There were some real airwaves let out into the atmosphere when David Stern broke the league's hermetic seal on its role in Sacramento arena negotations and the Kings' future. NBA.com's excellent David Aldridge interviewed the commissioner on Tuesday, and the Bee's Tony Bizjak transcripted a seriously important quote:
"The team has agreed to a substantial contribution, both directly from itself, but also by catalyzing AEG to be interested. In effect, whatever money AEG puts in is because of give-backs by the team ... so we see that as a team contribution," Stern said.
This is a negotiating point. "We see that as a team contribution" doesn't come straight out and say that "the city does not see that as a team contribution" ... but it's a far cry from "we and the city agree that AEG's contribution constitutes a team contribution." I suspect that this is one of the area's where the city and league are still negotiating; in my estimation, the city needs an upfront contribution from AEG in exchange for the rights to run the facility, and an upfront contribution from the Kings to ensure they have a suitable place to play in Sacramento within a couple of years.
I see Stern's point, and I note to myself that if the Maloofs don't pony up in advance, their annual lease payment could go toward ensuring that the $9 million in parking revenue is covered for the next 30 years. That said, Stern's position doesn't appear to be tenable. Kansas City provides an example of AEG investing in the construction of a facility without team or league involvement. Given the work that Kevin Johnson and Sacramento have done to get AEG involved from the outset, I don't understand how that can be counted toward the Maloofs' responsibility to get this built.
As with all things arena, stay tuned.
The Bee's Tony Bizjak reports that city officials are considering adding a facet to the downtown arena financing plan: a $1-$3 surcharge for non-Sacramento residents parking in one of the downtown lots during an event night. It's unclear if the surcharge will be up for inclusion in the plan the City Council will see on February 28. Based on Bizjak's report, the city staff seems non-committal, though the Chamber of Commerce has a current phone survey out asking about the idea.
It's unclear exactly how much revenue the surcharge would bring in. The location is going to make public transit more sensible, and this surcharge won't work for folks who find street parking. Plus, most cars entering the structures will have two or more folks inside, and a good portion will come from within Sacramento city limits. But any revenue helps.
As a Yolo resident, I would be quite happy to pay a $3 surcharge to park downtown and watch Sacramento Kings basketball in a new facility.
According to Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings filed a claim against Power Balance this week as the magic bean manufacturer goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The Kings are looking for $8.3 million in the claim. But the interesting part is that the claim included details about the specific annual terms of the naming rights deal, which Kasler pulled out.
All of that is, as of now, down the drain. (Even for Year 1, Kasler said the Kings claim that only $700,000 has been paid out.) So on paper the deal was a helluva lot more lucrative than the $750,000-per-year ARCO deal ... but in practice it didn't even pay out one of the years.
Just another little cash problem among mounting cash problems for the Maloofs and their budget basketball team.
A whole new round of Burkle chatter is going to kick up after this Sacramento Bee story:
While the Kings would be tenants in the downtown arena, multiple sources said the city wants the team to make its contribution upfront - $60 million in cash and $25 million through the donation of land around Power Balance Pavilion. [...]
What's unclear is whether the Maloofs are willing or able to put in that much. [...]
But if the NBA likes the financial package, city officials expect the league could begin pressuring the Maloofs to bring in new investors or sell the team altogether.
A source familiar with the negotiations said Southern California billionaire Ron Burkle, who made overtures to the Maloofs last spring, is still interested in buying the team.
Instead of annual lease payments that would help the city replace parking funds that will have become privatized, the city wants the Maloofs' payments now to help build the arena. Given that the Maloofs haven't shown an ability to put together a $60 million roster, coming up with that much at the team level seems tough.
ElRonToro emailed Steve Cohn of the Sacramento City Council -- a swing vote on the parking funding issue -- about the February 28 vote. Cohn responded. The note back is very interesting.
The Sacramento City Council has voted unanimously to allow the city to enter negotiations with 11 firms seeking to win the contract to operate Sacramento's downtown parking facilities in exchange for an upfront payment that would contribute half or more of the funding needed to build a new entertainment and sports complex at the arena.
A week ago, the council narrowly defeated a bid to have the entire parking plan put on the June ballot, which would have halted progress and likely sent the Kings to a new city, given that the NBA's deadline for an arena funding plan is March 1. The council will next take up the issue on February 28, when a term sheet between the city, the league and operator AEG could be up for approval. That vote is expected to be more narrow, depending on how high the parking revenue comes in.
Stay tuned. February 28 is going to be a huge night for the future of the Sacramento Kings.
Some discussion in Exhibit G's FanShot.
A pretty rad hashtag campaign blew up late Monday as Kings fans and Sacramento residents present reasons that the Sacramento City Council should "#SayYes" to the parking plan item on Tuesday's City Council agenda. The item to be voted on Tuesday would winnow down the list of qualified bidders for the parking contract and essentially kick-start the bid process on that end. In two weeks, the council would be expected to come back with a deal to be approved.
Let's hear your #SayYes reasons in the comments. We'll tweet some of them out from @sactownroyalty, which you should definitely follow if you are on Twitter and love liberty.
Bumped. This is important. Send your letters if you have not already. -- TZ
We showed the world why Sacramento deserves to keep our Kings. Now let's show the City Council how important this is to us outside the arena.
Below the jump we have a sample letter that we are encouraging everyone to send to the members of the Sacramento City Council, four of whom voted this week to essentially kill the progress, and all of whom will be making critical votes on critical components in the coming weeks. Staff will soon be recommending negotiations with parking operators, and hopefully, a term sheet with one bidder. We need 'yes' votes. That 5-4 vote this week? Way, way too close for comfort. That was damn near the Horry Shot. We need a Bibby Shot to get back, and we need to hit our free throws. (I'm stretching, right? I'm tired.)
Whether you live in Sacramento or Timbuktu, you are here because you are a Sacramento Kings fan. Please help this push to let the Council know that this is important. The sample letter -- which you should absolutely feel free to personalize -- and the email addresses are below the jump.
Let's get loud again.
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