Maloof says event poised for growth

The Maloof Money Cup skateboarding event is featuring its 2010 competition with a one-hour special on Fox this Saturday. The event’s founder, Joe Maloof, spoke with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer John Ourand about his plans for the event, including international expansion. He also discussed the coming season for the Sacramento Kings, the NBA team his family owns.

How do you plan to grow the Maloof Money Cup?
Maloof: After the Maloof Money Cup in New York in June, I had 27 cities contact me from all over the world that wanted us to bring the Maloof Money Cup competition to their city and to build a great course. People want the Maloof Money Cup because it’s strictly skateboarding and the course is designed by skateboarders.

Maloof

What are your international aspirations?
Maloof: We have a three-year deal with Kimberley, South Africa . We’re going to build a beautiful skatepark there, and street course, as well as a vertical — a mini mega-ramp. Kimberley wants to be the action sports capital of that entire African continent.

When will it be profitable?
Maloof: It’s profitable now. … Next year, we will have five Maloof Money Cup events. We’ll have four in the United States and one in South Africa . I haven’t even started scratching the surface.

What’s the status of the new basketball arena in Sacramento?
Maloof: Nothing. There’s no new status. In fact, there’s been another delay for another two months. I think everybody wants to get something done, but there’s been no real progress.

What key business steps have you taken with the Kings this summer?
Maloof: Like everyone else in the country, we’ve taken a hard look at our business and found out that you can’t do business today like we did three years ago. We had some major cuts throughout the organization. We’re very lean now. We’re trim. We have no fat. Our goal is to get more fans into Arco Arena and try to get back the fans that we lost. We’re on the right track. Our business is up.