The Sacramento River Cats play the San Francisco Giants in an exhibition game at Raley Field in West Sacramento on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. This is the Giants’ first game at Raley Field.
Sacramento Bee Archive
Some may be surprised by the long-awaited announcement that the owners of the Sacramento Kings are buying the Sacramento River Cats, but it really shouldn’t be.
The deal, which has been in the works for several months, makes sense for Sacramento’s NBA team, its Triple-A minor league baseball team and both ownership groups.
For the River Cats group led by the Savage family, selling their family business to a deep-pocketed local owner is a good deal, especially since their franchise has seen a drop in attendance since missing the entire season of minor league baseball. of 2020 by COVID-19.
Conversely, a move to bring the River Cats under the control of Kings owners could create a synergy in marketing and publicity between the two organizations.
This deal would also indicate that, despite criticism of the Kings’ basketball operations over years of back-to-back losing seasons, the Vivek Ranadive-led franchise continues to make heavy investments in the region. After buying the team, his group has invested heavily in the Golden 1 Center, the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel and the Downtown Commons.
Sources have confirmed that the two sides have been in talks since the end of last year and the deal is almost done. They have confirmed that the purchase price is around $100 million and that the Kings’ owners, along with some additional investors, are involved in the River Cats’ bidding.
Neither ownership group will comment on the deal until it is formally approved by Major League Baseball and a local government joint powers authority tasked with financing Sutter Health Park, home of the River Cats. But sources close to the Kings and River Cats with knowledge of the deal confirmed a basic outline of the deal and the motivations behind it.
The imprint of the kings grows
When completed, the footprint of the Kings in the urban core of Sacramento would be considerable.
The Kings’ downtown headquarters are a short drive from Sutter Health Park, on Sacramento’s west side of the Sacramento River. The area is part of an urban core near Old Sacramento and the downtown Railyards, places where the Sacramento region has invested heavily and hopes for the future.
In this context, a kind of Kings-River Cats merger makes even more sense.
But the deal will also mark the end of an era.
In just over 20 years, the Savage family built the River Cats into a local institution, first by providing the financial investment that got the River Cats open in 2000, and later as an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.
How sport changes the community
This was the dream of the late Art Savage and his wife Susan Savage.
Together, the Savages created the best minor league baseball experience in America by providing fans with wonderful summer nights of family entertainment in the shadow of gleaming Tower Bridge. The Savages partnered with Warren Smith and Bob Hemond, businessmen who had been trying to bring Triple-A baseball to Sacramento.
The results were like a dream come true until Art Savage died of lung cancer in 2009.
The Savages’ son, Jeff, stepped in, even if operating the team wasn’t necessarily his dream, and has been running the show with his mother ever since.
Despite the lack of on-court success, the Kings have created an excellent fan experience at the Golden 1 Center.
Under Ranadive, the Kings responded responsibly and compassionately to the intense protests after Stephon Clark was killed by Sacramento police in 2018. As Ranadive took the center court microphone at the Golden 1 Center, surrounded by players of the Kings in the turbulent days after Clark’s death, spoke eloquently expressing his condolences to the Clark family and the Sacramento community at large.
Triple-A baseball is all about community, and it’s the job of minor league baseball owners to focus on marketing, advertising, community development and fan experiences. The River Cats’ player personnel would continue to be handled by the San Francisco Giants, the parent club of the River Cats since 2014.
According to sources, Major League Baseball is reviewing the proposed deal. Ditto for the Joint Powers Authority, made up of West Sacramento, Yolo County and Sacramento County, which approved the $39.99 million in taxable rental income bonds used to finance the River Cats stadium in 1999. .
If this deal goes through, the Savages should be remembered for creating beautiful entertainment in the Sacramento region. River Cats games became a summer ritual for families and baseball fans. The Savages became respected members of the Sacramento business community.
Hopefully, his dream of a Triple-A team in the Sacramento area blossoms under new ownership.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 12:08 p.m.
Marcos Bretón oversees the Editorial Board of The Sacramento Bee. He has been a California journalist for more than 30 years. He is a San Jose State University graduate, a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, and the proud son of Mexican immigrants.