Back in April of 2011 when the Maloofs were threatening to move the Kings to Anaheim, Mayor Kevin Johnson put together an alluring presentation for the NBA Board of Governors to keep the team here that included pledges of $10 million in sponsorship. The NBA was so impressed with Johnson's presentation that they sent Clay Bennett, head of the relocation committee, out to Sacramento to talk with those sponsors and see just how real their commitment was.

The Kings did not move to Anaheim and KJ's efforts in this corporate arena played a big part. Now he plans to do something similar for this year's pitch to keep the Kings from being sold and moved to Seattle. In his State of the City address, he said he had received pledges from 20+ companies totaling $50 million over five years. Yesterday, KJ revealed those investors (list courtesy of Cowbell Kingdom):

You can show these businesses your appreciation as Kings fans by giving them your patronage.

The Mayor also announced a renewed effort to collect Season Ticket Pledges through HereWeBuy.org. His goal is to be able to take 10,000+ pledges with him to the April 3rd meeting with the NBA. When the Mayor first announced the renewed push yesterday, Here We Buy's total season tickets pledged was around 5,800. As of the time of this writing, Sacramento has overwhelmingly responded, pledging almost 2,000 tickets in a day to get it to 7,638 with 5 and a half days left. CBS Sports 1140 has played a big part in pushing the ticket pledges, and I'd like to give a special shout out to Dave Deuce Mason, Jason Ross and Grant Napear for their continued efforts.

I encourage you to pledge for a season ticket or two in the new arena as well. However, only pledge if you believe you can back up the pledge when the time comes. Also, don't pledge more than once in order to try to fluff up the numbers. We want these pledges to be as legit and meaningful as possible. If you can't pledge, you can still help out by telling friends, family and co-workers about the initiative. Maybe partner up with a group of people who can't afford to go to individual games to pledge for a season ticket or two that can be rotated among the group.

No matter what happens over the next month with regards to the Kings future, I couldn't be more proud of how we as a city and community have come together over these past few years. Sacramento has gone above and beyond and continues to do so.