Sacramento Loses To Cleveland In Bid To Host 2022 NBA All-Star Game
CLEVELAND (CBS13/AP) — Sacramento has officially lost on to Cleveland on a bid to host the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement that Cleveland won the bid on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the game.
Silver said he had a number of discussions with Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert and chief operating officer Len Komoroski about bringing the game to Cleveland.
Sacramento Kings President of Business Operations John Rinehart released a statement on losing out on the All-Star Game, thanking city and other local leaders for supporting the team and helping put together the bid.
"Our inaugural bid to host an All-Star Game showcased that our city can compete to host world-class events and is truly a community on the rise," Rinehart said.
Rinehart noted that the NBA found that Sacramento does not yet have the hotel inventory needed to host an event of this size.
Ideas floated to increase available hotel rooms for the event - including working with Airbnb and floating in some luxury cruise ships - were not enough for the NBA.
Cleveland last hosted the game in 1997 in the same building, which was called Gund Arena at the time, when the league honored its Top 50 players. The 2022 game will be held on the NBA's 75th anniversary.
The Cavs had submitted bids to host earlier All-Star Games, but the downtown arena is undergoing a massive renovation. Construction began this year and should be completed by the end of next summer.
Charlotte will host the game this season, followed by Chicago and Indianapolis.
