Virginia Beach Kings?!

D

Darren

G-League
#1
#1
SACRAMENTO - The owners of the Sacramento Kings plan to move the team to Virginia Beach, according to a newspaper based in nearby Norfolk.
The Kings would be tenants in a new arena to be built near the Virginia Beach Convention Center and operated by Global Spectrum, according to Inside Business.
The paper says lease payments would be guaranteed for 25 years by Comcast, which owns Global Spectrum.


http://www.news10.net/news/article/206251/3/Report--Sacramento-Kings-moving-to-Virginia












AHHH!!!!
 
funkykingston

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#3
#3
Not surprised that the Maloofs planned to move. Fairly surprised (if true) that Virginia Beach is the location.

Just like with the potential Anaheim move, if this comes to pass I am done with the NBA.
 
K

Kingsguy881

Guest
#4
#4
If this is true, those bastards lied to our faces!! Commited to Sacramento my nutsack!
 
funkykingston

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#6
#6
Bricklayer said:
oh come on. and the NBA would ok this why?
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I think the better question is, why WOULDN'T the NBA okay this? And I don't say that cynically - I say it in terms of trying to find hope for an argument that keeps the team I grew up with in Sacramento.
 
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kingjatt

kingjatt

Starter
#9
#9
according to some rumblings on twitter, CBS has contacted Joe Maloof directly and he has said that he hasnt even spoken with Virgina Beach, The local news is blowing this way up as if the deal is done. I highly doubt that the maloofs have not had any contact with Virgina Beach, the article written by their local media outlet is very detailed, it may not be happening, but its clear that this did not come out of thin air.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#10
#10
funkykingston said:
I think the better question is, why WOULDN'T the NBA okay this? And I don't say that cynically, I say it in terms of trying to find hope for an argument that keeps the team I grew up with in Sacramento.
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For the same reason they wouldn't ok other deals to move the Kings, only now you can add unbalancing the conferences to the tally.
 
whozit

whozit

Starter
#11
#11
Bricklayer said:
For the same reason they wouldn't ok other deals to move the Kings, only now you can add unbalancing the conferences to the tally.
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If the Grizzlies moving to Memphis didn't unbalance the conferences, why would this? And no, I don't think this is happening if simply because of the timing.
 
L

Larry David

Starter
#12
#12
Bricklayer said:
For the same reason they wouldn't ok other deals to move the Kings, only now you can add unbalancing the conferences to the tally.
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They asked once. It appears they were told wait until after the lockout and probably not Anaheim.

Unless the other owners are ready to fight and defend a lawsuit to push the Maloofs out, the Kings are moving. A fully funded arena deal in Virginia Beach makes about as much sense as moving a team from Seattle to OKC. The owners let an owner put a team back in NOLA after they failed.

I don't know if there are 16 votes against this. I think Stern pushes but owners back owners
 
funkykingston

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#13
#13
Bricklayer said:
For the same reason they wouldn't ok other deals to move the Kings, only now you can add unbalancing the conferences to the tally.
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All along I felt that if the Maloofs had been asking to go to, say Kansas City, instead of Anaheim they'd already be gone. But that destination impinged on the markets of both the Clippers and Lakers, the latter of whom would have lost (I believe) hundreds of millions of dollars from their TV deal.

We'll see.
 
TyFreak Evans

TyFreak Evans

Bench
#15
#15
I do not want to state my viewpoint(s) on this entire situation, as I am 100% sure it will end up being Me Vs The Rest of You, but I will say the following: the quicker this thing can end, the better it will be for all parties involved, even at the emotional level...
 
KingsFanSince85

KingsFanSince85

All-Star
#16
#16
Are people really buying this??

One, how would the Maloof's bankroll this move? They barely could make the Anaheim deal work and that was with Samueli fronting something like 150M+. Where's the shining white knight in this deal for the Maloofs?? Based upon their recent actions, the NBA isn't gonna make the move cheap, even if it did get approved.

