The Kings today announced that they have signed a 20 year media rights extension with Comcast SportsNet California. Per Sports Business Daily (subscription required), the deal is set to be worth around $690 to $700 million, or around an average of $35 million a year. This deal has essentially tripled the Kings' local television revenue, as their previous deal was worth around $11 million a year according to Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.

From the Sports Business Daily:

Kings fans can also expect a lot more coverage from Comcast on the Kings. From the Kings press release:

Grant and Jerry are still slated to be the television play-by-play and color commentary as well, so don't worry about changes coming on that side.

This deal is a huge win for President of Business Operations Chris Granger, who was hired by the Kings last year to bring just this type of negotiating savvy and skill to the team. This deal, coupled with the NBA's new television deal and a new state-of-the-art arena in a couple years, will greatly increase the teams' profitability and ability to stay financially competitive with other NBA franchises. When Vivek Ranadivé bought this team for a valuation of $535 million last year, it was thought to be a big overpay. But with the value of television deals and franchise valuations (see Steve Ballmer's $2 billion bid for the Clippers) rising astronomically, Vivek's gamble has seemingly already paid off.