Today at a press conference at Target Center in Minneapolis where the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx play, NBA Commissioner David Stern confirmed that Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer's group has filed to relocate the Sacramento Kings to Seattle. Here is a link to a video regarding the announcement from KING5.com in Seattle.
It should be noted that this step was totally expected. Meanwhile Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson will have an opportunity to address the NBA Board of Governors in April to develop his plan to build a new arena in the city, and keep the team there. He has been instrumental in creating a local based ownership group where he got 19 local investors to pledge $1 million each to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Mayor Johnson is currently trying to get a large majority investor to join the group. One person who may be the "whale" of the group is Ron Burkle, who is one of the major investors in the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team.
Either way, there will likely be an ending to this story that will leave one city unhappy.
For more information and detailed analysis and developments on the Sacramento Kings' relocation situation, please visit Sactown Royalty's StoryStream on it. In addition, SB Nation NBA, the network this blog is officially under also has an additional StoryStream on detailed developments.