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Fans create grassroots campaign
to build new arena in Sacramento |
The NBA Kings "may be headed for the exit, but their threatened departure has energized the effort to build a new sports arena" in Sacramento, according to Ryan Lillis of the SACRAMENTO BEE. A grassroots campaign emerged yesterday to "raise money for a new facility in Sacramento," and "within hours, the movement spread through social media and billboards along area freeways." Local Jiffy Lube shops "paid for six digital billboards to publicize the 'Here We Build' effort to raise money for an arena, and the campaign was mentioned more than 300 times Wednesday on Twitter." More than $125,000 was "raised in the effort's first few hours after it was launched." Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and other city officials for weeks have said that a "push for a new arena ... should continue with or without the Kings." Some "have even suggested it would be easier to sell the idea to the public without the Kings' owners in the picture." Sacramento city leaders have "vowed to press ahead with their years-long, frequently frustrating effort to find an arena financing plan that works." A city-sponsored development team "continues to analyze the economics of a new building, with a report expected in late May." Some sports financing experts "caution that building an arena without a professional sports team would be difficult, but not impossible," while arena finance experts said that the "task of constructing a new facility without a professional sports team would be daunting." Pollstar magazine President & Editor-in-Chief Gary Bongiovanni: "If the team goes away, so does the motivation for building a new building." Sacramento developer David Taylor, "who is leading the city-backed analysis of a new arena," also has acknowledged that "putting up a new building would be tough without the Kings." However, arena backers "point to Kansas City's 4-year-old Sprint Center as proof that an arena can succeed financially -- even if it doesn't have a professional sports tenant" (
SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/31).
MOVE LOOKS INEVITABLE: ESPN’s J.A. Adande said there is “nothing really blocking” the Kings from relocating to Anaheim. Adande: “I don't think they'll get enough 'no' votes to keep them from moving. … Certainly this is the right move for the Kings in that there are more luxury suites, there's more premium seats available here, it's a better TV deal that they can acquire here. You see all of the financial reasons for the Kings" ("Jim Rome Is Burning," ESPN, 3/30). The Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s Lowell Cohn said, "I don't think it's bad for the NBA. I don't think Sacramento was ever a particularly terrific city for the NBA. ... I like Sacramento but I think it's kind of a minor league city" ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 3/30).
BUILDING A NEW FAN BASE: Honda Center Dir of Media & Communications Merit Tully said that "as of early afternoon Wednesday, more than 500 fans had sent e-mails to the Honda Center to be included on a priority waiting list" for Kings tickets. Many said that they "want season tickets." Honda Center officials "set up the waiting list Tuesday afternoon, hours before Anaheim officials unanimously approved $75 million in bonds to make the city-owned arena the Kings' home" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 3/31).
