Sacramento Kings New Arena to be Named “Golden 1 Center”
By Nick Avila
ARCO Arena is what any true Sacramento Kings fan will remember. The team played in the aforementioned arena for more than 20 seasons, from 1985 to 2011, before the arena was re-named Power Balance Pavilion in 2011, and then Sleep Train Arena in 2012.
ARCO Arena was originally a small barn arena that seated less than 11,000 fans before it became what it is today: an arena that’s hosted UFC, WWE and other events, seating over 17,000 fans.
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The Kings are set to move into a new downtown arena in 2016, and when they do, a source tells me, the Kings will be playing in the Golden 1 Entertainment Sports Complex, Golden 1 Center or “The G1” for short. The news is set to be announced tomorrow. Apparently, the credit union beat out some stiff competition from local cows and tomato farmers for the rights to the name (kidding).
However, it is a pleasant surprise that the Kings have finally moved on, and up, from the shiny silver that glared off All Star Game audience’s eyes when Chris Webber wore his patented Dada CDubbz in 2002.
The Golden 1 Credit Union has been affiliated with the Kings for years and, along with Kaiser Permanente, had its own entrance at the current arena in North Sacramento for the past few years.
Golden 1 was founded in Sacramento in 1933, according to its website. The credit union currently has more than 600,000 members and over $7.9 billion in assets, as of 2012.
The Kings had a wonderful history in its current arena, including two Pacific Division championships, a Western Conference Finals appearance and the Guinness World Record for loudest sports roar at 126 decibels in 2013.
But, the old-school, and un-modernized feel made the arena cheapen. That, as well as a multitude of other issues, including plumbing problems and bad pavement in the parking lot, made fans shy away.
The new arena is expected to be a state-of-the-art arena, that will even boast world renowned art in front of its entrance.
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When Sacramento kept the Kings in 2011, the NBA and Vivek Ranadive, Kings’ owner, made it known that a new arena was inevitably necessary. The city is still trying to jump over some “minor” hoops.
While the naming of a sports arena can have little-to-no-effect on the arena’s importance, an arena bearing the name Golden 1 in the capital of the “Golden State” who happens to be named the “Kings” has a somewhat satisfying feel to it.
Sacramento is a virtuous city and was an important catalyst during the early 1800’s gold rush period. The only thing the Kings can add to the gold theme, would be a Trinidad James concert.
The Kings, and Sacramento, can only hope that the name isn’t the only thing golden about the new arena as it’s expected to boost Sacramento’s somewhat (understatement) lackluster downtown.
A return to the success of the golden years and a nice gold Larry O’Brien trophy being held up through the streets of downtown Sacramento doesn’t sound too bad either.