“Till we meet again”- Shaquille O’Neal delivers heartfelt note after selling his Sacramento Kings stake


“Till we meet again”- Shaquille O’Neal delivers heartfelt note after selling his Sacramento Kings stake

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O’Neal in 2013 bought into the Sacramento Kings. That was the last time the franchise’s ownership changed hands. Tech businessman Vivek Randive (along with other minority buyers including Shaq), in 2013, purchased the Sacramento Kings for $534 million. Shaq bought around 2-4% of it in the same round, making him a minority owner. This journey, however, comes to an end as Shaq has officially sold off his stake in the Kings.

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Shaquille O'Neal and Vivek Randive
Shaquille O’Neal and Vivek Randive

Shaq bought a piece of the Sacramento Kings as his mindset aligned very well with that of Vivek Randive’s. Both these men are forward-looking and are known to be open to the things of the future. They also don’t shy away from embracing the technology and instead bet on it. 

Shaquille O'Neal Yao Ming
Shaq in Sacramento Kings merchandise

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Randive is known for his tech background in Silicon Valley. He built the Kings’ home arena which is one of the most high-tech arenas in the world. The fans can control everything in the arena from their phones. The result was that he was able to double the organization’s revenue in just three years. Shaq was one of the earliest investors in Silicon Valley’s tech startup Google and is put in other startups too.

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Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq was brought on to the ownership board for multiple reasons. One of the very obvious was to increase the brand value of the franchise. His presence also was required in developing young players like Demarcus Cousins on and off the court. But the biggest value that Shaq could add was to help the Kings get their arena by pulling some strings.

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The real reason Shaquille O’Neal is selling his Sacramento Kings stake

Shaquille O'Neal partners with WynnBet
Shaquille O’Neal partners with WynnBet

The reason Shaquille O’Neal is leaving is not the decade-long bad performance of the team. Shaq was still very attached to the team and took great pride in his partial ownership. The reason is his partnership with a sports betting service WynnBet. According to the NBA rules, he was required to sell off his stake before pursuing any sports gambling opportunity in any capacity. Shaq announced in August last year that he was looking to sell his stake, and now the transaction is complete.

Shaq quoted – “As a result of a new business endeavor, I was required by NBA rules to sell my interest in the Sacramento Kings. I want to thank the fans, the city of Sacramento, Vivek Ranadive and the entire Kings organization for our great partnership. I loved being an owner of such a forward thinking organization and I hope to be back someday,” O’Neal tweeted. “I was fortunate to have Arctos help me with this transaction. I’m sure they will be a great partner for Vivek, the Kings and the NBA going forward. Till we meet again…”

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Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O’Neal

Sports gambling is slowly gaining traction in the USA and is on its way to becoming the next major pillar of revenue for professional sports leagues. A lot of money can be made by selling the data and statistics to the betting services. Betting is also an important component of modern fan engagement

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