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Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler wrote a really excellent story in The Bee on what the Kings are doing to win back the community's support over the next couple of years. Going from nothing to sellouts overnight is not realistic. Going from few sponsors to a full board is not realistic. But the Kings are doing a darned good job of getting there. One quote from Kings president Chris Granger sums it up well:
"Nightly sellouts are a byproduct of doing things the right way," said Granger, whom the Kings hired away from the NBA league office in New York this summer. "I'm more focused on the infrastructure than 41 sellouts. That will come."
Granger and by extension Vivek Ranadivé are treating the business side much like Michael Malone and Pete D'Alessandro are treating the basketball ops side: it's not all about results this season. It's about getting better and doing things the right way. The Kings won't be judged by wins and losses or attendance this season. This is as much as rebuilding year as the Kings have ever had. For all aspects of the team.
I do think that the team's going to make real strides in the community buy-in (beyond us hardcore fanatics who stuck around the last few years) over the course of the year as the reputation of the Kings changes among casual followers. That will boost attendance in the long run: people will consider it a fun, good-value entertainment option. In recent years, attending a game has been more of a political statement or expression of addiction than anything. No longer. Now, it's basketball.