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After The Kings Left Kansas City


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As Sacramento considers life without the Kings, the city that last lost that NBA franchise now has a new arena. It was paid for without tax dollars and has yielded four million dollars in profit for the city.


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(Sacramento, CA)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
By Bob Moffitt
 
At this time in 1985, the Kansas City Kings were playing their final home games before sparse crowds of fans who knew the end was near.  Two days after the season ended, NBA owners approved the Kings' move to Sacramento.

Kevin Gray: "I think the immediacy of the fallout was certainly frustrating and disappointing to some, but I think on the other hand, people kind of turned the page pretty quickly, kind of moved on."

But, Kansas City's Sport Commission's Kevin Gray says it would be 22 years before the city fully rebounded. The 19-thousand seat Sprint Center opened in 2007 on time and on budget and was financed by rental car fees, hotel fees and by AEG in exchange for exclusive management rights. 

The city would entertain having a pro team move in…now.  But, Gray believes it was easier to get the center built then because there was no team, no team owners and no emotional fans to get in the way of the process.

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