investing $58.75 million in Sacramento's proposed downtown arena.