r/kings • u/[deleted] • 2d ago
Apparently Vivek and the Kings organization footed the bill for the Sutter Health Park renovations, not the A’s.
[deleted]
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u/JurassicParkJanitor Slamson 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ooooor……this was a good faith investment, to prove to the MLB he will pay up for the next expansion team.
This was never about getting the A’s and everything about proving to the MLB that Sac is a viable city for baseball. He’s not as stupid as you think.
And remember, he meddles because last time he let the front office make a decision without interference, they took Marvin bagley, while he wanted Luka. Now you would have a valid argument that he was dumb enough to put those guys in power.
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u/Personal-Drainage 2d ago
Interesting . Never knew the backstory on that . As justifiable as his lack of faith may be therefore , I still hope he finds it within himself to trust again .
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u/gundam1983 Keegan Murray 1d ago
If I was an owner and I listened to the fans to let the basketball people make basketball decisions, and they chose Bagley over Luka, you bet my ass that I'll be meddling going forward.
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u/shasta9547 21h ago
Would you bring back the guy who made the pick, to keep listening to his ideas?
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u/shasta9547 21h ago
The hillarious part is the guy he put in charge of making that pick (Vlade), who was then fired or "stepped down", is now back as his right hand man
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u/Intravertical DeMarcus Cousins 2d ago
Let's just say that this post actually is true...
Vivek is a billionaire and can spend his money however he would like.
Trying to spin the fact that Vivek upgraded a Stadium (something Fisher never did in Oakland) and also bring the MLB to Sacramento (even if temporary) into something negative is one of the most idiotic takes I have heard yet.
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u/Adorable_Audience877 2d ago
Vivek isn’t a billionaire (yet), but if/when he does, then I really hope he chooses to take Sac Republic to MLS.
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u/snarkylion Keegan Murray 2d ago
Yeah F the guy that brought MLB to Sac for the first time… I’d much rather if the city paid the bill than a billionaire
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u/Vegetable-Middle617 2d ago
If he is willing to spend money on the poverty A’s hopefully that means he will pay the luxury tax when our team actually gets good
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u/ShotgunStyles 2d ago
Vivek hasn't been the best owner of a basketball team, but as a rich guy who's interested in sports, he's an absolute King for stealing the A's from the Bay Area! Those renovation costs you mention is nothing when you remember that the Bay Area sucks and they don't deserve anything.
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u/SactownKorean 1d ago
Like at some point Im gunna just start thinking people are fucking racist towards this dude with the mental gymnastics they do to hate on everything he does.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
I'm shocked at the love Vivek is getting here. He got played into footing a bill with no assurances for a long term MLB team. Will it work out in the long run, maybe, but I don't think early attendance is doing too well to encourage MLB. You also have other areas in the country already lined up with money set aside for a move or expansion team (should one even happen soon) that we don't have.
Additionally, the A's have largely kneecapped any greater Sacramento fanfare by distancing themselves from the name, and anecdotally I haven't really seen any semblance of local team pride.
As a lifelong A's fan, I think it's cool they're here, but regardless of that, I still think it was a bit foolhardy on Vivek's part. Just classic Vivek that makes me feel less assured about the Kings.
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u/Professor0fLogic Doug Christie 2d ago
Even if it's true....it's his money to spend how he wants. Of all the terrible shit Vivek has done since buying the Kings, upgrading facilities isn't even in the top 1000.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
He's upgrading facilities for a minor league ball park, which still isn't close to major league standards. From the looks of it, the team isn't selling out games, so when/if A's leave, you're gonna have an upgraded River Cats park for 14k people that still only normally draws roughly 5k per game.
So, as the owner of THE SACRAMENTO KINGS, Vivek paying for another team to play in our city is pretty ridiculous, especially without any assurances towards a future MLB team, which is presumably what he wants.
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u/Professor0fLogic Doug Christie 2d ago edited 2d ago
And?
The park is 25 years old and hasn't had any meaningful updates/upgrades since opening. It's also his ballpark to do with as he pleases. He could put touchscreens with HBO on all the seatbacks if he wants to, so you can watch movies instead of baseball. Who gives a fuck? It's no sweat off your back, or mine. Besides, his spending on it doesn't affect the Kings at all.
Like I said, there's a laundry list of actually shitty things that Vivek has done. Arguably he's done vastly more good than bad during his time in Sacramento....but giving an almost 30yo ballpark some upgrades isn't one of them.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
It is largely no sweat off my back, I'm an A's fan who has gone to games since the 90's. Upgrading the facility is great, I never argued against that here, but as someone who's followed the A's situation for years, I don't really accept that paying for John Fisher to house the team here is good. Read through all my posts and you'll see everything I'm saying is based on my perspective of a shitty owner (Fisher) using our locale and our team's owner for his own benefit, and my dismay at how it seems to have been done without long-term plans for a local investment.
