The new owners of the Golden State Warriors (NBA) were pretty blunt about their intentions during their first media appearance in the Bay Area: The event was held in a San Francisco restaurant, and the pair talked about being open to a move to The City.
That Peter Guber and Joe Lacob are open to a move isn’t a surprise: virtually every former owner of the team held out hope that a new arena would be built in San Francisco to serve as the team’s new home. But to be so blatant about their desire to move to The City isn’t going over too well with some in Oakland, who would prefer to see the team make a bigger commitment to the city by renaming the team the Oakland Warriors.
The thing is, we’re not talking about a team that’s not being supported by Oakland. The team ranked #11 in NBA attendance last season, drawing 18,027 fans a game and playing to 92 percent capacity. (Those numbers are slightly up this season so far.) The sponsor base in Oakland may not what it is in San Francisco, but it’s still nothing to ignore.
That there is no major arena in San Francisco is a little surprising (and no, we don’t count the Cow Palace), but San Francisco has a weird relationships with sports teams. The San Francisco Giants are the toast of the town, but they’re in San Fran only because ownership was stubborn enough to build their own ballpark. Given the supposed musical sophistication of the town, you’d think there would be support for an arena solely for the potential to see high-profile touring acts, never mind the Warriors.
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