HOOP DREAMS : Operators Grasp at Any Hope That an NBA Team Can Come Along to Generate Enough Money to Take the Building Out of the Red

Irvine Mayor Christina Shea received a curious telephone call last fall.

The caller told Shea he represented an NBA team interested in moving to the city, though he declined to identify himself or the team. That unsolicited call, sketchy as it was, resuscitated spirits in the offices of the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Tony Guanci, a Newport Beach resident and a sports industry consultant, was the mystery caller. In subsequent meetings with Irvine officials, Guanci identified himself but did not disclose his advisory work for the minority owners of the Sacramento Kings.

Jim Thomas, a Los Angeles developer and Sacramento’s majority owner, insists he does not plan to move the team, citing the 30-year loan agreement he signed with the city of Sacramento last year. But the minority owners, the Maloof family of New Mexico, can buy out Thomas’ controlling interest within five years and could consider exercising an escape clause that allows the Kings to depart without financial penalty.

The Maloofs concluded negotiations to buy into the Kings earlier this year--with Guanci as an advisor--sparking anxiety in Sacramento that the family would move the team at its first opportunity. The Maloofs deny such speculation.

The Ogden Corp., which operates the Pond, loses millions of dollars annually without an NBA tenant to play alongside the Mighty Ducks. With Irvine unlikely to attract the corporate dollars to build an arena, that mystery call could allow Ogden to grasp at a faint hope of luring the NBA tenant that would reduce and could eliminate those losses.

“If an NBA team relocates to Irvine, then they would also have a state-of-the-art arena with one franchise,” Pond General Manager Tim Ryan said, “and then we’d have a dogfight over the rest of the [concert and event] dates that people want to play in Orange County.

“I don’t think that makes any sense.”

Of the handful of NBA teams Ogden could pursue, the Kings make the most sense. With a small media market dooming Sacramento to revenues that pale in comparison to rivals in cities such as Seattle, Phoenix and Los Angeles, a franchise move to Orange County would make financial sense. And, so long as Irvine has neither an arena nor the money to build one, the Pond makes sense should the Kings decide to look elsewhere.

Brad Mayne, the former general manager of the Pond, confirmed he had “very informal” discussions with Thomas two years ago about the Kings moving to Anaheim. Thomas declined to confirm or deny talks with any particular city or arena, though he did speak highly of the Pond.

“The arena is definitely major league, no question,” Thomas said. “It’s the only one I know of with marble in the concourse. It’s a beautiful arena.”

Thomas acknowledged, however, that he solicited interest from around the country after initial talks with Sacramento officials had stalled. He told the Sacramento City Council last year he would accept an offer to move the Kings to an undisclosed city--reportedly Nashville--unless the city extended financial assistance. The council agreed to loan Thomas $70 million, essentially allowing him to refinance Arco Arena, built without any public funds.

While the agreement committed the Kings to Sacramento for 30 years, the team can leave after 10 years simply by repaying the loan. The team can leave before then if, in addition to repaying the loan, the Kings’ revenue falls further below the NBA average and the team records a financial loss. Thomas claims the Kings already lose money, a condition verified by the city treasurer’s office during loan negotiations.

“I think it’s a challenge in Sacramento, but I think it will work,” Thomas said. “If we didn’t believe that, we would have relocated. The fact we were willing to stay in Sacramento and take a lesser deal than other communities were offering is testament to the fact I believe in Sacramento and that it can work there.

“Sacramento is where Seattle and Phoenix were 10 years ago. Those cities very comfortably support NBA basketball now.”

Gavin Maloof, vice chairman of the Maloof Companies, said his family supports Thomas and supports Sacramento, with no plans to depart upon assuming control of the franchise.

“We like the market and the fan enthusiasm,” Maloof said. “We see long-term viability for us and for the franchise.”

That fan support could wither by the time the Maloofs might take over. The Kings sold out each game since moving from Kansas City in 1985, but the streak ended at 497 games last November, with the novelty of supporting the city’s only major-league sports franchise apparently wearing thin against increased ticket prices and sustained mediocrity.

