‘Light the beam’: Sacramento Kings receive prestigious awards for business and innovation

Jason Anderson
·2 min read
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The NBA has presented the Sacramento Kings with two prestigious team awards for business and innovation following an unforgettable 2022-23 season.

The Kings on Tuesday received the NBA Team of the Year award and the NBA Innovation Award. The Team of the Year award recognizes excellence in team business performance across key revenue drivers and operational focus areas, including people, culture, community impact, innovative thinking and data-driven results. The Innovation Award recognizes excellence in creating and executing unique ideas that have generated a positive impact on the team’s business.

The Kings produced stellar results on and off the court last season, winning 48 games to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons. Their breakthrough season coincided with the introduction of the team’s purple victory beam, which lit up the sky over Golden 1 Center as a beacon of hope for long-suffering fans.

“We are tremendously proud to be recognized with these distinguished honors as we have further ignited our fanbase, continued to build international excitement and revolutionized our business,” Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé said in a news release.

“On behalf of my partners, I want to thank Matina Kolokotronis and John Rinehart for their leadership in fulfilling our vision to make the Kings a global brand that positively impacts our community and makes the world a better place. I want to further express my gratitude to all of the Sacramento Kings team members who work tirelessly every day to make these ideals a reality. We have the best fans in the world, and we are committed to working hard to bring them the best we can, which they so richly deserve.”

The Kings outlined key business results during the 2022-2023 season:

▪ Nearly 100% season ticket renewal

▪Ranked No. 2 among all NBA teams in ticket revenue growth

▪Added over 20 new corporate partners

▪Ranked No. 1 in fan in-game experience in the NBA

▪Game viewership up 200%+ and postgame show up 177%

▪Most-watched first-round playoff game in 24 years

▪ABC’s largest-ever audience for a non-NBA Finals game

▪Launched a new e-commerce and renovated in-arena team store that led to a 35% increase in merchandises sales

▪Hosted more than 100 community events impacting nearly 100,000 people