Green Acres: Tsakopoulos’ Latest Plan To Fund Kings Arena

Maloof Says Tsakopoulos Is Not Last Option

Sacramento-based developer Angelo Tsakopoulos has been working on a proposal to “finance an arena for the [NBA] Kings by developing land he owns in rural eastern Sacramento County,” according to sources cited by Mary Vellinga of the SACRAMENTO BEE. The sources said that the plan is “not to build an arena in eastern Sacramento County ... but to provide money to build an arena elsewhere, most likely North Natomas.” Some local leaders said that Tsakopoulos’ plan “would be more difficult to pull off than his previous arena financing proposal,” which failed in February. But leaders said that the plan still “seems to be the most viable thing going at the moment.” Attorney Howard Dickstein, who represents several Indian tribes that want to keep the Kings in Sacramento, said, “So far, nothing has come together. The interested parties appear to be Angelo, his company and the [Kings]. I wish there were more interested parties, but there aren’t.” Kings co-Owner Joe Maloof said if “it doesn’t work out with Angelo, it doesn’t mean that the whole thing is in deep trouble” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 10/12).