As the Sacramento investment group led by Vivek Ranadive moves toward finalizing its bid for the Kings, the investors have offered to make a major concession to the NBA, according to Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal (hat tip to Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee). Kaplan reports that the group is willing to limit the money ownership would receive through the league's revenue-sharing program.
According to the SBJ report, if the group should acquire the Kings, it would agree to accept a reduced amount of revenue-sharing money during the team's final years at Sleep Train Arena, then would receive no revenue-sharing money after moving to the proposed downtown arena.
Kasler and Bizjak note that the Kings would be in line for about $18MM per year under the NBA's revenue-sharing program, which means such a concession would be significant. As Zach Lowe of Grantland points out (via Twitter), during the 2011 lockout, the NBA consistently pointed to the need for balance and profitability, so having a smaller-market team offer to opt out of the revenue-sharing program would be a bit of a shock.
Kasler also reports that the meeting to decide the Kings' fate is scheduled for next Wednesday, May 15th. The NBA's Board of Governors will meet in Dallas to officially vote on whether to allow the team to relocate and whether to allow Chris Hansen's purchase of the franchise. Based on the relocation committee's recommendation, the Kings are expected to remain in Sacramento.
Wow, how can Seattle compete with that?