Sacramento Kings moving franchise to the OC, CA.

That guest list indicates that the press conference will be a dog and pony show where a model of the arena will be shown and nothing definitive will happen. If something definitive was happening the Mayor and Governor would be there to take credit in front of the cameras.

I if I were to move a team out of Sacramento I would consider Newark. The team probably would not draw particularly well, the Nets never really did, but the television revenues must be multiples of what someone would make in Virginia Beach.

 

You can count on that.

 

Watching the arena/team pitch at the Virginia Beach City Council meeting now, and they've already made the golden error that literally every expansion/relocated franchise movement makes when talking about putting a team here -- they're building their argument on a market that includes Richmond.

Richmond is two hours away from Norfolk and 2.5 hours from Virginia Beach, presuming no traffic problems around the tunnels. They're marginally closer to Hampton Roads than D.C. And outside of the Redskins, Richmond interest in D.C. pro sports is minimal to nonexistent. Unless they're looking at 8 p.m. starts, there's no way you can leave work in Richmond on a weekday and get to the arena for tipoff, unless it's the tipoff for the first overtime.

Norfolk is getting Amtrak service with higher-speed rail from Richmond, but you're still 20-30 minutes from the proposed arena site and it's been reported that once service starts, the train wouldn't make into the area until later in the evening, so that's no option.

I hope they get the Kings or another pro franchise, but they've already made the same desperate grab for the Richmond market that every other franchise hopeful has made, and it never ever works.

 

You don't think the fan base will embrace a few owners from Las Vegas?

Here's my prediction. The Maloofs move the team. I'm assuming they'd be cutting some kind of deal that gets them some kind of loan or payment similar to what they were trying to get from Anaheim/OC. Then, they'll sell the team within 3-5 years or move it again when the locals don't line up to see the team after Cousins and Evans leave or are traded away for parts.

 

What makes Virginia Beach a more attractive market than Richmond?

 

Perhaps the fact that its a far larger one with around 400K more people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_statistical_areas

The notion that the place isn't large enough to support a major league team doesn't quite hold up to scrutiny. It's in a metro area is about the same size as Indianapolis, and larger than other major league towns like Nashville, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans and OKC.

 

Other than everything?

 

Funny, I was just about to post the exact same thing.

 

"My son Scooter is supposed to go to nursery school this year. I hate to think of the complications that'll cause in Virginia. I don't want him to go down there to school and learn to speak with a Southern accent. He'll come home from school saying, 'Hi yall, Daad.' I sure don't want that."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1083961/index.htm

 

Oh. Not familiar with the area.

Loved Rick Barry, though.

 

Familiar with the Old Dominion. Richmond is a nice place but there seems to be a general apathy about Central Virginia's ability to support a big time professional team. I'm not that big of a fan of Virginia Beach. Too many transients and transplants for my taste but the money is there.