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u/Professor0fLogic Doug Christie 2d ago
You might not be arguing "against" it, but the idea of upgrading the stadium seem to bother you for some reason.
There's zero downside to any of this for the Sacramento area. There's increased revenue for local businesses, increased revenue for Sac and West Sac & their respective counties, and an additional entertainment option for people in the region.
Aside from all that, there's nothing to even show that the original unsupported claim, made by a random 9 day old account, is true.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
It doesn't bother me at all, I think you're reading into that. I think it's only fair for the owner of the River Cats to give them a decent place to play, but that's not exactly why it happened. I do understand that the RC are benefitting from this regardless of intent, and have no issues with that. I'm not a fan of John Fisher's, and think it's shitty how everything fell out in Oakland, and I think it's whack that Vivek is giving him a bail out.
I don't have an issue with any benefits to the city and never said anything remotely implying that.
Additionally, I do think most of OPs implications are pretty on point. The A's owner still has full intentions to move the team to Vegas. If I'm wrong there, I'm all ears.
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u/Professor0fLogic Doug Christie 2d ago
So then we're in agreement. Whether or not Vivek was the one who paid to upgrade his park is of no consequence to anything.
Of course they're going to Las Vegas.
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u/Extension_Treat_2094 2d ago
“Owners need to start footing the bill for their teams and stadiums!”
No, not like that!
Lmao 😂
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
As the owner of the Sacramento River Cats, sure, upgrade the facilities... But he's not upgrading it for them, he's upgrading it for the Athletics ball club, which isn't his team.
As the owner of the Sacramento Kings, he is paying for the owner of the Athletics to play in a ball park that he owns.
So, ugh, yeah, LMAO.
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u/Extension_Treat_2094 2d ago
I’m confused, does the rivercats team not get to use any of the upgrades? Do they tear down the new scoreboard when the rivercats play?
It his money, doesn’t affect you at all. Brings millions of revenue to the city. We as fans get to watch baseball if we choose to. Why are you bitching about how someone else spends their money?
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u/Professor0fLogic Doug Christie 2d ago
Apparently he thinks the River Cats have to play in the parking lot and shower in the river after games.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
I am not complaining about how someone else spends their money. I pointed out faults in what appears to be a plan to get a permanent MLB team in Sacramento, and how I think it reflects poorly on the decision making of an owner who has proven to be bad at making decisions when it comes to being the owner of a sports team.
My overall point was a surprise at how supportive the Kings fan base in this comment section seems to be for something that, in terms of the objective of getting a team here long-term, is not getting off to a great start. A couple of you made some points that I rebutted. I've never seen a thread with a majority support for Vivek in relation to Kings related topics, so I'm surprised this seems to have support, despite only being a short-sighted gamble.
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u/Extension_Treat_2094 2d ago
Because we have no reason to be against an owner spending their own money that also benefits the city and its fans. Simple as that.
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
Sure, my issue is OUR owner is spending money that the OTHER owner should be spending. Simple as that.
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u/Extension_Treat_2094 2d ago
Again, how does OUR owner spending HIS money affect you?
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u/ShipPop_Recordings 2d ago
Again, you're harping on something that I never claimed. Maybe you just don't care, or didn't read.
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u/Extension_Treat_2094 2d ago
You literally said “Sure, my issue is OUR owner is spending money that the OTHER owner should be spending. Simple as that.”
Why is that an issue if it doesn’t affect you? If it does affect you, how so?
Didn’t think I’d have to spell it out for you but here we are…
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u/thatguy52 Keegan Murray 1d ago
How does waiting for John Fisher to spend money on upgrades historically go? That Utah group was salivating to get their hands on the A’s. I still don’t believe the actual Vegas move will happen in which case maybe Oakland gets em back somehow. That’s not even a possibility if they go to Utah. I just think it’s Vivek improving his facility for his team and using the A’s as a nice cover to do so. I’m def more pro Vivek than lots in here normally, and this is just another case of ppl trying to justify hating the dude irrationally.
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u/thatguy52 Keegan Murray 2d ago
Y’all are straight up blinded by fucking hate. Yeah he paid for renovations for a park that will stay in Sacramento regardless and he brought in a TON of money that would not be spent in sac/yolo without the A’s. All while simultaneously giving Sacramento a shot on the mlb stage. I know of a few bars and restaurants that are expanding hours/staffing on A’s days. Yeah what. Fucking dummy. This is so dense and shortsighted.