Sacramento Kings Tied To Virginia Beach Arena Proposal

Though Kings’ owner Joe Maloof has denied plans to move to Virginia Beach, the team was specifically named as the anchor of an official proposal for an arena in the Oceanfront section of the city. That proposal is still being evaluated by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, something cited by the Governor’s spokesman in explaining the lack of funds. “Any state involvement in economic development proposals must make clear and sound financial sense for the Commonwealth’s taxpayers and be economically justifiable,” said the spokesman.

The Kings reportedly began looking outside of Sacramento when a deal for a new arena fell through earlier this year. Virginia Beach emereged as the front-runner for relocation, but they’re far from the only city courting the NBA. As another disappointing Kings season begins to unfold, fans will have to continue to watch relocation drama develop.

The president of Comcast is still negotiating to move an NBA team to Virginia Beach, according to Aaron Applegate of the Virginia Pilot.

The city and Comcast are prepared to build the arena, but the project is at a “very critical” stage in terms of putting the pieces together, Applegate reported. To build the arena, the city is set to pay $241 million, the state will pay $150 million and Comcast will contribute $35 million.

Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms and Vice Mayor Louis Jones “had a good meeting” Thursday in Philadelphia with Comcast-Spectacor CEO Peter Luukko, according to a report from Bruce Rader of the Portsmouth, Va., T.V. station WAVY.

The biggest holdup to the proposal, though, is whether or not the arena will generate enough money to pay off the bonds needed to pay for construction. The new arena is projected to cost $350 million.

With a $700,000 taxpayer price tag, the plan to build a new multi-sports arena in Virginia Beach has drawn criticism from local government councilmen, according to a report on WAVY.com.

Councilmen Bill DeSteph and John Moss told the TV station they did not approve for the arena to be funded with taxpayer money and did not know public funds were being used for the project. After hearing Comcast-Spectator’s proposal for the arena, which calls for $700,000 in taxpayer money, the two councilmen are calling for “transparency” regarding “secret meetings” between Comcast-Spectator and the Virginia Beach Economic Development Authority.

The city of Virginia Beach will spend the next two months looking to find an NBA or NHL franchise willing to relocate to the city, according to a report from Aaron Applegate of The Virginian-Pilot.

A number of companies led by Comcast-Spectacor met with the Virginia Beach City Council Tuesday night to discuss a possible 18,500 seat stadium located next to the Virginia Beach Convention Center near the Oceanfront that would cost an estimated $350 million.

The monotony of the NBA offseason was punctured (at least in some circles) by Thursday’s whirlwind rumors that the beautiful burg of Virginia Beach, Virginia, planned to discuss an arena deal next week with a major league team, initially rumored to be the Sacramento Kings, on deck. As the day went along, the presence of the Kings in the whole blueprint seems to disappear: the team’s owner initially claimed he hadn’t talked to Virginia Beach, and a spokesman later refused all comment on any relocation rumors. (Seems smart.) Moreover, Comcast-Spectacor (recent owners of the Philadelphia 76ers) denied they had a specific team in place, and the leader of a hoteliers board that would reportedly provide crucial funding to the project claimed ignorance. This train hasn’t reached the station yet, let alone left it.

But that doesn’t change the fact that some high-powered folks in Virginia Beach are seriously working toward building an NBA-ready arena. And it doesn’t erase the presence of NBA-able arenas and the political will to host a team in places like Louisville, Kansas City, Anaheim and, possibly soon, Seattle and Las Vegas. Each of the first three cities on that list have made plays of varying enthusiasm for the Kings; Anaheim actually approved renovations to the Honda Center and a lease agreement a little more than a year ago. Hilariously, Seattle fans who have unironically made an emotional claim on the Kings, reacted to the Virginia Beach news on Thursday much as Sacramentans did. (F.Y.I.G.M. culture as its finest.)

Virginia Beach officials have met with Comcast Spectacor and LiveNation about building a new arena in that city, the Sacramento Bee confirmed Thursday. City spokesman Marc Davis has this to say:

Joe Maloof denied all reports of the Kings talking to Virginia Beach today.

Despite earlier reports that Virginia Beach had emerged as a possible relocation option for the Sacramento Kings, the NBA has received no information with regards to such a move, according to league spokesman Mike Bass.

After the Maloof brothers’ deal for a $391 million entertainment complex in Sacramento fell through three months ago, reports emerged that they had started looking for a new home for their franchise. Reportedly, Comcast is willing to guarantee a 25-year lease on a new arena in Virginia Beach in exchange for naming rights and the right to broadcast Kings games.

Then there’s the fiscal health of the famous Maloof brothers, owners of the team:

Sactown Royalty also notes that Commissioner David Stern said the league wouldn’t abide the Kings moving to Anaheim, a much larger market (with an existing arena to boot), so logic would dictate that the league wouldn’t let a move to a tiny market on the other side of the country go through, either.