The Sacramento Kings file for new names, another step towards shifting
The Sacramento Kings have taken yet another prospective step in shifting towards Anaheim. The Kings’ owners filed for federal marque registrations this month through their attorney in Sacramento. The franchise kept their nickname
Kings when they moved to Sacramento in 1985, but there is a high probability of changing the name to Royals, if the club moves to south of Los Angeles, where the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings have played since 1967.
The owners have filed for the new name, because Kings have to add “Anaheim” first to their name if they relocate there. The city had a pact with Anaheim Arena Management, which manages the city owned Honda Centre and has been in
negotiations with the Kings about shifting here. One of the requirements of the pact is that all "NHL and NBA teams scheduling a majority of home games each season in the arena include the word 'Anaheim' as the first word and as the sole geographic identifier
in the name of each team."
The story behind putting the Anaheim first in the name is that back in 2005, the baseball team Angeles changed its name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in order to capture more market share and making itself more prominent.
This brought the city management under heavy criticism. After this bitterness the city of Anaheim learned its lesson and amended the clause.
Secondly the name of the arena in Anaheim is Honda Centre, that doesn’t have Anaheim in it. So before 2006-07 season the city management decided, that as long as any future NBA or NHL renter includes "Anaheim'' prominently in the
team name they have no objections to it.
The names which were filed, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's website were: Anaheim Royals, Anaheim Royals of Southern California, Orange County Royals and Los Angeles Royals. The names were filed on
3rd March by the Kings’ attorney Scott Hervey on behalf of the Crickets Corp., a Nevada based company.
Attorney Hervey and Kings’ owners Joe and Gavin Maloof didn’t give any official statement regarding this new development. When they were being approached for comment, the message received was that they are not back yet. The change
of name would be a setback to the franchise's mature devise.
Prior to this, the Kings have been failed to generate funds in order to build a new arena, which the Maloofs believe is necessary for the franchise. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is also a former NBA player,
met with the Maloofs last month so he can convince them to stay in Sacramento, as he was also ready to take measures so he can provide them a new facility. But this all went in vein, as Maloof brothers hung tight to the relocation plan. Johnson also said
Sacramento will work to build a new arena for an NBA franchise "with or without the Kings."
The NBA has already granted the Kings a new deadline from March 1 to April 18 in order to file an application for relocation for the next season. But the Kings require sanction from the majority of the NBA's owners so they can
formally move the team to Anaheim. They will discuss their options with the NBA Board of Governors in April 14-15 meetings. The Kings’ season finale is on April 13 at Sacramento against the foe Los Angeles Lakers.
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