According to Randy Youngman of the OC Register, in a last ditch effort to lure the Maloof family and their NBA team to Anaheim, Henry Samueli is not only pledging to increase his $50 million personal loan to $75 million, but he is also offering to purchase a minority stake in the club.
The NBA relocation committee has already made their suggestion to the Maloofs, recommending that the team stay in Sacramento for a season, giving the Taylor/ICON group time to finish an arena feasibility study that will include financing options. But, according to Youngman:
That’s presumably why George Maloof told the committee during Wednesday’s conference call that the team doesn’t want to go back to Sacramento and is excited about moving to Anaheim.
The Maloof’s have until Monday to make a final decision on whether they will attempt to relocate the team to Anaheim or not. In the mean time, Randy Youngman brought some details to light regarding the offer on the table down in the OC. While Mayor Kevin Johnson has been out selling more than $10 million in new corporate sponsorships in Sacramento, according to Youngman, the folks in Anaheim have been able to triple that amount. In fairness to Mayor Johnson, he has raised an additional $10 million, adding to the commitments the Kings already have in place with businesses like Carl’s Jr., UC Davis Health and Power Balance, while the Honda Center has an established corporate sponsor base from the NHL Ducks.
Youngman also relayed that there is a $13 million increase in “premium seating” waiting for the Maloof’s as well. Splitting hairs here, but again, that has more to do with the sheer number of suites (83) and club seating (1700) in the Honda Center versus the suites (30) and club seating (412) at Power Balance Pavilion. While the Honda Center seats a little over 18,300, Power Balance Pavilion comes in at a little over 17,300, so it’s very possible that some of that money could be made up in non-premium seating. Neither stadium has seen a consistent capacity crowd in some time, be it for hockey or basketball.
Henry Samueli has also pledged to do more than $70 million in renovations to make the Honda Center NBA ready. It is unclear how much of that dollar amount the Maloof’s will be responsible for, if any, but Randy Youngman added another little tidbit on the Grant Napear show this afternoon. According to his sources, if the Maloof’s file for relocation and if they somehow get the necessary 16 votes to get a majority approval, the relocation fee will be set at a cool $150 million.
So, doing the math – $77 million to Sacramento to pay off the outstanding bonds, plus $150 million for relocation fees … equals $227 million minus the $75 million loan from Henry Samueli. So the Maloof’s need $152 million before they pay for a single moving truck. Ouch. $227 million to move a team that you only own 53% of (minus whatever Samueli purchases), which Forbes values at $325 million if they move to Anaheim. Somebody get me an abacus.
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