NBA
fans are definitely used to change by now, since in the past 10 years there
have been three franchise moves and one new expansion franchise, and the moves
are not likely to end soon. The Golden State Warriors are planning a move back
to San Francisco. It was announced on Tuesday by NBA commissioner David Stern,
the Warriors ownership, and San Francisco mayor Ed Lee that the team will be
playing at a brand new arena in 2017 in the city of San Francisco. The team
will have to wait five years to move into its new location, because it is the
only time they can get out of their lease with Oracle Arena. Making the news
even more exciting for Bay Area fans, the Warriors unveiled part of the plans
for the privately funded, estimated at $500 million arena. Ownership has
proposed a deal where the city will provide the scenic location by Pier 30 – 32
and the franchise will commit to repairing the piers at a cost of $75-100
million.
Ever
since the current ownership group purchased the Warriors in 2010 for a league
record $450 million they have been working on moving the team back to the city
of San Francisco. Team owner Joe Lacob said the move makes perfect sense, and
that it will not hurt the fan base because the majority of season ticket
holders are already located in San Francisco. If there is one aspect that the
Warriors have not struggled with is fan support, being the 10th best
franchise in the league attendance wise in 2010. The Bay Area basketball fans
take pride in being one of the most loyal fans in the country, and whether the
Warriors are winning or losing does not matter to them, the support will be
there. In the past 18 seasons the Warriors have made the playoffs only once, in
2007, where they defeated the number 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round,
closing the series out in six games. Whether or not this move will benefit the
Warriors on the court is yet to be seen, but if nothing else it will give
basketball fans a state of the art new arena in a unique location with a
fantastic view!
San
Francisco Warriors (1962-63 to 1970-71)
9
Seasons
|
Golden
State Warriors (1971-72 to Present)
41
Seasons
|
|
Seasons
over .500
|
5
|
15
|
Seasons
under .500
|
4
|
26
|
Playoff
Appearances
|
5
|
11
|
Finals
Appearances
|
2
|
1
|
Championships
|
0
|
1
|
By: Kevis Pinto
The NBA is slowly trying to fix the problem of having a ton of teams in weak market cities or areas. Granted Golden State is not a weak market at all, but the San Francisco Warriors will have many many more fans.
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