Sacramento’s long and often difficult quest to build a major high-tech industry could get a burst of energy from a most unlikely source: the city’s basketball team.
The new owners of the Sacramento Kings, hailing from all over California, represent some of the stars of the state’s tech sector. The lead owner, Vivek Ranadive, runs a software company that powers railroads, airlines and scores of other businesses. The vice chairman, Paul Jacobs, is responsible for the chips found in millions of cellphones. Limited partners include tech entrepreneurs and financiers.
What the group’s tech orientation means for Sacramento is uncertain. The new owners have pledged to bring the full force of technology to the franchise and how it engages its fans – from new mobile apps to a fully wired new arena proposed for Downtown Plaza.
“We’ll bring as much technology as we can,” said Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of San Diego’s Qualcomm Inc.
One tantalizing possibility for outfitting the arena: three-dimensional instant replay on the video screens. Jacobs said he recently visited an Israeli company, Replay Technologies, which is developing such technology. But he cautioned that it’s far too soon to determine whether the 3-D video is coming to the Sacramento arena.
Reported by Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee
