Va. Beach Out,
Seattle In For Kings?

Virginia Beach officials said they needed a professional sports team willing to move to the city before building a new arena, and it appears the most likely candidate – the Sacramento Kings – are looking elsewhere.

Without an anchor team committed to Virginia Beach by Jan. 8, plans for a proposed arena are dead for now. Mayor Will Sessoms told WVEC-TV that the project is something that the city would consider down the line, maybe even next year.

The next day, word filtered out that the Maloof family that owns the California NBA team is nearing a deal to sell the Kings to a group that intends to move the team to Seattle.

People with knowledge of the situation say the group, led by investor Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, is in talks with the Maloofs about buying the Kings for $500 million. If the deal is made, the Kings would likely play in Seattle’s KeyArena before moving to a proposed new facility.

Those talks appear to have left Virginia Beach in the cold. City officials hoped to build an arena near the oceanfront in an effort to attract a pro sports team. The NBA’s Kings were said to be a likely target after failing to reach an agreement to build a new arena in Sacramento.

Under the Virginia Beach arena proposal Sessoms supported, Comcast-Spectacor would operate the arena and find a team to serve as its primary tenant.  Without a pro team to call the arena home, it wouldn’t be built.

To make it happen, the city would have needed to spend $251 million and a state contribution of $150 million.  Comcast-Spectacor would have ponied up $35 million.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said late last year that his budget wouldn’t include money for the arena. Sessoms said the city will not pursue funds in the General Assembly this year.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the arena project is completely DOA. The Maloofs have backed out of what looked like done deals before at the last minute – the Kings’ arena project in Sacramento being one case in point.

The deadline for NBA teams to apply for relocation is in March. Should the Maloofs’ Seattle talks break down, there’s still time to make up with jilted Virginia Beach.