Sacramento Kings Have Reportedly Reached Deal to Remain in City

The Sacramento Kings and the city of Sacramento have come to an agreement on a financial term sheet that should keep the Kings in the city long-term.

"It's game over," said Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson.

Under the term sheet, the Kings' owners, the Maloof family, will contribute a substantial chunk of money to the help finance the new arena. That's good news considering the skepticism surrounding their ability to contribute with their recent financial struggles.

According to George Maloof, his family will contribute, "close to $75 million upfront, probably another $75 million over the term of the agreement."

On top of the family's contribution, other parameters of the agreement have been outlined.

The city will contribute between $190-230 million that it will generate by leasing out city-owned parking garages to private investors.

The arena's operator—AEG—will contribute an additional $40-60 million.

The rest will be covered by a conglomeration of a ticket surcharge, advertising around the arena, allocating a portion of the city's existing transient occupancy tax or a sale of three or four parcels of city land.

The NBA is also expected to contribute to the new arena, but its contribution is not known yet.

The financial term sheet is expected to be announced March 1. It would then be voted on by the Sacramento City Council during its March 6 meeting.

The Kings were very close to leaving for Anaheim last season. It took a last-minute effort by mayor Kevin Johnson to get the NBA Board of Governors to give the city one final chance to come up with a deal for the arena.

It appears as if Johnson has succeeded in his efforts.

"I'm excited; (I'm) sure the fans are excited," said Joe Maloof. "We always said we wanted to stay. It worked out."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/27/4294815/sacramento-kings-have-reached.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/27/4294815/sacramento-kings-have-reached.html#storylink=cpy