Warriors purchased 12 acre property in Mission Bay (San Francisco, Sacramento: 2013, buy)

[llowllevellowll]

Not a fan of the move. Thankfully, basketball is a sport I much prefer to watch on television as I'll most assuredly stop attending games there except when my Cleveland Cavaliers come to town.

Oakland was the geographical center of their fan base and its convenience showed based on how absolutely amazing attendance has been over the past two decades. I'm not interested in attending games with the wine and cheese and casual crowd that SF is known for. It's like going to a Giants game vs the atmosphere of a sold-out A's game. There's nothing like the latter and for the die-hard fan, this won't be popular.

I'll be contemplating shifting my fandom to Sacramento if/when they get their new downtown arena; I value loyalty, especially in sports and business and I don't see much loyalty from Lacob.

Just my .02

[18Montclair]

Pretty much.

We packed the arena even when they sucked. That is really what bothers me.

[pdizo916]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Pretty much.

We packed the arena even when they sucked. That is really what bothers me.

THIS. I feel bad for the roaracle faithful. As a San Francisco native, I am ecstatic that they're moving, on the other hand, I feel really bad for the die-hard fans in Oakland. That atmosphere will never be duplicated in San Francisco. But hey, I guess Sacramento will regain the title for having the loudest fan base again.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Pretty much.

We packed the arena even when they sucked. That is really what bothers me.

Exactly. You could make excuses if there was no fan base. But that is clearly not the case here.

[sav858]

The value of the franchise automatically increases at least 20-25% as soon as they move to SF and it becomes easier for them to land star, marquee players. That and knowing people will still fill up the arena, it's kind of a no brainer. They didn't pay as much as they did for team several years ago to keep them in Oakland.

[dragontales]

Clearly the Warriors aren't using anything as an excuse to move, especially in regards to the current fanbase. It's money and branding. SF Warriors vs Golden State East Bay Warriors. Easy decision. It's really too bad for the city of Oakland. Hey, at least the A's signed a new lease.

[pdizo916]

Originally Posted by dragontales

Clearly the Warriors aren't using anything as an excuse to move, especially in regards to the current fanbase. It's money and branding. SF Warriors vs Golden State East Bay Warriors. Easy decision. It's really too bad for the city of Oakland. Hey, at least the A's signed a new lease.

Oakland really needs to focus on keeping the A's and Raiders. When the Warriors move, they wouldn't lose much of an identity since the Warriors are the bay's team. However, if the raiders and A's move, then it would be more devastating because those teams are the heart and soul of Oakland

[llowllevellowll]

Originally Posted by sav858

The value of the franchise automatically increases at least 20-25% as soon as they move to SF and it becomes easier for them to land star, marquee players. That and knowing people will still fill up the arena, it's kind of a no brainer. They didn't pay as much as they did for team several years ago to keep them in Oakland.

The whole argument about being able to land star, marquee players is a fallacious attempt to convince media and purely casual sports fans to lend support for just this type of move. "We promise we'll deliver an even better product! Now pay more money to attend! Pay more money to advertise!" Hook, line, and sinker.

Anyone of relevance knows where you live and work when you come to Golden State. It's not as though Oakland is located in the Central Valley; the Warriors' biggest detractor from signing marquee names had a lot more to do with the fact that the organization was mismanaged for so many years. Andre Iguadala's arrival, David Lee's arrival, etc, should go to show that marquee names are actually more than willing to come here now. Afterall, the organization is achieving success beyond what it ever has done in the recent past now.

So that point is completely laughable.

For further evidence, look up the Los Angeles Clippers of the 80's, 90's and 00's. It was a laughable franchise that at times, played in the same arena as the Lakers but couldn't sign marquee names OR even keep its own home-grown talent. Upon playing out their rookie contracts, anyone of any significance was bolting for other cities. This has absolutely nothing to do with where the team played. Afterall, its cross-city rival as well as its tenant mate had absolutely no problem securing their spot as America's most watched team. Stars simply couldn't stomach the idea of playing for one of American Sports' worst owners and a franchise that was routinely the laughing stock of the NBA.

