NBA advises the Kings' business team to prepare the season-ticket packages

[MDM]

Sam Amick with an article on SI in the last hour:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/04/20/sacramento.kings/

There were internal signs that the league is taking Sacramento seriously this week, as two sources said an NBA representative called on Monday to advise the Kings' business team to prepare the season-ticket packages and corporate sponsorship plans that had been on hold since rumors of the move were legitimized in February. Team employees had been in a holding pattern for months, but they were told to be ready to deliver the goods to their customers in the coming weeks should a happy ending be on the horizon. There was similar movement in other areas of the organization, with the notion of a Kings return suddenly seeming somewhere between possible and probable.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../20/sacramento.kings/index.html#ixzz1K7NuMdP4

 

[Bricklayer]

Its all reading tea leaves, but those are the sorts of leaves you want to see.

 

[hrdboild]

It's a far cry from where we were two months ago when it seemed like every news story was portending the opposite. Now I'm just trying not to get my hopes up too high until all of this gets resolved.

 

[Section 101]

There's also some news in there about the TV deal. Apparently Fox Sports West wouldn't be carrying their games next season because a deal wasn't able to be struck with them. Instead, Samueli's own smaller Orange County based station would be doing the televising for at least a year.

Specifically, a source with knowledge of the proposal revealed that the television rights riches that had long been seen as a major motivating factor for the Maloofs aren't quite as lucrative as they had hoped. And while it had been assumed they would attempt to fill the programming void left by the Lakers at Fox Sports West due to their recent mega-deal with Time Warner that starts in 2012, two sources said that is not the case.



Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../20/sacramento.kings/index.html#ixzz1K7SkAcyA

I've been saying this all along !!

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

There's also some news in there about the TV deal. Apparently Fox Sports West wouldn't be carrying their games next season because a deal wasn't able to be struck with them. Instead, Samueli's own smaller Orange County based station would be doing the televising for at least a year.

And here is Comcast's cue to up its ante and compete with the SoCal TV deal. We heard rumblings about them shoring up their support of the Sacramento market a few weeks ago, but it's been silent on that front since then. KJ has done a lot already, but I hope he and his people have been in talks with Comcast as well. They need to exploit every weakness that comes up in this Anaheim deal. It's what Samueli's doing to us, after all.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

That is good to hear. And this is coming before the official fact finding mission starts work on Thursday. Maybe I'm being too optimistic but perhaps the 2 week extension wasn't to humor Sacramento...but to humor the Maloofs.

 

[Gary]

Hope so! Once they do I will be the first to jump in and renew mine.. Been three years since I had one or a shared one, but am looking forward to renew, and then go onto the "other" forum and go HAHAHAHAHHAH then get banned for doing it.

 

[Gary]

And here is Comcast's cue to up its ante and compete with the SoCal TV deal. We heard rumblings about them shoring up their support of the Sacramento market a few weeks ago, but it's been silent on that front since then. KJ has done a lot already, but I hope he and his people have been in talks with Comcast as well. They need to exploit every weakness that comes up in this Anaheim deal. It's what Samueli's doing to us, after all.

Yep.. Wrote in to comcast's business team and advised them to step up and give the Kings the deal they deserve.

 

[pupsingh]

this turn of events has been nothing short of miraculous. from having a 10% chance it looks like sac is actually favored now! first a 35 pt comeback and now this! wow!

 

[Big Cuz 15]

this turn of events has been nothing short of miraculous. from having a 10% chance it looks like sac is actually favored now! first a 35 pt comeback and now this! wow!

don't get too excited. we're only in the 2nd quarter right now. theres still alot of time on the clock. i'll be relieved after may 2nd.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

this turn of events has been nothing short of miraculous. from having a 10% chance it looks like sac is actually favored now! first a 35 pt comeback and now this! wow!

This is what I was dreaming about a few weeks ago. Never thought it'd actually happen though. We aren't out of the woods yet but we're back in the fight.

 

[ParniValjak]

This is good sign but we are far from over the line just yet!

I will be much calmer if may 2 passes by and no relocation request is made but if this is the case, it only buys us an extra year and in 12 months time there better be some shovels hitting the ground otherwise we go though the same thing again!

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

This is good sign but we are far from over the line just yet!

I will be much calmer if may 2 passes by and no relocation request is made but if this is the case, it only buys us an extra year and in 12 months time there better be some shovels hitting the ground otherwise we go though the same thing again!

