With the NBA Kings having nine toes out the Sacramento door toward Anaheim, who will win and who will lose in this franchise shift?
The obvious winner is the city of Anaheim while the obvious loser is the fan base of Sacramento. But it goes deeper than that if the move is approved by the NBA Board of Governors. Take a look:
Winners
*The Kings: They would more than make up for any revenue lost by an expected cable TV contract windfall. Fox Sports West should at least double what the Kings get from Comcast Sports Net.
*Fox Sports West: After next season, the Fox regional sports network will lose the Los Angeles Lakers to that team’s new sports network, which will be run by Time-Warner cable. FSW will have one season of a franchise juggling and then be able to plug in the Kings.
*San Jose Sharks: The NHL team will no longer have to share Comcast SportsNet California with the Kings. And CSN will likely no longer need its “Plus” channel since it already has CSN Bay Area and CSN Ca with no Kings conflicts.
*The Honda Center: The gorgeous Anaheim arena — I think we’ve told you about the marble walls — will have more than 90 dates filled by NHL and NBA events. And it gives the Center cache to draw more NBA-related events, like, maybe another All-Star Game to Southern California.
*Anaheim Ducks: Orange County’s NHL team will make money off the Kings or Royals and quickly move up the list of the league’s most valuable franchises. Entering this season, the Ducks were worth $188 million, 19th in the NHL.
The losers
*The Los Angeles Clippers: The market’s second NBA team will lose the hoops fan who drove to Clippers games at the Staples Center in downtown L.A. because they couldn’t get Lakers tickets. If you live in Orange County, you would have an option see an NBA game while avoiding the long freeway drive. It will be interesting to see if Clippers owner Donald Sterling regrets not moving to Anaheim a decade ago if this shift goes through.
*The Anaheim Royals: The former Kings will have a tough time getting attention in the O.C. For starters, the Royals would rank at best as the seventh most popular team — ahead of the NHL Kings and Ducks and behind the Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, MLS Galaxy and Chivas USA (the soccer team are popular in L.A.). And if the NFL comes back as expected, the Royals slide to eighth.
*Media coverage: Speaking of exposure, the Kings probably will have as many newspapers covering them in O.C. as they do in Sacramento. The L.A. Times covers the Angels full-time, Clippers half-time and the Ducks no time. While newspapers no longer have the clout they used to, having only the Orange County Register cover them is not the upgrade in media attention the Kings were hoping for.
*Golden State Warriors: If three teams are allowed in SoCal, new Warriors owner Joe Lacob would have to worry about billionaire Larry Ellison buying a team and moving it to San Jose’s HP Pavilion.
*Sacramento’s arena plans: No matter how you cut it, it will be tough to complete an arena project without a tenant. And no arena puts Sacramento behind other NBA hopeful cities, like Kansas City, Las Vegas and Louisville in getting another franchise. Kind of a Catch-22, huh?
Sacramento bracing for life without Kings [CBS Sports]