In fact, you'll notice very little change in the day-to-day of being a Warrior fan. What I do think you'll see is higher ticket prices and a different demographic of people in the arena on a nightly basis and outside of saying that the owners are welcome to make more money and be successful in their business, this is not a net-positive for most fans.

I don't disagree with you, though, that the organization's value increases by putting it in SF, but you're off your rocker completely if you believe that it translates to a pragmatic difference between who's on the court and who's not. The Warriors have absolutely NO problem maxing out their salary cap every year now, of which they've done routinely. In fact, the Warriors aren't in a position to attract any high-priced free agents. In order to sign Iguadala himself, they were forced to move all types of salaries off the team in order to make the deal work. Now that the team is a perennial contender, any open salary opportunities will be quite easy to attract. The gist here is this: you attract players by winning.

Originally Posted by pdizo916

Oakland really needs to focus on keeping the A's and Raiders. When the Warriors move, they wouldn't lose much of an identity since the Warriors are the bay's team. However, if the raiders and A's move, then it would be more devastating because those teams are the heart and soul of Oakland

This, however, I completely agree with.

I'll take it a step further, as well. The A's and not the Raiders are who they should really focus on. I'll take 81 games at home in a gorgeous waterfront ballpark not far from downtown over 8 games every single year in a location that needs to be large enough that it can't be near the center of the city that's most "happening".

[sav858]

Originally Posted by llowllevellowll

I don't agree with the media prop that free agents are suddenly going to be more interested; anyone of relevance knows where you live and work when you come to Golden State. It's not as though Oakland is located in the Central Valley; the Warriors' biggest detractor from signing marquee names had a lot more to do with the fact that the organization was mismanaged for so many years. Andre Iguadala's arrival, David Lee's arrival, etc, should go to show that marquee names are actually more than willing to come here now. Afterall, the organization is achieving success beyond what it ever has done in the recent past now.

I don't disagree with you, though, that the organization's value increases by putting it in SF, but you're off your rocker completely if you believe that it translates to a pragmatic difference between who's on the court and who's not. The Warriors have absolutely NO problem maxing out their salary cap every year.

Not exactly the level of "star, marquee" type players I was thinking of. Yeah I do think moving and rebranding the team as an SF team with a new arena will elevate GSW's status and increase its ability to attract some really big names. It's a fairly ignored team in the NBA for being in one of the largest and wealthiest media markets in the country.

[llowllevellowll]

Originally Posted by sav858

Not exactly the level of "star, marquee" type players I was thinking of. Yeah I do think moving and rebranding the team as an SF team with a new arena will elevate GSW's status and increase its ability to attract some really big names. It's a fairly ignored team in the NBA for being in one of the largest and wealthiest media markets in the country.

What fairy land free agents are you referring to? The kind where you blow up your entire roster to be able fit them under the salary cap? That's precisely why a deal with Dwight Howard wasn't able to happen.

The Warriors are actually OVER the salary cap by nearly $10 million dollars and just barely fit beneath the luxury tax threshold.

If you're a Warriors fan, here's what you want: to develop and more importantly, to re-sign your home-grown talent. You don't want to groom Steph Curry only to see him walk out on the city and the same goes for Klay Thompson and to a lesser extent, Harrison Barnes (if he ever does develop).

The NBA is not Major League Baseball. You don't have to be the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers to be successful. You have to draft well, which is something the Warriors didn't do well for 20-years (See: Adonel Foyle, Joe Smith, Ike Diogu, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Patrick O'Bryant, Billy Owens, Todd Fuller, Ekpe Udoh, Joe Barry Carroll).

When they did draft well, they couldn't hold on to the talent (See: Chris Webber)

The organization made disastrous errors in judgement that you saw from franchises like the Clippers, like the Cavaliers.

It took a few successful drafts (See: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and to a lesser extent, Barnes), and you supplement them with quality free agents (See: Andre Iguodala, who was one of the Top 5 signings last offseason; David Lee) and you've got yourself a contender.