Kings’ Golden 1 Center Ranked as the Worst NBA Arena

A ranking of average online review rating did not treat the Sacramento Kings' home well.

Oct 27, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; A general of the Sacramento Kings logo on the court before the game against the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

After playing in the ARCO Arena (known as Power Balance Pavilion from 2011 to 2012 and Sleep Train Arena from 2012 until 2022) since 1988, the Sacramento Kings made the Golden 1 Center their new home in downtown Sacramento in 2016.

The Golden 1 Center has been home to many memorable moments through eight seasons but has unfortunately only seen one playoff series. However, Sacramento's lack of success should not translate to their impeccable arena.

BrooksGate on X (formerly Twitter), put together a list of every NBA, NFL, and MLB venue ranked by average online review rating, and Sacramento's Golden 1 Center was utterly disrespected.

every NFL, MLB, and NBA stadium/ball park/arena ranked

(ranked by average review rating on Yelp, Google, Trip Advisor, and Facebook) pic.twitter.com/ffBqetpXpp

— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) August 1, 2024

Golden 1 Center ranked as the worst NBA arena, and fifth-worst venue across the three leagues. The only venues below it are the San Francisco 49ers' Levi's Stadium, Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium, Oakland A's Oakland Coliseum, and Washington Commanders' Commander's Field.

A couple of the venues below Sacramento's are reasonable, but Golden 1 Center was built in September 2016 and is home to a unique exterior, an NBA-standard interior, and a passionate fanbase.

Golden 1 Center is electric for the first playoff game in Golden 1 Center.

Hype video and player introductions. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gmmvtfvVHv

— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) April 16, 2023

The three worst NBA arenas are Golden State Warriors' Chase Center, Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome, and Sacramento's Golden 1. The Clippers are moving into the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, which has not hosted any games yet, so the ranking does not make much sense. Golden State's Chase Center was built in 2019 and is a great arena, making for another odd placement.

Golden 1 Arena is the fifth-newest NBA arena, Chase Center is the second, and Intuit Dome is obviously the newest.

The ranking system using online reviews seems flawed, especially when there have been no problems posed by fans at Golden 1's basketball games. The poor reviews that anchor down the ranking could have come from other hosted events, but as a basketball arena, Golden 1 Center could be one of the best.

---

Follow Inside The Kings on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Kings news videos and live-stream podcasts!