Agreement to Keep Kings in Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings on Tuesday struck a deal on naming rights for Arco Arena and formally accepted the terms of a $70-million loan offered by the Sacramento City Council.

“The Sacramento Kings are going to stay in Sacramento,” team owner Jim Thomas told council members. “It’s been a long, hard road for a lot of us, but I’m pleased to be able to stand here and say, ‘We got it done.’ ”

Before he could accept the loan, Thomas had to raise $20 million through an agreement on naming rights for Arco Arena, the Kings’ nine-year-old home court.

Thomas said he had struck a satisfactory agreement, but would give no details.

“The only thing I want to say is that I’m obviously very pleased with the outcome. We’ve worked hard to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and now it’s reality, so we’re all delighted,” he said.

Thomas, a Los Angeles businessman, had originally faced a Feb. 15 deadline for reaching the naming rights agreement, and the loan offer officially expired over the weekend when that deadline was not met. Council members voted, 5-2, to extend the deadline to Tuesday.

Pro Football

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will send the 49ers’ $525-million stadium proposal to the city’s voters after board members voted 10-0 to put a $100 million bond measure for a football stadium and shopping mall on the June 3 special election ballot.

“The risk of this proposal lays mainly at the feet of the 49ers,” said Supervisor Susan Leal, who heads the board’s finance committee and oversaw nearly a dozen changes and clarifications to the plan.

The changes include a guarantee from the 49ers that nearly half a billion dollars in financing will be secured before the bond money can be handed over. The team also must have commitments from retailers for the mall and has promised that 25% of jobs at the stadium and mall will go to Bayview- Hunters Point residents. One thousand jobs must go to people on welfare, the board said.

Free-agent nose tackle Gilbert Brown, who anchored the middle of the defensive line for the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, has re-signed with the team. Brown, who turns 26 Saturday, signed a three-year contract.

Howard Griffith, one of the NFL’s better blocking fullbacks, has left the Carolina Panthers and signed with the Denver Broncos. Griffith, who will earn $4.4 million over four years, is the second significant addition to Denver’s offense in the past week. Last week the team obtained lineman Tony Jones from Baltimore for a second-round draft choice to replace Gary Zimmerman, who is retiring.

Tennis

Defending champion Michael Stich of Germany lost his opening match at the European Community Championship in Antwerp, Belgium, falling to fellow German Marc Goeller, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Afterward, Stich, ranked 20th in the world, complained about several line calls. “I was the better player,” Stich said. “All he did was serve well.”

Jim Courier, ranked 16th in the world, lost to Cedric Pioline of France, 6-0, 6-2.

Boris Becker, bothered by an injured right wrist, pulled out of the tournament after practicing for 35 minutes.

Sites for the ATP Senior Tour of Champions in Europe, which begins its first season in June, have been selected. They are Paris; London; Frankfurt; Prague; Portschach, Austria, and Pessaro, Italy.

Competitors in the round-robin events will include Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Yannick Noah, Henri Leconte and Bjorn Borg.

Boxing

USA Boxing has ruled against Ken Norton Jr., the San Francisco 49er linebacker and son of former heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who was planning to enter a Dallas amateur boxing tournament in the novice division. Federation rules say pros from any sport cannot fight, but Norton was hoping an exception would be made.

“If you bend the rules for one guy, where do we stop?” USA Boxing spokesman Steve Ross said.

Miscellany

The made-for-TV 150-meter dash between Olympic gold medalists Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey will be held June 1 in Toronto and televised by CBS.

Names in the News

Joann Klonowski has been named CEO of the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League. Klonowski, who most recently served as senior vice president of marketing for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, will begin the new job March 1.

Matt Dunigan, Hamilton Tiger-Cat quarterback who suffered the 12th concussion of his 14-year Canadian Football League career last season, retired to become offensive coordinator at Valdosta State, a Division II school in Valdosta, Ga.

Bill Schmitz was named football coach at Austin Peay State in Clarksville, Tenn. Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference went 1-10 last season.