Sacramento Kings: New Optimism Surround Their Bid To Approve New Arena

A lot has changed since April 13, 2010 for the Sacramento Kings. On that day the Kings were playing their final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers.

But it wasn't the Lakers traveling to Sacramento or the end of the regular season that made the day momentous. It was the uncertainty surrounding the Kings' future.

That's because at that time everybody thought that the Sacramento Kings would be relocating to Anaheim. Essentially it was a foregone conclusion, evidenced by the tearful sign-off from longtime broadcasters Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds.

Fast forward three weeks to May 3. The Kings' fans got the news they were desperately waiting to hear. The Kings would be staying in Sacramento for the 2011 season, and would give the city—and mayor Kevin Johnson—one final opportunity to get a new sports and entertainment complex approved.

However, the NBA and the Kings' owners—the Maloof family—made it clear that if a deal for a new arena was not struck by the 2012 deadline to file for relocation, that the team would once again attempt to move on from Sacramento.

Since that time, the city of Sacramento has methodically began putting together a plan to get a new arena approved at the downtown railroad yards in Sacramento.

In late September, the Sacramento City Council approved David Taylor and ICON group as the developers of the proposed new arena.

This past Tuesday (December 13), proponents of the new arena got a huge victory when the Sacramento City Council voted and approved a plan 7-2. It will bring in an estimated $200 million of the roughly $400 million needed to build the new arena.

In the plan, the city of Sacramento would lease parking spaces, garages and enforcement of its city-owned parking garages to a private company. The city is estimating that they will receive $245 million to lease the garages, but the city still owes $50 million from the construction of the garages.

After paying off the construction costs, the city should net the estimated $195 million.

The next step in the process will have Mayor Johnson meeting Friday, December 16 with NBA commissioner David Stern and Tim Leiweke. Leiweke is the president of AEG, which is the company expected to manage the proposed arena.

According to the Sacramento Bee, "The NBA and AEG are being counted on to provide significant cash toward the arena project, and the mayor said his talk in New York would focus on 'how to make this deal real'."

A final proposal is set to go before city council in mid-February. It will lay out the financial plan for the new arena with details of public and private contributions, including from the Kings and the NBA.

Because of the momentum gained at last Tuesday's city council meeting and the positive vibes coming from Mayor Johnson's meeting, it's finally looking like Sacramento has a realistic shot of getting an arena improved, and keeping the Kings in Sacramento long-term.

But if it weren't enough that the mayor and Kings fans are growing optimistic, apparently the Maloofs are also growing increasingly optimistic about the prospects of the Kings staying in Sacramento.

"We're encouraged that something can be done. Obviously, we're leaving that up to the mayor and the city and the NBA," Gavin Maloof said. "But the NBA is keeping us apprised of everything that's going on."

Gavin's brother, and co-owner, Joe, supported his optimism of the Kings' future in Sacramento.

"We're optimistic guys, always have been. We look at the positive parts," Joe Maloof said. "We think as long as the mayor continues on with his ideas, we'll see if they can come to fruition."

Indeed, a lot has changed since April 13. The city of Sacramento and Kings fans went from the darkest of days, to now being able to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course until a financing plan for the new arena is officially approved, there is still the possibility that it could all come tumbling down.

So while there's definitely newfound optimism; especially considering the depths that we've risen from, nothing will be set in stone until the city council votes to approve the arena in February.

We'll just have to wait and see.