Two, why would this get announced 2 1/2 months before the next season, which HAS to be in Sacramento??? That would be financial suicide for owners that already have too many financial problems. Remember how late in the season it was before they finally admitted to dealing with Anaheim??

Three, Virginia Beach is not a more viable market than Sacramento. It's a military and vacationer market. Yes, it does have a much stronger corporate base, but that's about it. The population of the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area is about 1M less than Sacramento Metro. It's a near 4 hr drive to Washington DC and a a 2 hr drive to Richmond, Va, the nearest large cities.

Lastly, how exactly is this move going to get approved? While Virginia Beach/Norfolk doesn't have 2 other teams near it's market (like the Anaheim deal), would the NBA approve of the Maloofs moving to a similar or smaller market when their complaint about Sacramento all along is that it's too small of a market?? Also, while it is a 200 mile drive, I'm sure the Washington Wizards organization would like to have a talk with the BOG as I'm sure they consider it part of their market and would want some type of payment from the Maloofs.

None of this makes sense.
 
A

Arkitect

Starter
#17
#17
Obviously, still needs BOG approval and the arena to be built. It will be at least 2 seasons until that happens. Can they last 2-3 seasons with no attendance? Plus they will have to pay back the loan to the city one way or another. And relocation fees.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#18
#18
If there's no new arena in Sacramento (and there's none planned) NBA at some point will not only allow the Kings to move somewhere but absolutely insist on it.
 
Fear the Putin

Fear the Putin

Starter
#22
#22
However, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof denied the report. “We haven’t talked to Virginia Beach,” Joe Maloof told CBS13. Kings spokesman Eric Rose also wouldn’t confirm the report, but said the team has drawn interest from several cities through the years. “The Kings have been approached by numerous cities interested [in] buying the team and relocating it. We are not going to discuss which cities have approached the team and are not going to comment on every rumor. I can tell you that the Kings are 100 percent focused on putting a winning team on the court,” said Rose in an email to CBS13.
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Interesting how in times past they would adamantly state how they are absolutely not selling the team, yet now they are simply not commenting on the fact that many cities have approached them to buy and relocate the team.
 
funkykingston

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#24
#24
Pathological Liars said:
"We haven't talked to Virginia Beach," Joe Maloof told CBS13 in Sacramento.[/url]
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Of course he can say this - their meeting is scheduled for TUESDAY so at this point he hasn't talked to Virginia Beach. At this point it's not even a matter of whether or not these guys are lying to Kings fans (since I assume they are at every turn) but focusing on deciphering exactly what their lies mean.
 
Ryan

Ryan

I like turtles
#25
#25
From Kevin Johnson's twitter: "I spoke w/h the NBA, neither they nor my office has been contacted by the Kings. At this point there is nothing new to report."
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#29
#29
To sum up: Maloofs say they haven't talked to Virginia Beach. They sure could by next Tuesday if they need to. Maloofs didn't say they haven't talked to Comcast who is most important player by far in this possible move. KJ says there's nothing new because neither NBA or mayors office has been contacted. They don't need to be contacted at this point since this is not negotiation between NBA, City of Sac, Maloofs and others - but now between Maloofs and Comcast.
 
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Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
#30
#30
If the stuff filtering through is correct, it's not the Maloofs who are talking to Virginia Beach, it's Comcast. Comcast apparently has interest in putting forward some money for an arena there, and Comcast has "guaranteed" a team, which they will not name. I'm not 100% certain they guaranteed an NBA team so we could be talking about the Coyotes for all I know. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bobcats or potentially the Bucks on the move either, so there's no guarantee it's us.

Even more, the one thing that makes the least possible amount of sense is that if this is true, it will take a minimum of three years to get the stadium built. That's three years of the Sacramento Kings being lame ducks in the worst arena in the NBA. Raise your hand if you think the Maloofs can survive that. Throw on the NBA relocation fee. Throw on the balance of the '97 loan, which would have to be paid in full.

In a way, I'm this close to hoping the Maloofs really are behind this, because such a harebrained move could finally lead to the NBA dropping the ban hammer on them.
 
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