Steve Large of CBS 13 reports that the investors lined up to present a bid to purchase the Sacramento Kings and build a new arena downtown will be announced at Mayor Kevin Johnson's Thursday "State of the City" address.

The so-called whales are expected to be billionaire grocery mogul Ron Burkle and fitness genius Mark Mastrov. Those named have been reported by The Bee and others in the past, but never publicly confirmed. The State of the City is at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Memorial Auditorium. Live webcasts will be available. Free tickets for the events have all been gobbled up.

We plan to have an open thread for the State of the City. Only one local media outlet is currently reporting this news; others this week have reported that the announcement would not come at the address. On Tuesday, the City Council authorized city management to negotiate an arena deal with the whales, so announcing them now makes sense.

QUICK EDIT: News10's Bryan May also reported this week that a Thursday announcement was the plan.