Report: Kings Offer to let Sacramento State Use Arena to Help School Join Pac-12, FBS

The Sacramento Kings have offered Sacramento State men's and women's basketball programs the chance to play home games at Golden 1 Center "pending arena availability," per NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Haynes described the Kings' offer as "a major hurdle cleared" in Sacramento State's reported bid to join the Pac-12.

Sacramento State has been a member of the Big Sky conference since the FCS league was formed in 1963. The Pac-12 meanwhile needs at least one more full-time member in order to meet FBS membership requirements.

Golden 1 Center seats about 17,600 fans for Kings games. Hornets basketball is currently played in a multipurpose gym, which was built in 1955 and can house just over 1,000 people.

That isn't the only Sacramento State athletics program that could see a significant capacity increase in the near future. The Hornets announced last Thursday plans to construct a new football stadium that will increase the venue's capacity by 4,000 people to 25,000 while updating a venue built in 1969.

The football stadium news was followed by third-party fundraising committee SAC12's Monday announcement that the group had raised more than $35 million in NIL funds for Sacramento State in a span of 24 hours.

The SAC12 said it was hoping to fundraise $50 million in order to capitalize on "the continued momentum to elevate Sacramento State Athletics to the Pac-12 and the Hornet football program to the FBS."

The Pac-12 announced on Tuesday that the conference would be adding Gonzaga as an eighth member, a total that leaves the league short of FBS minimum requirements because the Bulldogs do not run a football program.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Kyle Bonagura reported on Tuesday that the Pac-12 has held early talks with Grand Canyon and Saint Mary's, but that "the conference is expected to remain focused on adding another football-playing school before shifting its attention back to basketball."

Sacramento State is hoping the new football stadium, the NIL fundraising display and now the Kings' offer to share their arena will make them an appealing option as a full member.