After the City of San Francisco and the Golden State Warriors had some talks of the team returning to their initial Bay Area home, it seems as if the Warriors will do just that. CBS Sports and Yahoo! Sports have reported that the Warriors plan to announce their move from Oakland to San Francisco, but Tim Kawakami's Twitter account noted otherwise - either way, we'll discuss the possible move.
First of all, the market in San Francisco is much richer than Oakland and that will mean more money for the Warriors, so the move makes sense from that standpoint - at least for the team. But what benefit will the Warriors provide the City of San Francisco with? Sure the project is going to be privately funded but that doesn't mean taxpayers won't be seeing their money head over to the project at any point. I think what most people - who aren't necessarily fans - are concerned about is their money and how the Warriors will provide a return for the city.
The Warriors, despite their status as one of the lowly NBA teams, do have a strong fan base that extends over most of the Bay Area. But will a move to San Francisco be able to increase their fan base? I, for one, know that if the team does move to San Francisco I would be more inclined to go to Warriors' games. But will those in the East Bay residents be deterred to come to San Francisco, just as I was hesitant to travel to Oakland for fear of a wasted trip? A costly ticket and BART ride only to watch the Warriors lose was not worth it in my eyes. And I know the Warriors don't always lose games, but you have to know the prospect of them losing a game on any given night outweighed their potential to win.
The Warriors getting a new arena that will be multi-functional, in combination with the San Francisco 49ers' new facility, could certainly enhance the Bay Area's attractiveness to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so that is a positive. Also, the team being in San Francisco could potentially attract more free agents to come to the team. While there are positives to this move, there are those who are skeptical as to how this will help the franchise win.
I don't blame those of you who could care less that the Warriors are moving approx. 10 miles away to San Francisco when your main concern is when the Warriors will announce a new plan to win basketball games and reach the playoffs. A new stadium seemingly revived San Francisco Giants' baseball 12 years ago, so maybe in five years the Warriors will see a shift towards basketball excellence. (That's essentially me being really positive when it comes to the situation.)
I know that everything is still very up-in-the-air with the plans, but I would say the best bet in knowing how to feel about the situation would be to wait and see how it all unfolds. It is never too early to start asking questions, but the answers may not come for a while. In the meantime, those of you who are Warriors fans here in San Francisco have to be excited about the move.
Food for thought: What about the Warriors coming to San Francisco do you like or dislike? Is the potential move too far away from you to care at this point and would you like to see the team work on getting better before making grandiose plans like this?
David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where fresh content is posted daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions - all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, "Not knowing any better". Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.
You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp
Sources:
CBS Sports. Report: Golden State Warriors to announce plans to move to San Francisco. NBA 2012.
Yahoo! Sports. The Golden State Warriors will likely move to San Francisco in 2017. NBA 2012.
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