If they stay and no area deal is ironed out in the next year, then I could understand them "exploring their options". My whole problem all along was that they were bailing on KJ (the first mayor we've had who even cares about he Kings) without even giving him a fair chance.

 

[TheWileyVet]

If they stay I plan on stepping up to the plate and buying some tickets. I can't quite afford a pair of full blown season tix with my other financial obligations, but half season tix is certainly do-able. Go Kings!

 

[PurpleHaze]

Wasn't latest out of Anaheim that they had 3,000-4,000 season tix commited for "the Royals?" Then Mayor KJ said he had $7 million or so lined up from the Sac area biz community for the Kings in "staying pledges." How much of that will be season tix sales? Hopefully, at least 4,000 or more to really show that we're in the game for keeps.

 

[Gary]

Wasn't latest out of Anaheim that they had 3,000-4,000 season tix commited for "the Royals?" Then Mayor KJ said he had $7 million or so lined up from the Sac area biz community for the Kings in "staying pledges." How much of that will be season tix sales? Hopefully, at least 4,000 or more to really show that we're in the game for keeps.

Got 3 season tickets right here.. 1 for me and 2 for my dad. We weren't ticket holders last year or the year before.

Don't think Anaheim had that many BTW.

 

[Warhawk]

Sam Amick with an article on SI in the last hour:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/04/20/sacramento.kings/

There were internal signs that the league is taking Sacramento seriously this week, as two sources said an NBA representative called on Monday to advise the Kings' business team to prepare the season-ticket packages and corporate sponsorship plans that had been on hold since rumors of the move were legitimized in February. Team employees had been in a holding pattern for months, but they were told to be ready to deliver the goods to their customers in the coming weeks should a happy ending be on the horizon. There was similar movement in other areas of the organization, with the notion of a Kings return suddenly seeming somewhere between possible and probable.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../20/sacramento.kings/index.html#ixzz1K7NuMdP4

Has nobody mentioned this yet?

Specifically, a source with knowledge of the proposal revealed that the television rights riches that had long been seen as a major motivating factor for the Maloofs aren't quite as lucrative as they had hoped. And while it had been assumed they would attempt to fill the programming void left by the Lakers at Fox Sports West due to their recent mega-deal with Time Warner that starts in 2012, two sources said that is not the case.

The plan as presented in New York included a possible partnership worth $20 million annually with KDOC, an Orange County-based, independent television station that is co-owned by the very man working so hard to make this move happen. Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli, who operates the Honda Center where the Maloofs' team would play and has already committed $50 million through city bonds to help cover their cost of relocation, reportedly teamed with Bert Ellis to pay $149.5 million for the station in 2006.

The length of the deal is not known, and it might merely be a stopgap solution to bridge the gap between now and the Lakers' eventual departure from Fox Sports West in 2012. Nonetheless, the fact that preliminary discussions with the more-prominent cable provider went nowhere and paved the way for a partnership on a lesser platform is certainly surprising.

It would certainly help explain the perceived concern among some of the league's owners over the nature of the Samueli-Maloof partnership, with league commissioner David Stern making it clear after the Board of Governors meetings that part of the incentive for extending the deadline was to investigate the Anaheim situation further while also discussing possible scenarios in Sacramento. Stern hinted at the television component as well.

"It was a discussion of certain areas having to do with the contractual relationship between Mr. Samueli's organization and the Kings, having to do with the building, having to do [with] television revenue," he said.

So the TV deal was also Samueli kicking $$$ to MSE? And the $$$ from the TV contract would then go to directly back to him as payments from MSE for use of the arena. Interesting.

 

[ArcoKings]

I knew the Maloofs were bluffing all this time. I just knew it.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Has nobody mentioned this yet?



So the TV deal was also Samueli kicking $$$ to MSE? And the $$$ from the TV contract would then go to directly back to him as payments from MSE for use of the arena. Interesting.

Sounds like Samueli is pretty slick. He's a vulture and he saw the Maloofs as a wounded and dying animal to be taken advantage of. He was probably laughing to himself in disbelief that the boobs were actually going to sign his contract.

 

[Section 101]

Has nobody mentioned this yet?



So the TV deal was also Samueli kicking $$$ to MSE? And the $$$ from the TV contract would then go to directly back to him as payments from MSE for use of the arena. Interesting.

