Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Friday the deal to build a new home for the NBA Kings is officially dead after renewed talks broken down with the Maloof family. Â Read more after the jump.
Johnson announced that there were “irreconcilable differences†over financing for the for the proposed downtown sports facility after two days of talks.
“We know this door is closed,†the mayor said at a press conference, adding the city now will try to build an arena without the Kings as tenant.
The Mayor said the Maloofs would not provide collateral to refinance their $67 million loan with the city and they would not agree to a 30-year lease at the new arena.
Maloof said in a statement: “The Kings will continue the operations of the organization and building on the franchise’s young nucleus of players.â€
Johnson had tried to renew talks after two weeks of sniping. A week of what he called hopeful “negotiations again ended in dispute.
Two weeks earlier, the arena deal seemed receive its death blow when NBA Commissioner David Stern said the team’s arena deal with the city was dead. Stern said the Maloofs had buyer’s remorse and were worried the deal would overburden their debt load. He would not say if the Kings would be in Sacramento beyond 2013.
It was part of a series of press conferences press conferences that included sniping from each party, including the commissioner.
Just two months earlier, the Maloofs, Johnson and Stern joyfully announced they had reached a handshake agreement for $391 million arena near downtown Sacramento. The deal was proposed to finance the arena from future city parking revenues, the Maloofs and AEG, the corporation which was to run the facility.
Despite term-sheet approval by the city council, the arena project hit a number of snags during the past two weeks. The Maloofs released a letter to the city outlining flaws in the agreement and discussed those issues Thursday with the other owners at the NBA meetings before it became public that the deal had dissolved.
