Sacramento Kings negotiating to buy River Cats
SACRAMENTO — A possible shake-up is on the horizon in Sacramento pro sports.
The Sacramento Kings are in negotiations to buy the Triple-A baseball Sacramento River Cats.
The sale would give Vivek Ranadive and Kings investors control of the Golden 1 Center as well as the River Cats and Sutter Health Park. The two venues sit less than a mile from each other, separated by the Sacramento River.
Former Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill says Major League Baseball and a local Joint Powers Authority need to approve the sale.
"It's common knowledge there have been discussions going on about this probably six months," Lukenbill said.
Lukenbill said the sale could lead to unprecedented development of the Sacramento waterfront.
"That unity is what we lack to become more of a cosmopolitan connected area," Lukenbill said. "What we need is a Sacramento Ponte Vecchio walking bridge, that would be a magnet of its own kind."
He's dreamed of a little Florence flair in Sacramento.
"Just coming across that bridge alone would be a tourist attraction, right," Lukenbill said.
The sale of the River Cats would be the end of an era for the Savage family who brought pro baseball here. Warren Smith was the team's co-founder.
"They definitely made the community a better place to live, work, and play," Smith said.
Neither the Kings nor the River Cats would comment on the negotiations.
"The problem with it is nobody wants to announce something that hasn't been approved," Lukenbill said.
