Last night, the NBA’s two lead officials sat down for a conversation with journalist Charlie Rose on his nightly PBS talk show. Among the topics discussed in the roughly 26-minute dialogue – the future of the Sacramento Kings. Transcribed below are comments from Stern and Silver on the relocation committee’s decision to unanimously recommend against moving the Kings to Seattle.
Stern’s overview of the Sacramento/Seattle situation:
Well, there was a deal for a very good group from Seattle to buy the team, you know, perfect prototype for an NBA owner. But the mayor of Sacramento put together a group, Kevin Johnson…and he put together a group and he put together an arena package. And right now, we had a committee that voted, our relocation committee, subject to them putting together a report and then having the board vote on it that the team should not be moved. The recommendation is that they should stay in Sacramento.
Silver was asked if running the NBA is different from managing any other corporation. His response:
I think it is. I think it’s a public trust of sorts. And that’s how communities see their teams and we’re experiencing that in Sacramento right now. I think some people are surprised at the preliminary decision the relocation committee has made because they say well but look at Seattle – there’s more corporate headquarters, there’s more TV households, there’s the potential to generate more revenue there – shouldn’t you move a franchise to the market where there’s more revenue? And our response is not necessarily. That if you look at total value over time, and brand building, and community support, that continuity is important. I mean, look (at) Seattle now – part of why the citizens there are so upset, and we understand that, is they lost their team to Oklahoma City.
You can watch the entire interview in the video player below.
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