MILWAUKEE -- Bucks owner Herb Kohl was well past retirement age and realized it was time to secure the future of the franchise. Tomas Nosek Golden Knights Jersey . He had one big caveat for any potential investors: Keep the team in his hometown of Milwaukee. And he found a buyer. The former U.S. senator is banking on New York investment firm executives Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens to follow through after agreeing to sell them the Bucks for about $550 million. The deal is subject to approval by the NBA and its board of governors. "I wasnt going to live forever. Ive approached a time in my life where I have to think about ... how do we think about succession," Kohl, 79, said Wednesday at a news conference in the atrium of the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The deal was announced hours before the team was to play its final game of a dismal season. The first clue that the Bucks were likely staying in town came before Kohl said a word, when Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and County Executive Chris Abele took seats on stage. Kohl had been championing the need for a new arena for years. As efforts to secure investors ramped up in recent months, Kohl said he thought it might be best to sell the team entirely instead of keeping a stake to give the new owners say over new arena construction. Lasry and Edens committed to providing $100 million to help build a new arena. Kohl also announced he would donate $100 million for a new facility. "Milwaukee fans deserve a winning team," Edens said. Kohl bought the Bucks for $18 million in 1985. Kohl, a Milwaukee native whose family owned a chain of department stores, was hailed as a hometown hero. Now local and state officials hope the sale will help shift the public discourse for replacing the Bradley Center, the teams downtown home which opened in 1988. "We should be shouting from the rooftops because this is a game-changer for this entire debate," Barrett said. Edens said he hopes to get a plan for a new arena in a year, and have it built in a couple years. He said he thought about $400 million could be a benchmark for building the facility. Kohl said the subject of the sale would come up at an NBA meeting this week in New York. In a statement, league commissioner Adam Silver praised Kohl for the "historic and unprecedented" $100 million gift to the city to secure the future of the franchise. Kohl used investment banker Steve Greenberg, of Allen & Co., which is regularly involved in sales of sports teams, to help look for investors. There were nine bids which we all vetted through Kohl, according to Greenberg. Lasry and Edens were committed to keeping the team in Milwaukee, Kohl said. Lasry is chairman and chief executive officer of Avenue Capital Group, while Edens is co-founder and a chairman of the board at Fortress Investment Group. Both are based in New York. Edens said his mother was born and raised in Wisconsin, and that both he and Lasry were big basketball fans. The goal over the next five to 10 years was to "bring a championship to this city and try to build ... and become a part of the community," Lasry said. In Madison, Gov. Scott Walker said he was pleased with the deal that will keep the team in Wisconsin, and that he will work with the new ownership team to see how he can help the team "flourish in the state." "I think its a big deal," he told reporters when asked about the sale. The Bucks were an NBA-worst 15-66 entering Wednesday nights game against the Atlanta Hawks. Milwaukee has already set a franchise record for futility. The team was beset by injuries from training camp in coach Larry Drews first season. Center Larry Sanders and guard O.J. Mayo are among the veterans who have been sidelined for long spurts. Brandon Knight has emerged as a scoring point guard, while 18-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo had a promising first year after being drafted in the first round last year. The Bucks will have another high pick in this years talent-rich draft. And there is more certainty now for the future since the teams prospective new owners appear committed to keeping the team in Milwaukee. Brandon Pirri Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. Malcolm Subban Golden Knights Jersey . -- Challenged for the first time under Major League Baseballs expanded replay system, umpires got it right. http://www.goldenknightssale.com/authentic-alex-tuch-golden-knights-jersey/ . Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better.Kansas City, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - The first race in the Contender Round -- the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship -- takes place on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, and each of the 12 drivers who remain in the Chase have their points total reset to 3,000. After last weekends race at Dover, A.J. Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola were eliminated from the playoffs in NASCARs premier series. Those drivers who advanced from the opening round in the Chase, known as the Challenger Round, are: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. The Contender Round includes the races at Kansas, Charlotte (Oct. 11) and Talladega (Oct. 19). After Talladega, the Chase field will be trimmed to eight drivers for the Eliminator Round, which has the events at Martinsville (Oct. 26), Texas (Nov. 2) and Phoenix (Nov. 9). The Nov. 16 season-finale at Homestead will feature just four drivers contending for the championship. The highest finishing driver among the final four in that race will win the title. If a driver currently in the Chase field wins at either Kansas, Charlotte or Talladega, that person will automatically advance to the Eliminator Round. The remaining available positions 1-8 that have not been filled based upon wins will be determined by points following Talladega. Talladega, the only restrictor-plate track in the Chase, is considered as a wild card race, but many drivers think of Kansas as a wild card event as well. Kansas, a 1.5-mile track, underwent a repave and had variable banking added in the turns in 2012. I think you look at this round, the Contender Round, with Kansas, and youve got Talladega at the end, Charlotte probably not so much, but two of the three races are as much of a wild card as you can get in NASCAR racing these days, Keselowski said. I think when we get all said and done, and it comes to Homestead and the championships crown, whoever wins it will have earned it. But one of the great teams that has a shot at winning this will probably be less at home after this series of events, because you dont control your destiny as much as you do the other races of the season. Keselowski concluded the Challenger Round as the points leader. He woon the Chase-opener at Chicagoland and then finished seventh at New Hampshire and second at Dover. Reilly Smith Jersey. Logano, who is Keselowskis teammate at Team Penske, has done very well in the Chase as well. He won at New Hampshire and finished fourth at both Chicagoland and Dover. We have confidence in not just myself but the road crew, the pit crew, everyone is feeling good about what weve done, Logano said. Last week (at Dover), we didnt have the strongest car, but we were able to execute and get a nice, solid top-five out of it. Thats what we have to do the next round, get us some top-fives and get us into the next one. Hopefully, well get a win in these first two races and not have to worry about Talladega. Gordon claimed his fourth win of the season at Dover. His first victory in 2014 occurred in the spring race at Kansas. This is the fourth year that Kansas has hosted two Sprint Cup events in a season. No driver has yet to score a season-sweep here. We won at Kansas earlier this year, so were excited about this weekend, Gordon said. Wed like to get another win to go ahead and clinch a spot in the Eliminator Round, but if we dont solid finishes this weekend and at Charlotte hopefully put us in a good position before Talladega. Gordon leads all drivers with three victories at Kansas. He won the first two Cup races at this track (2001-02). Tony Stewart, Biffle, Johnson and Kenseth have two wins each at Kansas. Johnson is attempting to win his record-tying seventh championship in the series. He started the Chase with a 12th-place run at Chicagoland before finishing fifth at New Hampshire and third at Dover. Im ready to get going, Johnson said. These three tracks should be a lot of fun. We feel like we have a really good chance of winning at all three tracks, but the first two would make the experience of the third race of the Contender Round that much more enjoyable. Johnson has three wins this season but has not been to victory lane since June 15 at Michigan (14 races ago). Forty-three teams are on the entry list for the Hollywood Casino 400. Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, Oct. 5. Race: Hollywood Casino 400. Site: Kansas Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 2 p.m. ET. Laps: 267. Miles: 400.5. 2013 Winner: Kevin Harvick. Television: ESPN. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio. ' ' '