Microsoft CEO, Others Agree To Purchase Sacramento Kings, Move The Team To Seattle

News
By
published

When new owner Clay Bennett decided to move the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City after purchasing the team more than four years ago, he left behind the name and the logo for the city to use in case it was ever able to acquire another franchise. Given how well the community supported the organization, it was widely assumed that goodwill gesture would come in handy, but I’m not sure anyone realized how quickly it would come in handy.

According to ESPN, equity manager Christopher Hansen, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and several other Seattle business leaders have reached an agreement with the Maloof family to purchase the Sacramento Kings. The deal is reportedly worth about $525 million and would need to be finalized by March 1 in order for the new ownership group to formally apply to move the team to Seattle for next season. Given the long history of ownership problems and relocation rumors that have surrounded the Kings, approval is expected to be given by the Board of Governors, at least if it makes it to that point. The city of Sacramento, however, is planning to fight the potential relocation.

Mayor Kevin Johnson is reportedly trying to put together a different ownership group that would keep the team in California, but as of press time, the Maloof family is very content to take the offer presented, which would be a huge victory for the people of Seattle and a crushing blow for those living in Sacramento.

We’ll keep you updated as this ownership situation works itself out.

TOPICS
Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.