The NBA Kings' team store website since June 15 "has been a black screen with a telephone number," according to Ben Sosenko of Sacramento's KOVR-CBS. Kings PR Dir Chris Clark said, "We had a company that was helping us with our website and these are lean times in the economy. They’re in business one day, the next day they’re gone.” He added, “In the e-commerce industry, it takes about four months to build a website from scratch, and the way the company went under it kind of left us in a lurch." Sosenko noted since June, fans "haven’t been able to see an online catalog of team merchandise and all orders have had to be made over the phone or in person at Power Balance Pavilion." Clark said that the new team store website "will be up and running in two weeks" (SACRAMENTO.CBSLOCAL.com, 8/27). The link for the Kings store on the team's homepage takes visitors to Store.NBA.com (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, in Sacramento, Ailene Voisin noted the Kings' season-ticket renewal rate is up 80% over last season and the team ranks "in the top five in the league in group sales." Kings fans "remain consistent and amazingly [resistant]: They hold their noses when it comes to the owners and six-plus years of subpar play, but they love their team" (SACBEE.com, 8/28).
