Warriors Pick New Site for Arena

[Muggens]

[BBTV]

What's wrong with Golden state Warriors? I like the individuality.

How would you feel if the Phillies became the "Keystone State Phillies"? While there's another team in Pennsylvania? I think it's accepted only because people are used to it, or aren't old enough to have known anything else.

I'm not old enough to know anything else, but I remember first thinking they were a college, then wondering where they played and thinking that maybe they were a traveling team of some sort. It's amateurish.

Each league has it's established protocols for names. MLS names would sound silly in the NBA, but they fit within the centuries-old traditions of soccer.

You could argue that it extends past leagues, and is more of a cultural thing, and that while Real Salt Lake is a legit name for a soccer club, it's a bad name for a North American professional team. Either way, "Golden State" just doesn't work within the confines of the traditions of the league.

It's OK to buck tradition - we wouldn't have a lot of things had maverick owners not taken their club in directions that leagues haven't yet seen (think of the A's gold uniforms and myriad uniform combinations), but changing your name to a vague state nickname as a way of either 1. veiling where you actually play, or 2. try to increase your market outreach is not one of those maverick decisions that should be applauded.

[HedleyLamarr]

Did they use "Golden State" to bring together San Francisco and Oakland so that they wouldn't alienate fans just because of the city name for the team?

[Muggens]

I think owner Franlin Mielui's original intent was for the team to play games all over California not just Oakland. In 1971 they played all of their games in Oakland except for 6 in San Diego. After that it's been all Oakland ever since except for the 1996-97 season in San Jose as the Oakland Coliseum Arena was being rebuilt.

[The_Admiral]

I used to think it was a traveling team, too.

Whatever, I've made my point on this already. Teams are from cities, don't make this hard.

[MadmanLA]

Did they use "Golden State" to bring together San Francisco and Oakland so that they wouldn't alienate fans just because of the city name for the team?

I believe that may have been the intent...San Francisco and Oakland each had their own football and baseball teams, plus when they they had the NHL originally, their team was the California (Golden) Seals for the bulk of their time of existence.

[PhantomDreamer]

What's wrong with Golden state Warriors? I like the individuality.

Nothing is wrong with it. Golden State is a great name.

[waltere]

Golden State is as good a name for a pro basketball team as pullovers are a good look for a pro baseball team

[Walter Sobchak]

'Golden State Warriors' sounds like a name from a crappy mid 90s sports movie.

[Lee Noire]

Did they use "Golden State" to bring together San Francisco and Oakland so that they wouldn't alienate fans just because of the city name for the team?

Wouldn't the Bay Area Warriors make more sense then? Golden State would only work if the Warriors were the only team in Cali, and even then it makes more sense to use a city name.

[colortv]

Well...

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2014/story/_/id/10836440/golden-state-warriors-want-input-likely-name-change

[SFGiants58]

That's been brought up before. The general consensus is that if the "San Francisco" name is not picked, the owners will switch anyway to that name.

[Soarindude]

I don't think there is really a need for a "strict naming system" like you guys are implying. Why do we feel the need to name based off the city it's in?

From a marketing perspective, it's smart. If the team were named "San franscico Warriors", they'd just be every other team in the league. A name like Golden State Warriors A) sets them apart from the rest of the league in a unique way sounds better than San franscico.

Especially in this age of technology, searching "where is golden state Warriors at" isn't difficult at all. Plus, as mentioned above, it doesn't isolate Oakland fans that want to cheer for Golden State.

As a fan of the Rays, I've always been annoyed by the fact the city they represent is Tampa Bay and not Saint. Petersburg. Saint Petersburg and Tampa are NOTHING alike. Not only that, most fans that come to the game are from that area, not Tampa. if they would've named the team "Sunshine State Devil Rays", I wouldn't of had a big problem with that. If you're trying to pull from two different communities, you shouldn't exclude one.

[BBTV]

I don't think there is really a need for a "strict naming system" like you guys are implying. Why do we feel the need to name based off the city it's in?

From a marketing perspective, it's smart. If the team were named "San franscico Warriors", they'd just be every other team in the league. A name like Golden State Warriors A) sets them apart from the rest of the league in a unique way sounds better than San franscico.

Especially in this age of technology, searching "where is golden state Warriors at" isn't difficult at all. Plus, as mentioned above, it doesn't isolate Oakland fans that want to cheer for Golden State.

As a fan of the Rays, I've always been annoyed by the fact the city they represent is Tampa Bay and not Saint. Petersburg. Saint Petersburg and Tampa are NOTHING alike. Not only that, most fans that come to the game are from that area, not Tampa. if they would've named the team "Sunshine State Devil Rays", I wouldn't of had a big problem with that. If you're trying to pull from two different communities, you shouldn't exclude one.

