NBA reportedly updates requirements to host All-Star Game. Does Sacramento have a chance?
(FOX40.COM) — Sacramento has been home to the Kings since 1985, but it is one of the few cities with an NBA team to have never hosted the All-Star Game.
After the Golden 1 Center opened in 2016, Sacramento has been held back from hosting All-Star Weekend due to falling short of the required number of 6,000 hotel rooms within walking distance from the downtown arena.
But under new guidelines reportedly issued by the NBA, Sacramento’s chances of hosting the annual event are even slimmer now.
The Oklahoman reported the league has requirements to host All-Star Weekend that include:
•7,250 hotel rooms and a minimum of three five-star hotels
•Convention center of 650,000 square feet of exhibition space
•75 nonstop domestic flights and at least 20 international flights
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Currently, Sacramento and many other NBA small-market cities don’t meet any of the above requirements, according to Visit Sacramento CEO Mike Testa.
“Without question, Sacramento is significantly (further) back,” Testa told FOX40.com. “The number was 6,000 downtown rooms, now it’s over 7,000, which I get and that number may change, but the challenge is square footage of the convention center.”
“They want you to have a number of five-star hotels and we don’t have any five-star hotels in our market yet, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get some,” Testa continued.
Downtown Sacramento currently has under 3,000 hotel rooms that are walkable from the Golden 1 Center. The SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, which is 240,000 square feet, recently went under an expansion and renovation in 2021 and the Sacramento International Airport also falls short of flight requirements.
When FOX40.com reached out to the NBA, the league didn’t give specific numbers on hotel rooms, convention center space and flights, but said that those are factors when considering a host city.
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“There is a variety that the NBA evaluates when selecting future host cities for NBA All-Star,” an NBA spokesperson told FOX40.com. “Event venues, hotel availability and access to a major international airport are just three among many other resources necessary to ensure the event’s success. As NBA All-Star grows, so does the infrastructure needed to support the event footprint and the influx of fans into the host market. The NBA consistently works with all interested team markets on meeting that criteria.”
Sacramento is no stranger to large-scale events that have brought thousands of people from across the country, such as music festivals Aftershock, GoldenSky and Sol Blume.
March Madness also came to Sacramento for the first two rounds of the men’s tournament in 2023, bringing thousands of college basketball fans to the area.
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The past two All-Star Games took place in Indianapolis and Salt Lake City. All-Star Weekend will come to California in the next two years, but that will be in the Bay Area and the Los Angeles area.
The All-Star Game will be played at the Chase Center in San Francisco next year and at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood in 2026, which is still under construction.
The other cities that have an NBA team and have not hosted the All-Star Game are Portland, Memphis and Oklahoma City.
“I think there’s a number of cities that are probably looking at stipulations now and are disappointed that their city is pretty far off,” Testa said. “Portland, who I think was in contention for an All-Star Game more recently, they can’t meet the requirements now.”
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