George Maloof
Kings Co-Owners Gavin and Joe Maloof, and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson acknowledge the crowd at Power Balance Pavilion.
SACRAMENTO, CA - George Maloof reached out to the media to explain the Kings' position on why they don't believe they should be responsible for a $3.26 million payment for pre-development costs to build a brand new arena.
"We never agreed to pay this pre-development fee," Maloof said. "We made it very clear we weren't going to pay. If anyone says otherwise, they're lying. We have a 100 percent committment if the terms are agreeable, but you don't pass fees onto a tenant. I'm extremely surprised this issue came up."
The $13 million pre-development cost will pay for the development of a site plan for the Entertainment Sports Complex and preparation for an environmental impact report.
According to the Sacramento City Council agenda for Tuesday, the city would pay for 50 percent of the pre-development costs, and the Kings and AEG will each pay for 25 percent.
"It was with that spirit that we all agreed to a deal in Orlando, including the Maloof family, who looked an entire room in the eye and promised their commitment to Sacramento," Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said in astatement on Thursday. "In light of the Maloofs' promise, we fully expect all parties to live up to their commitments."
"We never had a deal," said Maloof. "In Orlando, we all agreed on certain things when we looked each other in the eye. We had a framework, but we never had a deal."
To keep the arena deal moving forward, the NBA is now looking to assist the Maloofs with the pre-development payment.
"Those discussions have stalled, but I have advised Mayor Johnson that the NBA will advance pre-development expenses on behalf of the Kings pending our report to the NBA Board of Governors at its meeting on April 12-13," NBA Commissioner David Stern said.
Maloof said the family is still committed to an arena deal in Sacramento, but they believe as long as they are a tenant, they should not have to pay for the cost of pre-development.
"This isn't a matter of us being able to afford this fee," Maloof said. "If we had 50 billion dollars we still wouldn't pay this."
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