A few weeks ago, the news came out the law firm that represented the Maloofs in the bid to sell the Kings was involved in the campaign to oppose the new Sacramento arena. It did not look good.
There is now clarification as to what the role of Loeb & Loeb, the law firm involved with the Maloofs, was in the campaign against the approved Sacramento stadium.
Chris Hansen, the buyer the Maloofs had originally agreed to sell the Kings to and planned to move the team to Seattle, admitted in a press release that he had donated to a group that opposed the arena movement.
I made a mistake I regret.
When our binding agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings became a competitive situation and we were faced with both the prospect of seeing our transaction fail and losing our $30 million deposit, I engaged Loeb & Loeb to canvas the various opposition groups to gain an understanding of their efforts and the prospects of their success.
During this time I was approached through Loeb by the opposition about making a contribution to the opposition’s efforts as part of a broader group and agreed to make a donation.
In this regard I would just like to highlight that I have never directly engaged with or even had any conversations or contact with STOP, Taxpayers For Safer Neighborhoods, or any the various consultants engaged in the Sacramento Arena opposition. It was also not my intent to be the primary financial sponsor of the opposition’s efforts. I merely agreed to make a donation to the opposition in what had become a competitive and heated process.
Thanks for the clarification.
Hansen said he is no longer providing any contributions to the organization opposing the arena in Sacramento and regretted the confusion and the decision to get involved in this way.
The acrimony appears to be dying down as the plans for the Sacramento arena are moving forward and nearing finalization.