In 13 seasons in Sacramento, the Kings never have posted a winning record. In May, the team traded away its best and most popular player, all-star guard Mitch Richmond.

Thomas and Maloof were unaware of Guanci’s meetings with Irvine officials.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard anything about Irvine,” Thomas said. “What the Maloofs said to me--and one of the reasons they were allowed to invest--is that they bought into my philosophy. We believe it works in Sacramento.”

Guanci did not return several messages from The Times but did call, at Maloof’s request, within minutes after the paper asked Maloof about Guanci’s meetings.

Guanci acknowledged initiating those meetings. He denied, however, that he inquired for the purpose of gauging Irvine’s interest in building an arena that could house the Kings.

“That’s really reading into it,” Guanci said. “It wasn’t me going to them and saying, ‘I have a team and I’m going to bring it to you.’ I was never really talking about a specific team.”

According to Shea, however, Guanci said he represented the owners of an NBA team available “fairly soon” with an interest in relocating to Orange County. Guanci refused to identify the team, Shea said.

If Irvine built an arena, Guanci said he could help the city contact as many as four NBA teams that may seek to move in coming years and suggested the San Antonio Spurs as one example. The leases for six NBA teams, including the Clippers, expire before 2005.

“Before I would ever consider Sacramento, I’d be on the phone to [Clipper executive vice president] Andy Roeser,” Guanci said. “[Clipper owner] Donald Sterling would want to take a serious look if he could get his own arena with no debt.”

The Clippers can opt out of their lease at the new Staples Center as early as 2002. But, after a series of negotiations failed to convince Sterling to move from the Sports Arena to the Pond, officials from the city of Anaheim and within the Clipper organization suspect Sterling never will leave Los Angeles.

And, although Guanci declined to tell Shea which NBA team he represented, she said Guanci admitted the Clippers were not the team.

Irvine will not spend taxpayer dollars on the construction of an arena, Shea said. While at least two groups of private investors have expressed interest in building a $500 million football stadium at the soon-to-be-closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, it is unlikely private developers would spend half that much for a nearby arena.

The Pond ranks as the third-busiest arena in the United States, according to Ogden officials, but loses money without an NBA tenant. An Irvine arena, with an NBA team but without an NHL team, would then fight the Pond for concerts and other events and almost assuredly doom both buildings to financial losses.

“It would be hard to go to Irvine or any other city in Orange County when you already have a great facility,” Anaheim City Manager James Ruth said. “A basketball team doesn’t make these things economically viable. It’s all the other events that go with it.”

Guanci, perhaps more acutely than anyone, can appreciate the challenge of constructing a second arena in Orange County. He headed a development group that proposed building an arena in Santa Ana, a race lost to Anaheim and the Pond in the early years of the decade.

“It would be difficult to build another arena in Orange County when you have a beautiful arena in Anaheim,” Guanci said.

If Irvine won’t pay for a new arena, and if private developers won’t pay, a team could build itself a home. The original owners of the Kings, in fact, did just that.

However, with Disney now willing to renegotiate its sweetheart lease that would restrict profits for an NBA team moving into the Pond, that team could find greater riches and fewer hassles by moving to Anaheim than to Irvine.

That team could virtually guarantee itself greater riches by entering into partnership with Disney, which wants an NBA team in the Pond. Whether the Maloof family would buy out Thomas’ interest in the Kings and then consider selling an interest to Disney is purely speculative.

Disney could sweeten a potential bid by offering to repay the Kings’ $70 million loan. Tony Tavares, president of Disney’s Anaheim Sports division, declined to address that hypothetical situation but said he did not envision Disney entertaining such offers.

“Inducements? No, I don’t see us doing that,” Tavares said.

Ogden might. When the company lured the Ducks to the Pond, the National Hockey League assessed Disney $25 million for infringing upon the Kings’ territory. Ogden picked up half the bill.

“Our company has an open mind when it comes to any type of deal that would have to be made to land an NBA team,” Ryan said.