Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson came out of a 40-minute meeting with the Maloofs with the notion that Sacramento is only a fallback in case a deal between the Kings and Anaheim’s Honda Center doesn’t work out. The team was granted an extension to April 15 (tax day!) to get its affairs in order.
More and more I think the tipping point for this was the Lakers creating their own network, thus creating an opening for Fox Sports to hook up with the Kings. It’s a potentially huge deal which makes the LA market superior to any other potential relocation spot.
I know many of you are Kings fans and this has to hurt. Look on the bright side though – at least you’ll never have to worry about this again:
Pithy commentary provided by “The King” Jerry Lawler, of course.
newballpark.org 
A lesson here for Oakland: If you expect team owners to give you a new venue for free because your city is so so special and you don’t want to “give money to billionaires,” you can expect to lose your team, instead. Just like how Seattle lost the SuperSonics, etc.
I hope to god we’re not next
I hate giving my hard-earned money to billionaires (John Fisher), but love my Oakland A’s, and try to forget who still owns them.
Anaheim Royals anyone? I think the writing is on the wall, the Kings are gone unless Anaheim screws the pooch.
I would normally feel bad for Kings fans and I do to a certain extent but this has been coming for a long time.
The Maloof’s blew their Daddy’s money hard and do not have the $$ to help out with a new arena in Sacramento.
These idiots were partying so hard over the years they killed their own bank accounts and alienated the fan base who saw this pretty clearly.
Granted Sacramento never was truly willing to put in public money for the arena but it is not like they had a proposal that was worthy of even 1 cent of public money.
Good luck to the Kings in Anaheim, it is a good move for them from a fiscal standpoint and the Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernandino counties now have an option that is far closer to them to watch basketball.
@Dan-Anaheim Royals sounds pretty good to me!
What network broadcasts the Clippers? Does the the NBA have a rule about networks in the same area broadcasting two teams?
I don’t have enough background knowledge about the nuances of NBA broadcast rights to grasp the significance of the Lakers starting their own network, and why that creates a game-changing opportunity for the Kings.
Thank you for helping me.
@Jacob Jackson – FS West has the Clippers. FS Prime Ticket has the Lakers through the end of the season. Wild guess as to the value of broadcast rights for the Kings in Anaheim: $20 million a year. That’s more than it’s worth for a second team in the Bay Area and most other mid-sized markets.
Thank you ML. And in the NBA, do individual teams get to keep the money from their individual TV deal?
$20M a year would be a very nice, stabilizing chunk of change for a cash-strapped franchise like the Kings.
@nsj – Nearly all revenue is shared among all teams. David Stern would look upon it nicely in that the Maloofs would in a better place to payoff their debts.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2011/03/04/its-all-related-anaheim-the-kings-the-warriors-and-yes-maybe-an-nba-team-in-san-jose/
Could the Kings move out of NorCal be a prelude to a team move to San Jose?