OT: Ducks owner trying to lure NBA Kings to Anaheim
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:08 pm
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2011/jan/13/re ... lls-sacra/
Sports radio and websites are buzzing with speculation that a full-court press is on to try and bring basketball’s Sacramento Kings to Honda Center in Anaheim.
The latest: Broadcom Corp. cofounder Henry Samueli, who owns the Anaheim Ducks hockey team and Honda Center's operating company, has offered the Kings a $100 million loan to help spur a move, according to a Sacramento sports radio station.
Samueli tried to buy the basketball team last year, the station reported, citing unnamed sources.
The Kings are in play amid financial issues at the Maloof family, which owns the team, and troubles securing a new Sacramento arena.
A loan from Samueli would be used to help the Maloofs shore up finances and pay the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers for rights to play in Southern California, according to the report.
The Maloofs would retain ownership of the team. Samueli would gain a stake if they defaulted on the loan.
Michael Schulman, chairman of Honda Center operator Anaheim Arena Management LLC and one of Samueli’s closest confidants, said last year there’s a bettern than 50% chance the arena will add a National Basketball Association team in the next five years.
Honda Center and its Southern California location make it the “No. 1 option” for a basketball team looking to upgrade to a bigger market, said Schulman, who’s also chief executive of Honda Center’s Anaheim Ducks.
Honda Center already hosts college basketball games and some Los Angeles Lakers exhibition games.
In 2008, Anaheim was in the running to land the Seattle SuperSonics before that team became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sacramento business leaders and politicians are trying to hammer out a plan for a new arena to keep the Kings in the city.
Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison also could bid on the team to bring it to San Jose.