Report: Kings not involved in Virginia Beach arena talks

Despite all the conjecture that Tuesdays Virginia Beachcity counsel meeting would include a cohesive plan to move the Kings to theEast Coast, the latest relocation threat proved to have little basisor atthe very least is still in a very infant stage.The Maloofs, owners of the Kings, did not appear at themeeting or the press conference afterward, and according to Comcast-Spectacorpresident Peter Luuko, the main corporate backer of a possible Virginia Beacharena, Comcast-Spectacor has not even spoken to the Kings.We have not had any formal talks with the Kings, Luukosaid, according to ProBasketballTalk. We have not had any talks.The Maloofs have not filed for any Virginia-based trademarkapplications with the terms Kings or Royals and have no new trademarkapplications filed with the United States Trademark office, ProBasketballTalkreported. Marketing consultants with the city of Virginia Beach have registered the Internetdomain names vbkings.com and virginiabeachkings.com.Even if Comcast-Spectacor did initiate talks with theMaloofs, Virginia Beachis still far from breaking ground on a new arena. Two city councilmen said theywould oppose using public funds to build the stadium and questioned the citysproposal.Councilman Bill DeSteph noted the misleading geographicparameters the city used. Under their framework, which allowed them tocalculate that Virginia Beachs market includedthree million people, Sacramentocould claim to be a market of 10 million people.If were talking about Sacramento,lets go out 100 miles and lets include the San Francisco Bay Area and letsinclude Fresno,DeSteph said.Luuko remains committed to Virginia Beach, which he said is one of the largest underserved (sports)markets in North America.Luuko and VirginiaBeach director of economic development Warren Harrissaid they would negotiate with pro sports franchises during the next two month,working on a 25-year lease.