AEG says Los Angeles Kings not for sale
By Josh Hill
The Stanley Cup Finals are underway and while we’ve played just one game in the series, already there is tabloid drama to dish about. We shouldn’t be all that surprised that Los Angeles and New York could be firing the first shots of a cross-continental gossip war, as the two cities are synonymous with sensationalism.
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The first true shots fired seem to have been a report in the New York Post about the Los Angeles Kings being up for sale by AEG, something that has been rumored in the recent past but blew up thanks to the report coming from a New York tabloid rag.
AEG President and CEO Dan Beckerman released a statement addressing the rumors about the Kings being up for sale by flatly denying any of it is even remotely true.
"“The unsubstantiated rumors printed in the New York Post earlier today about the potential sale of the Los Angeles Kings are false. So I’m clear, the Los Angeles Kings are not for sale, and there are no plans to sell the franchise today, tomorrow or anytime in the future. These rumors were started by anonymous sources seeking to create chaos and mischief. We remain solely focused on one goal, winning the Stanley Cup, and we will not be distracted by such irresponsible reports.”"
Is it a coincidence that a paper in the same city that the New York Rangers come from printed a scandalous story about he team the Rangers are playing in the Stanley Cup? Perhaps it is, but the rumors of the Kings being up for sale predated the tabloid jab the Post threw out west and they likely won’t go anywhere.
Steve Ballmer recently purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion and there was instant talk of him chipping in to buy the Kings as well. The idea would be that Ballmer would move the Kings and Clippers into their own Los Angeles based arena or he could even get coy and move both franchises to Seattle.
That, of course, would require the Kings to be up for sale which they don’t seem be at the moment but only time will tell.