The Sacramento Kings won their home opener against the Utah Jazz by a narrow margin of one point. As it turns out, it was a historic moment. This was the first time the Kings won a home opening game in the Golden 1 Center in front of an actual crowd.
Golden 1 Center opened its doors in 2017 as part of Vivek Ranadive's efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento. The Kings have been in Sactown since 1985, but there have long been rumors of the franchise moving. It is considered to be a smaller market by some.
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern always stood firmly in favor of keeping the Kings in Sacramento, helping lay the groundwork that allowed them to stay. After Ranadive and his group bought the Kings, they worked with the city to build Golden 1 Center.
Since its completion, Golden 1 Center has served as the home for the Kings as well as the launch pad for the beam they light when they win a game. And in the 2025-2026 season, that first victory happened during their home opener against the Utah Jazz.
The Kings make history
As it turns out, the Kings winning their home opener in Golden 1 Center is something of a rarity. The only other time it happened was during the 2020 bubble season when there were no fans present. As such, this season's home opening victory was actually quite historic.
.@DeuceMason dropping historic stats on Malik Monk postgame😂 pic.twitter.com/cDRCjAi14v
— Morgan Ragan (@momoragan) October 25, 2025
This was the first time the Kings have won a home opener in Golden 1 Center in front of a live audience. It's also only the second time the Kings have actually won their home opener since Golden 1 Center became their house. That's really not a good thing when you think about it.
The fact that the Kings winning their opening game at home is such a rarity since the move in 2017 isn't something to brag about. But it's also on brand for the Kings, who haven't really been considered contenders in that entire time. Well, excluding the brief run of the Beam Team era, of course.
While it's kind of cool that the Kings have made this small piece of history, the franchise should take it as a serious note. If they want the fans to stay engaged in the team, they need to start winning more home games, particularly to kick off the season. It's hard to root for a team that starts off with a loss.