City of Seattle

5:56pm: In spite of the increased offer from Hansen and company, the Sacramento bidders are still viewed as having the upper hand, according to TNT's David Aldridge. The Vivek Ranadive-led Sacramento group is buoyed by comments Heat owner and relocation committee member Micky Arison made on Twitter this week. Arison indicated the city had done what was necessary to keep the Kings.

2:12pm: The Seattle investment group led by Chris Hansen has increased its bid for the Sacramento Kings, according to Chris Daniels of KING5. Daniels reports that Hansen has informed the NBA that his new offer will increase the valuation of the franchise to $625MM, a $75MM increase on his previous bid. Because Hansen is attempting to buy 65% of the team, a $625MM valuation would mean the Seattle group's offer would increase to about $406MM.

The NBA's relocation committee has formally recommended that the Kings remain in Sacramento, and the Sacramento investment group is working toward finalizing its own bid for the team. Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game reported earlier today (via Sulia) that the Sacramento group is seeking additional investors before it puts the full purchase price into escrow, though Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com hears (Twitter link) that money isn't a problem for the group.

Even if the Sacramento group was able to match Seattle's previous offer, the new Seattle offer represents an increase of nearly $50MM for that 65% share. When the NBA's Board of Governors officially make its decision on the issue, which is expected to happen next Wednesday, it will be voting on whether to approve Hansen's purchase and whether to approve relocation. The league would clearly prefer the Kings to remain in Sacramento, so it will be interesting to see whether the Maloofs' sale to Hansen is voted down even if Seattle's offer is significantly higher than Sacramento's. One source told Bruski that "no matter how much they kick and scream, this is not about Seattle's offer" (Twitter link).

Daniels adds (via Twitter) that, in addition to increasing its offer, the Seattle group has agreed to pay revenue-sharing money should the team to move to Seattle, even in the initial years at Key Arena. The Sacramento group had agreed to eventually phase out the revenue-sharing money the Kings receive if the team remains in Sacramento.

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.

In the wake of the NBA relocation committee's recommendation not to allow the Kings to relocate to Seattle, Chris Hansen has responded. Hansen, the head of the Seattle investment group that reached an agreement to buy the Kings from the Maloofs family, issued a statement on SonicsArena.com late last night, which read in part:

"While we are disappointed with the relocation committee’s recommendation, we just wanted to let you all know that we remain fully committed to seeing this transaction through. As you are all well aware, we have a binding transaction to purchase the Kings for what would be a record price for an NBA franchise, have one of the best ownership groups ever assembled to purchase a professional sports team in the US, have clearly demonstrated that we have a much more solid Arena plan, have offered a much higher price than the yet to be finalized Sacramento Group, and have placed all of the funds to close the transaction into escrow. As such, we plan to unequivocally state our case for both relocation and our plan to move forward with the transaction to the league and owners at the upcoming Board of Governor’s Meeting in Mid-May."

Despite Hansen's apparent confidence, multiple league sources were surprised by his response, according to Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com (Twitter link), who was told by one source that Hansen is "fighting for expansion at best, flailing at worst." Sam Amick of USA Today expresses similar thoughts (Twitter links), noting that no one on the NBA or Sacramento side seems concerned with Hansen's reaction, and that the rest of the process is being characterized as a "mere formality."

The NBA's Board of Governors figures to formally vote on the relocation of the Kings franchise and the sale to the Hansen-led group on May 13th. Barring a huge surprise, the league's owners are expected to follow the recommendation made yesterday by a smaller group of owners.

A committee of NBA owners has voted against moving the Kings to Seattle today, according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst (on Twitter).  A full group of NBA owners have to vote on the proposed move next week, but the the NBA's Board of Governors is expected to follow the recommendation of  (Twitter link).  

The vote to keep the Kings in Sacramento was unanimous with all 12 owners shooting down the Seattle move, sources told Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  The final vote from the league will come on May 13th, which will make the decision official.

The Maloof family reached agreement with a Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft chairman Steve Ballmer that would have turned over a 65 percent controlling interest in the club.  The Maloofs will not issue a statement on today's news, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).

While the Seattle group has worked hard to lobby for the Kings, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has fought hard to keep the team in his city.  Johnson eventually lined up a Sacramento-based ownership group headed by businessman Vivek Ranadive and secured public financing to help build a brand new arena.  Today's decision doesn't directly mean that Ranadive's group will come away with the club, but it certainly bodes well for them.

Hansen's Seattle group appeared to have a great deal of momentum, but in recent weeks commissioner David Stern has reportedly begun backing the Sacramento group in their efforts.  Stern admitted that the Sacramento group's offer didn't match the Seattle bid, but claimed that it came close.  Meanwhile, many in basketball believed that a Seattle team would mean more money being put into the league's revenue sharing system and that a new arena could be built more quickly there than in Sacramento.

A decision on the matter from the BoG was expected to come at a meeting in New York earlier this month, but it was postponed for undisclosed reasons.