Kings in Kansas City
The Kings announced today that they will play a preseason game against St. Louis in Kansas City, where AEG opened an arena last year. The game will be played on Sept. 22. The full press release from the Kings follows...
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KINGS TO PLAY PRE-SEASON GAME AT SPRINT CENTER IN KANSAS CITY
LOS ANGELES TO PLAY THE ST. LOUIS BLUES IN AN EXHIBITION GAME AT THE NEW ARENA ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Kings will play the St. Louis Blues in a pre-season game at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday, September 22, at 7:05 p.m. (CT) as part of the club's 2008 preseason schedule. The announcement was made today by Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille at a press conference in Kansas City.
"We are very excited about this event," said Robitaille of the first hockey game to be played at Sprint Center, which opened last October. "It will be great to have professional hockey and the NHL in Kansas City and we look forward to playing the Blues in the beautiful, state-of-the-art Sprint Center."
Said Brenda Tinnen, Sprint Center General Manager and Senior Vice President: "Sprint Center is delighted to host two storied franchises at our first-ever pre-season NHL game. We look forward to welcoming hockey fans from throughout the region -- showcasing both Kansas City and our venue."
Ticket prices for the Kings vs. Blues start at only $10. Additional tickets are available at a variety of levels including $25, $50, $60, $75 and on ice seats for $150 each. Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 31 at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and charge by phone at (816) 931-3330. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Group tickets are on sale now and may be purchased via 816.949.7175 or grouptickets@sprintcenter.com.
The Kings will announce their entire 2008 pre-season schedule later this summer. "Frozen Fury XI" - featuring the Kings-Colorado Avalanche pre-season game at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas -- has already been announced. That contest is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 27.
About Sprint Center
Sprint Center is Kansas City's new home for sports, concerts, family shows, collegiate competitions, tournaments and special events. An anchor to a revitalized downtown Kansas City, Sprint Center is a unique public/private partnership between the City of Kansas City, Mo. and AEG. Sprint Center will host more than 90 public events throughout the year - and feature smaller rooms for private meetings, seminars and other special events. More than one million guests have visited Sprint Center in its inaugural year. For additional information, visit sprintcenter.com.
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About the bloggers
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Uh oh...
Noooooo :( I'll actually be in the US, and in Missouri even, visiting my wife's family just a week before that :/
Would have been so perfect, to see my #1 team against my #2 team live. Ah well...
That was one of the scariest headlines I have seen in a while. Being a former Rams fan, and knowing there is an empty arena in KC that is owned by the same parent company as a team the is allegedly losing money; I think my paranoia is warranted.
Hmm,
Let's analyze this.
-Anshutz advoacating starting hockey franchise in K.C.
-AEG owning a building in K.C.
-AEG having many connections in K.C.
Finally
-Kings organization losing money in L.A.
Here's your next first period announcement:
"HERES YOUR KANSAS CITY KINGS"
"HERES YOUR KANSAS CITY KINGS"
Wouldn't be the first time that was the case........
"...and on ice seats for $150 each."
On-ice seats? That would be awesome if possible. Do they mean ice-level seating? Or is a helmet part of the ticket package?
And I thought these guys lived and breathed hockey these days.
My nightmare has officially became reality. Los Angeles Kings and Sprint. Boy I must be use to major abuse and non-performance.
The most likely alternative to having the Kings move would be Nashville, as they continue having viability issues. That just changed, as AEG associate Boots Del Biaggio is facing Federal investigation. An indictment would force him to sell his portion of the Preds.
origin.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_9419095
Moving the Kings makes too much sense from the AEG perspective. Sweetheart lease, 'exciting young' team to market, sweetheart lease, no problem to fill out vacant Staples dates, sweetheart lease.
They have done it more than once already. MLS Houston Dynamos, for example.
'Kansas City Kings' would create too many licensing conflicts. However, I wonder who owns the trademark on 'Kansas City Monarchs' these days? If the answer is AEG....
Might take just as long to get to Kansas City as it does to get to the Staples on the 110 during a week night.
"They have done it more than once already. MLS Houston Dynamos, for example."
Not entirely true, the MLS forced AEG to sell the Houston Dynamo and D.C. United just so AEG wouldn't own like 30% of the MLS clubs. I don't really see the NHL forcing AEG to take the Kings out of LA
nobody's going anywhere, the Kings aren't moving get that through your thick skulls, its to advertise in Missouri, nothing more than that. I mean the Kings may be losing money, but still we do live in the 2nd biggest market in the US, there's no way a team from Los Angeles is leaving. The only team i can see is the Clippers, since the Lakers are dominating in L.A. and theres no need for the Clips.