So Long Kings?
From June 2005
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“If we do nothing, make no mistake, the Kings will leave. If we don’t have a plan in place to build an arena a year from now, I think they’ll start looking seriously,” Cohn says. “I’ve heard they already have offers.”
Goin’ to Kansas City?
One of those offers could come from, of all places, Kansas City, where ground broke in March on the $275 million Sprint Arena, an 18,000-seat enclave that is the cornerstone to the city’s $4 billion downtown redevelopment efforts that include a new headquarters building for H&R Block, a major shopping and dining complex and a hotel.
The arena is being funded privately and publicly. The AEG group (owners of the Staples Center in Los Angeles) paid $50 million, with the balance paid by an increase in the hotel and rental car tax, approved by voters in August 2004 by a 58-42 percent margin. Kansas City-based Sprint kicked in $50 million over 10 years for arena naming rights.
Kansas City doesn’t have an NBA basketball team, but Bob Marcusse, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, says a return of the NBA “would certainly provide a significant economic boost to the area.” He insists the city isn’t trying to lure an existing NBA franchise, but the smart money in Kansas City is saying just the opposite.
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Kings were to return to Kansas City? I’ll tell you what, the red carpet would be rolled out for them,” assures a Kansas City sports writer who asked not to be identified.
“The arena is being built for other activities,’ Marcusse says, rather tongue-in-cheek. “I would imagine that if (the Kings) returned, the welcome home would be quite dramatic.”
Kansas City buttoned up its downtown revitalization deal in less than three years. The city hired The Sasaki Group, a Boston-based consultancy that laid out a plan so widely accepted, little opposition was mounted at the ballot box.
Continued...
Goin’ to Kansas City?
One of those offers could come from, of all places, Kansas City, where ground broke in March on the $275 million Sprint Arena, an 18,000-seat enclave that is the cornerstone to the city’s $4 billion downtown redevelopment efforts that include a new headquarters building for H&R Block, a major shopping and dining complex and a hotel.
The arena is being funded privately and publicly. The AEG group (owners of the Staples Center in Los Angeles) paid $50 million, with the balance paid by an increase in the hotel and rental car tax, approved by voters in August 2004 by a 58-42 percent margin. Kansas City-based Sprint kicked in $50 million over 10 years for arena naming rights.
Kansas City doesn’t have an NBA basketball team, but Bob Marcusse, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, says a return of the NBA “would certainly provide a significant economic boost to the area.” He insists the city isn’t trying to lure an existing NBA franchise, but the smart money in Kansas City is saying just the opposite.
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Kings were to return to Kansas City? I’ll tell you what, the red carpet would be rolled out for them,” assures a Kansas City sports writer who asked not to be identified.
“The arena is being built for other activities,’ Marcusse says, rather tongue-in-cheek. “I would imagine that if (the Kings) returned, the welcome home would be quite dramatic.”
Kansas City buttoned up its downtown revitalization deal in less than three years. The city hired The Sasaki Group, a Boston-based consultancy that laid out a plan so widely accepted, little opposition was mounted at the ballot box.
Continued...
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