Well, "Tampa Bay" isn't a city. It refers to the region near the actual Tampa Bay that includes St. Petersbug, and is the name of the metro area. I guess I shouldn't be, but I am actually surprised that you didn't realize that, or at least look it up - considering you are a fan of the team and (I assume) live in the area. If you're annoyed by that, then I'd petition whoever names these regions, or ask the team to name themselves the "Tampa-St. Petersburg Rays". Also, the only people who think that Tampa and St. Petersburg are nothing alike are residents of either area who are just butthurt about something. When you get older and see different parts of the country (assuming you ever leave Florida - something that I get the feeling that most people there never do) you'll have a different perspective on things.

The SF/Oak area is actually the "San Fransisco Bay Area", so even though colloquially people may simply call it the "Bay Area" (and nobody is getting "Bay Area" confused with "Tampa Bay Area", it makes perfect sense for them to be called the "San Fransisco Warriors" even now, let alone when they move to SF proper.

From a marketing standpoint, much like the Nets choice to use Brooklyn instead of New York, I think San Fransisco is infinitely more marketable than Golden State.

[Soarindude]

I live In the area. Probably about 20 minutes from Tropicana Field and about 1:30 biking.

While I know Tampa Bay is referring to the area (Usually the Bay Area is the nickname) there still exists and absence of recognition to the location of where the team is. Let me adjust my argument, why is Tampa Bay okay, but not Golden state? Od Tampa Bay is referring to multiple cities in Florida, Golden State does the same. It is basically saying "We are California's team outside of LA and Sacramento", which I think is fine.

[waltere]

That's precisely the problem though, there are other teams in California.

'Tampa Bay' is fine for the same reason, say 'Minnesota' or 'Arizona' are fine, yes they represent more than one city, but there's no other team in their 'name territory' and realistically won't be any time soon.

Calling yourself Golden State after the whole of California is dumb when there are already other basketball teams in California, it's exactly the same problem as the old California Angels had.

[Soarindude]

That's precisely the problem though, there are other teams in California.

'Tampa Bay' is fine for the same reason, say 'Minnesota' or 'Arizona' are fine, yes they represent more than one city, but there's no other team in their 'name territory' and realistically won't be any time soon.

Calling yourself Golden State after the whole of California is dumb when there are already other basketball teams in California, it's exactly the same problem as the old California Angels had.

I think this is one decision that should defenitely be made by season ticket owners (and I'm usually quite critical of teams that use this method to make major decisions). Let the fans determine how they want their team to represent. If the majority of fans want San Fransico instead, then the team should reflect that. I have a pretty good feeling though that the fans will choose to keep "Golden State", if determined by fans.

[smith03]

not to sidetrack the warriors name, but on tampa bay, Anyone ever thought of the Bay as being part of the nickname. I know it is not, but what if you read the name as the Tampa "Bay Bucs" or Tampa "Bay Rays" etc.

[BBTV]

I live In the area. Probably about 20 minutes from Tropicana Field and about 1:30 biking.

While I know Tampa Bay is referring to the area (Usually the Bay Area is the nickname) there still exists and absence of recognition to the location of where the team is. Let me adjust my argument, why is Tampa Bay okay, but not Golden state? Od Tampa Bay is referring to multiple cities in Florida, Golden State does the same. It is basically saying "We are California's team outside of LA and Sacramento", which I think is fine.

There's a huge difference between "Tampa Bay" and "Golden State". One is a precise term for a geographic region (I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say "absence of recognition"), and one is merely a nickname for an entire state.

The analogy would be "Tampa Bay" == "San Francisco Bay", or even "Tampa Bay" == "Bay Area" (since when you say "bay area", people think SF.) Just shorten "San Francisco Bay Area" to "San Francisco", and you're not only still geographically correct, you sound like a professional franchise.

[TalktoChuck]

From a marketing perspective, it's smart. If the team were named "San franscico Warriors", they'd just be every other team in the league. A name like Golden State Warriors A) sets them apart from the rest of the league in a unique way sounds better than San franscico.

Especially in this age of technology, searching "where is golden state Warriors at" isn't difficult at all. Plus, as mentioned above, it doesn't isolate Oakland fans that want to cheer for Golden State.

The name may set them apart from the rest of the league in a unique way. But, demonstrated by people's reaction in this thread, it does not set them apart in a particularly good way.

And, yes it isn't difficult at all for people to Google where they are located, but you are assuming that a.) People actually care outside of the initial "Where the :censored: is Golden State?" reaction, and b.) that they would actually take the time to Google it.