The league has to approve all TV deals. Samueli's tv channel is just a local one.

But I think the bigger picture is they coudnt do a deal with Fox like everyone said they would.

 

[Gary]

Has nobody mentioned this yet?



So the TV deal was also Samueli kicking $$$ to MSE? And the $$$ from the TV contract would then go to directly back to him as payments from MSE for use of the arena. Interesting.

Yah, something wasn't right about that.. They were waiting for 2012.. Something that I was suspecting a while back too.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

Yah, something wasn't right about that.. They were waiting for 2012.. Something that I was suspecting a while back too.

Wouldn't it be great if the Maloofs in their greed and over anxiousness to get out of Sacramento ended up shooting themselves in the foot? If they'd had waited until 2012 they may have had the "clear path" out of town that they wanted. But by doing it this year, with so many things working against them, all they've done is to mobilize Sacramento.

 

[Gary]

Wouldn't it be great if the Maloofs in their greed and over anxiousness to get out of Sacramento ended up shooting themselves in the foot? If they'd had waited until 2012 they may have had the "clear path" out of town that they wanted. But by doing it this year, with so many things working against them, all they've done is to mobilize Sacramento.

I think it started last year when they said they weren't going to file (Nov. 2009 when they said it I believe). I had a feeling that was a flub on their part. It had quite a bit of people shaken up thinking that was going to be the last year the Kings were in town. I actually started saving just last June for my season tickets again and can afford to go next season again. Along with my mom and pops (although my mom only goes to about 10-15 games and the rest are used for family)

Definitely interested in seeing what the next two days bring though.

 

[Glenn]

If this ends up a battle betwen the two commmunities as to who can mobilize the most support, I think we all know who will come out ahead. Ha!

 

[jpsls]

They probably thought the NBA would be preoccupied with the new CBA, and thus the other owners would just approve their move without thorought analysis and investigation.

 

[SacTownKid]

It also has to do with a smart, intellectual, and articulate mayor of Sacramento mud stomping a hole in a family that can hardly put together a sentence without the words "uh..." and "um..." permeating every other phrase.

 

[kennadog]

The more I hear about the Anaheim 'deal," the more I scratch my head and wonder what the he** the Maloofs were seeing in this deal. The chance to live on the Gold Coast and hobnob with celebrities 24/7? Some say its greed and money, but what I see is piling on layers of debt for the franchise with Samueli poised to swoop in a take over majority ownership in a short time frame. I know the Maloofs like to be "optimistic," but a shrewd business person knows when to trade in the rose-tinted glasses for a magnifying glass and read the fine print.

I've come to the conclusion that the Maloofs aren't great business people. Their dad was. Anybody can be a pretty good business person when the economy is sailing high. The great business person prepares for when the boat starts sinking. (Although even great business people can fail and most do more than once.) It just seems to me the Maloofs are too enamored of Hollywood and celebrities and the lifestyle, in general. Like star-struck kids. Being in SoCal is the shiny bauble that has them swooming right now and distracting them from looking too closely at the details of this "deal."

 

[pdxKingsFan]

By all accounts George is pretty smart and what he did with the Palms before expansion is nothing short of astounding, but anybody getting any kind of sound advice could see that market was about to crash. At this point I've got to believe the story I heard that Samueli already had his hooks in the Maloofs because the Anaheim deal just gets worse and worse by the day.

The only thing I don't get is if they had this planned all along why did they try so hard at the beginning of the season to get people back to Arco? The "Here We Rise" and DMC mega-ad seem like a distant memory, though obviously it managed to lend its name to a half dozen save the Kings efforts.

I still think its possible that they are good people who just got in over their heads, lord knows that happens. I'm still quite upset with them, but sometimes I do think the personal attacks go a bit far.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

If they stay and no area deal is ironed out in the next year, then I could understand them "exploring their options". My whole problem all along was that they were bailing on KJ (the first mayor since Joe Sernawe've had who even cares about he Kings) without even giving him a fair chance.

There, fixed!

 

[Spike]

I maintain firm in my belief that the move to Anaheim was nothing more than a backdoor sell to Samueli. The tea leaves certainly read that way. Samueli is fronting way too much money for this to be strictly an "I want an NBA team in my arena/goodness of my heart" sort of deal. I don't think it was done out of malice, but out of survival, however.