Report: Mark Mastrov Meets With Local Business Leaders

The Sacramento Bee's Ryan Lillis reports that Mark Mastrov, one half of the reported Burkle/Mastrov super-whale, was in Sacramento this morning. He met with the 21 local business leaders that pledge $1 million each to the team last week. Mayor Kevin Johnson was also present.

Mastrov and Burkle are reportedly in talks to collaborate on both a bid for the Sacramento Kings as well as a new arena, most likely at the Downtown Plaza site. The Bee reports that during his Thursday meeting in New York City with David Stern, Burkle advocated for a new arena at the Downtown Plaza.

While neither Burkle or Mastrov have been officially named as the investors the city is targeting, they're widely speculated to be the frontrunners. It was reported last week that the Mayor was to meet with multi-billionaire Larry Ellison, but aside from the meeting (which we're unsure if it has even happened yet), no other news has been reported on that front.

The Mayor has said he hopes to unveil his large equity partner(s) sometime this week, so stay tuned. Ryan Lillis reports that the 24 Hour Fitness founder met with the 21 local investors who have pledged $1 million each to the Kings today in Sacramento.

UPDATE 1:42 PM:

Contrary to previous reports, Mark Mastrov bid $420 million to buy Golden State Warriors in 2010, source tells The Bee. Not $350 million

— Ryan Lillis (@Ryan_Lillis) January 28, 2013

UPDATE 4:00 PM:

Phil Oates confirms to #kcra that he & dozen other #Sacramento investors met with Mark #Mastrov today about #NBAKings.

— David Bienick (@kcrabienick) January 28, 2013

Oates says #Mastrov meeting was 10/10, no longer any "carpetbagger" concerns. Did not talk about contribution amount for #NBAKings .

— David Bienick (@kcrabienick) January 28, 2013