Sacramento is considered the gateway to California's gold country, and while the city's resident NBA franchise has not struck gold on the court, it certainly has at the box office. Despite no winning seasons since moving from Kansas City in 1985, the Kings have sold out ARCO Arena for every game since it opened in 1988, the third-longest sellout streak in the league, behind Portland's and Boston's. This success is not surprising, considering the Kings are the only game in town in one of the NBA's smallest markets.
Even when the Kings are not tearing down the hoops, ARCO Arena does its best to please. The arena is a large, tan rectangle sitting alone amid 105 acres of largely undeveloped land. Inside, it's another story. As fans enter, they are greeted by countless television monitors showing the Kings' in-house pre-game show - unique in the NBA. Once the game starts, the crowd takes over. ARCO has a reputation among players for being one of the loudest arenas in the league, a prime reason being wood floors in the stands so fans can stomp their feet.
Tickets have always been hard to come by, and now that the Kings have made the playoffs, they're worth much more than their weight in gold.
Source: Fodor's Four Sport Stadium Guide
July 8, 1999
Copyright 1999 MediaVentures
The Sacramento Kings will build an $8 million practice facility next to ARCO Arena that will also serve the WNBA Monarchs. The venue will open next year and will be used for team and community activities.
SACRAMENTO BLOCKS KINGS' PLAN TO BUILD PRACTICE VENUE
October 14, 1999
Copyright 1999 MediaVentures
The City of Sacramento is blocking the Sacramento Kings from building an $8 million privately-financed practice facility adjacent to ARCO Arena as leverage to get the team
to renegotiate a land agreement.
While the team owns the arena and most of the parking lot, the city owns 100 acres around it and a portion of the parking lot. An agreement between the team and city
says neither side can make major changes to the parking lot without the other's approval. The city wants to build on its land. The Kings say they won't discuss rewriting the
agreement until they know what the city wants to do.
The city has been talking with former Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill and local attorney Dick Hyde about building a sports stadium on the land. The new venue, designed for
a possible Triple-A team, could provide competition for West Sacramento which has plans to build a new ballpark for the Vancouver Canadians. That team hopes to begin play
in a new California home in 2000. Sacramento's decision to approve the development drew criticism from West Sacramento officials, saying it does not show good
cooperation and makes it more difficult to find sponsors and luxury suite patrons.
The Sacramento vote decision gives Lukenbill development rights and the city must still approve a final agreement. It could decide not to proceed if the West Sacramento
ballpark begins construction. Lukenbill's group says it can make money with a stadium even if it does not field a minor league team. West Sacramento officials say they are
counting on some non-baseball events to make their stadium profitable.
CITY APPROVES LAND FOR SACRAMENTO KINGS PRACTICE ARENA
October 21, 1999
Copyright 1999 MediaVentures
The City of Sacramento has signed off on plans for the Kings to build a new $8 million, privately funded practice facility adjacent to ARCO Arena. The venue should be complete before next
season.
The city had balked at agreeing to disruption of a parking lots jointly controlled by the Kings and the city. The team needed the city's permission to block use of a portion the lot temporarily while construction was in progress. While the city had no problems with training center, they wanted the team's permission for disruption of the lot for possible construction on city-owned land nearby. The team had withheld permission until it knew the details of what the city had in mind.
The city has been talking with former Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill and local attorney Dick Hyde about building a sports stadium on the land.
THE ULTIMATE SPORTS ROAD TRIP
By: Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell
| ARCO Arena Ranking by USRT |
| Architecture |  | 5 |
| Concessions | | 7 |
| Scoreboard | | 4 |
| Ushers | | 6 |
| Fan Support | | 10 |
| Location | | 4 |
| Banners/History | | 9 |
| Entertainment | | 6 |
| Concourses/Fan Comfort | | 4 |
| Bonus: Noise Meter | | 1 |
| Bonus: 4 City Banners | | 2 |
| Total Score |  | 58 |
January 16, 2000 & February 4, 2004 - Arco Arena, home to the NBA Sacramento Kings is really the only game in town when it comes to the major sports. Yes the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs also call Arco home and Sacramento has a AAA baseball team, but the Kings are true kings around here. Since this building opened in 1988, the arena has sold out most of the Kings games, and the fans have been rewarded with one a team that has enjoyed great success in the very tough
Western Conference. The franchise relocated here in 1985 from Kansas City, but during
this time the ultimate prize, a world championship, has proved to be elusive.
Getting to the Venue
The area north of Sacramento has exploded in recent years in terms of growth - new
subdivisions, condominiums, office parks, and in the middle of all this sits Arco Arena.
