Roger Salazar represents Sacramento Forward LLC.  He says the high number of potential bidders is a good sign for the city's cause.

SALAZAR: 15 "There's a lot of potential value here. We're just at the Request for Qualifications stage. This is not a bid. The actual proposal is the next step. We believe that despite the large number of bidders we bring something that's unique to the table."

Sacramento Forward is backed by the same group that bid two billion dollars for state office buildings in 2010.  The other local bidder is called Revitalizing Sacramento LLC and is backed by the developers of the McClellan Business Park. Larry Kelley says a local operator would keep more dollars in the region.  He hopes being local gives his group an advantage. 

KELLEY: "We sure hope it does.  "It should count. I mean, we're invested in the community. THis is the only thing we have in town. We certainly have in interest in seeing the community prosper."

Bidders from beyond Sacramento include the Xerox Corporation and Morgan Stanley as well as a group from Canada.

The future of an arena in downtown Sacramento depends in large part on how much money the city can get for leasing out its parking operations.  The city has set the minimum bid at $185 million.