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Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee got a tour and rundown of Sleep Train Arena as it undergoes some preseason renovation. Bizjak estimates that the Kings' new ownership group has invested at least $1 million in repairing and improving a building it hopes to replace in three years. Among those improvements: plugging the leaks in the roof, adding 90 new wi-fi nodes, filling potholes in the parking lot, building two new VIP lounges and ...
The visitors locker room, a long-reviled dungeon, will be doubled in size.
That thing is hated around the league, long considered either an embarrassment to the Kings or a clever advantage. The Kings are going to move into a new arena in three years, and Sleep Train will be demolished or converted into a non-sports use. And ownership is still taking care to improve the building and improve the image of the franchise.
The other really cool thing that is less infrastructure and more fan service is that the team is adding several local food providers (delis and BBQ) and local craft beer. Chris Granger told Bizjak that some of the things the Kings will be doing at Sleep Train will serve as experiments for the new arena.