Access is off of I-5, with two exits serving the arena, and to get there you drive roughly 10
miles from downtown and the state capital. An elaborate system of ring arounds around the complex is designed to get patrons in and out pretty easily, although things can get snarled up here while trying to get everyone back onto I-5 after the game! Parking costs $8, and because the complex sits on a vast tract of open land, there are no parking alternatives so plan on ponying up the parking fee.
Outside the Venue
Other than the fact that there are no neighborhoods adjacent (i.e. walking distance) to the
arena, the first thing that hits you is how nicely the grounds here are landscaped and
manicured. The ring roads and parking islands are all tree lined, and this adds a lot to the
ambience of the building. The arena is mostly tan brick with some glass accents, and
entrances are located on three sides. The building has more of a feel of an office building
in an office park rather than a dramatic looking sports venue. There really is no main or
grand entrance to the building. Ticket and will call windows can be found in a small lobby
on the south side, but one has to go back outside to get into the arena proper.
The Bowl and Concourses
This is a single concourse building, meaning 100 level seats you walk down and 200 level
balcony seats you take stairs up. The corridors here are tastefully done in team colors
purple and white, and the decor is evident in directional signage and concession canopies
as well. With the typical sellout crowds, these concourses get quite congested, plus there
are a bunch of point of sale kiosks scattered everywhere. In a couple of locations one can
find large videoboards showing the action inside.
The arena bowl is configured for basketball, and very intimate for a building this size. The
bowl is octagon shaped, and the floors in the seating area are made of hardwood... yes,
hardwood! This lends to a noisy and electric foot stomping atmosphere and the Kings fans
are glad to oblige. The center scoreboard has a built in noisemeter which is displayed in
each of its four sides and that thing is always jumping. Arco has the reputation of being one
of the noisiest arenas in the NBA.
Concessions
Pretty diverse menu selection here at Arco and leading the pack is the garlic fries! Easily
the food with the strongest scent in the four major sports. El Pinto's Mexican food stand,
and a carving station offering turkey and smoked tri-tip sandwiches, with a caesar salad or
pasta side were two stands sporting huge lines. And there is an orange juice and lemonade
stand offering the fresh squeezed stuff! There is a main team store off of the main
concourse, and several smaller souvenir stands in the corridors.
Premium Seating
A ring of suites is located around the top of the lower level, and there are also "box suites" in the first two rows of the upper deck, separated by a wall from the rest of the upper level
seating.
Banners/Retired Numbers
Several banners of many great players of the Royals/Kings franchise hang from the rafters
here at Arco....Rochester's Bob Davies and Maurice Stokes, Cincinnati's Jack Twyman and
Oscar Robertson along with KC's Tiny Archibald and Sacramemto's Mitch Richmond and
"The Sixth Man". At another baseline are banners for Sacramento's two recent Pacific
Division titles. Looking for that 1951 NBA title banner???? Rumor has it that it's in some
storeroom in Rochester's Blue Cross Arena.....trust us folks that's not a joke!
Slam Dunks, Assists, Fouls...
Assist - If you are visiting Sacramento the coolest place to go see is Old Sacramento, right
on the fringes of downtown. There are a lot of old historic buildings, lots of shopping and
places to eat, and the area resembles an old town from the wild west like you would see on
the old western shows. Even some hitching posts for your horse! (Police were riding on
horseback - photo opps a plenty!)
Slam Dunk - High above the arena is a facility called the Skyline Restaurant, and here one
can find a pre game buffet, open bar during the game, and the Kings post game show
broadcast from this location with fans invited to stick around. Best of all, this nice amenity
is open to all ticketholders.
Slam Dunk - The arena's four sided scoreboard has an actual noise meter built into each
corner. None of those artificial "c'mon fans make some noise" graphics needed here!
Slam Dunk - of course, our karma strikes again in our return visit as the Kings knock off the Sonics by a 117-101 count. The Kings do rather well here on their turf, but let's not kid
ourselves here...it was our presence that brought the win for the Kings on this evening.
Summary
This is one of the best basketball experiences in the NBA, and here's why. Win or lose, the
Kings have been SRO since they moved here in the 80's. The fans love their Kings, and
since this is the only major team in town, is a real source of civic and community pride(The
Green Bay of the NBA perhaps?!). The noise and electricity in the building almost has the feel of a college venue. Next, the building is intimately configured for basketball - an octagon shaped seating bowl, and excellent seating angles from anywhere in the arena. What would add so much to this venue is if it were located downtown. But this is the state capital, and we can only assume
that the downtown core is dedicated for government purposes and would not be suitable
for sports venues of this kind (not to be outdone, the AAA baseball Sacramento Rivercats
have opened themselves a wonderful ballpark in the most wretched part of town, but we
digress). We like Sacramento, if only because it is a bit off the sports road tripping beaten
path. And having a winning team in a very competitive Western Conference sure adds to
the fun!
