Golden State Warriors Possible move to SF?

[LMU]

The thing with these arenas though is that they were built with the same amenities that are the current standard. Any updates can be handled in minor, off-season renovation projects. Honda Center still feels like a new arena despite it being 20 years old. Just as long as there's concourse room and an ample amount of suites, all you need is a fresh coat of paint and some tech upgrades.

[DarkJourney]

Slightly off topic, but how long do you think these mid to late 90s arenas are going to last before we start hearing talk about replacements (Shark Tank, Scottrade Center, Honda Center, Wells Fargo Center, TD Garden, Rose Garden, Tampa Bay Times Forum, BankAtlantic Center, RBC Center, Quicken Loans Arena, etc.). After all, the Georgia Dome and Edward Jones Dome are 20 years old or so and there is large discussions about replacing them.

The Shark Tank surprisingly still looks like it fits in today even though it opened in 1993. It's had a small amount of remodeling but I think it will be do for a big one down the road. It turns 20 next year.

[Mings]

Slightly off topic, but how long do you think these mid to late 90s arenas are going to last before we start hearing talk about replacements (Shark Tank, Scottrade Center, Honda Center, Wells Fargo Center, TD Garden, Rose Garden, Tampa Bay Times Forum, BankAtlantic Center, RBC Center, Quicken Loans Arena, etc.). After all, the Georgia Dome and Edward Jones Dome are 20 years old or so and there is large discussions about replacing them.

It largely depends on if they skimped on the details/design when they first built it. Everyone wants to replace EJD because its a big pile of that was clearly a rush job.

[The_Admiral]

I dunno. The Shark Tank looks kinda cheap to me. The aluminum siding, the grey exposed-concrete concourses, the arena bowl itself. I don't find it all that impressive. A state-of-the-art Sharks/Warriors facility would probably be best for everyone.

[DarkJourney]

I dunno. The Shark Tank looks kinda cheap to me. The aluminum siding, the grey exposed-concrete concourses, the arena bowl itself. I don't find it all that impressive. A state-of-the-art Sharks/Warriors facility would probably be best for everyone.

If the Warriors can't get anything done in San Francisco or Oakland that could be the alternative. The Tank's not that bad (not talking about NJ either). Come see it in person.

[DaytonBlue]

Slightly off topic, but how long do you think these mid to late 90s arenas are going to last before we start hearing talk about replacements (Shark Tank, Scottrade Center, Honda Center, Wells Fargo Center, TD Garden, Rose Garden, Tampa Bay Times Forum, BankAtlantic Center, RBC Center, Quicken Loans Arena, etc.). After all, the Georgia Dome and Edward Jones Dome are 20 years old or so and there is large discussions about replacing them.

It largely depends on if they skimped on the details/design when they first built it. Everyone wants to replace EJD because its a big pile of that was clearly a rush job.

I don't know, maybe it's because they opened a year apart, but the Scottrade Center and Edward Jones Dome seem awfully similar to me. They both have suites, club seating, new video boards, and relatively easy access with the escalators and concourses. The exceptions are the sound system and lighting. The dome's are terrible.

When all the old-timers lamented the loss of the St. Louis Arena, I thought I'd only get to do that with old Busch Stadium. Guess I was wrong.

[pmoehrin]

Thing is the Sharks own their own arena, so they would have to get a really sweetheart deal to jump onto the San Francisco arena.

The Tank is probably a below average arena, but I don't see why the Sharks couldn't play there for at least another decade.

[DaytonBlue]

What helps the Tank out is the unique way the rink is laid out. It makes that single-concourse bigger so people can spend more cash.

Are there lots of Sharks fans up in the SF peninsula and East Bay?

And ya gotta feel bad for Oakland. If I were Oakland, I'd focus on trying to keep one of the teams, because that's probably the best they'll do if that.

[bosrs1]

Don't call it

Frisco

I don't think the Warriors want to be secondary tenants to the Sharks. You don't pay almost half a million for an NBA team so you can do that. By being in Oakland and being bad all these years, the Bay Area has been severely undervalued and underrated as an NBA market. Positioning themselves as a San Francisco institution could help the Warriors rejoin the league's elite circuit. Of course, that also requires not being run by idiots, but maybe given time they'll learn.

in b4 bosrs1 comes in to tell us how some giant suburb is actually superior to what's widely considered one of the greatest cities in the world.

SF may also be one of the most overrated cities in the world. But surprise, I actually agree with you regarding the Warriors. It would make no sense for them to move to San Jose. The Sharks owners own the arena lease and control most of the revenue at the place. The Warriors would be lower than second class citizens in San Jose. In an arena that was optimized for hockey, not basketball. I mean the SJ Arena can host NBA basketball, but it would be a subpar venue for it with bad sightlines. Frankly I'm surprised it took this long to consider moving out of Oakland given how openly love sick for SF the new owners have been. I mean hell they already have an SF logo. It'll be nice to finally rectify the mistake of renaming the team to "Golden State" in the first place (especially considering they only played a handful of games in San Diego before the experiment that prompted the name change failed). And on top of it all it gives San Francisco something they've never actually had, a full sized arena (thanks to the Cow Palace actually being in Daly City, a very bad part of Daly City).

The owners met again today with SF's leaders and admitted they want it to happen. Oakland is on the verge of losing their basketball team to the very same people they've been trying to get into bed with in a bid to save their baseball team by undermining San Jose. The irony is lovely. Now we just need the Raiders to move to Santa Clara or Los Angeles and Oakland's leadership's trifecta of ineptitude will be complete.

[bosrs1]

Thing is the Sharks own their own arena, so they would have to get a really sweetheart deal to jump onto the San Francisco arena.

The Tank is probably a below average arena, but I don't see why the Sharks couldn't play there for at least another decade.

Sharks don't own the Tank, the city does. But the Sharks owners have a sweetheart lease on the place, parking rights and management rights which means they make tons of money off of it and every event it hosts. It's one of the most booked venues in the country as a result. So you're right that they'd not be going anywhere unless they got a similar deal out of an SF arena. Which won't happen with a second tenant like the Warriors also wanting their slice of revenues (it's the same reason the Warriors would never move to the SJ Arena even if SF falls through). They make more money now at Oracle Arena than they'd ever make from the scraps the Sharks would throw them in San Jose. That said the SJ Arena will be due for a fairly extensive mid life renovation in the next decade. But there is no rush since the city just spruced the place up a few years ago with the new video boards, suite renos, etc...

[Still MIGHTY]

Yeah, most of these arenas are fairly easily updated. Honda Center is getting renovations/improvements done. Heck, MSG is getting improvements. Even a newer arena like Jobing.com Arena in Glendale (despite all the Coyotes/City debacle, it's truly a fantastic place to watch a game or concert) isn't all that much more advanced or whatever than some of those 90s arenas. It's comparable to Honda Center or Scottrade Center. However, the Coyotes old arena, US Airways, could use a MAJOR facelift. I've been there only one time for a Suns game, but I hated the place. The upper concourse is TINY, lower concourse is bigger, but not better, the stats boards are awful, the upper seating sucks too. Not a huge fan. It was built JUST before that 90s string of arenas, but it feels so much older. Some of those things I mentioned can be fixed, but the concourses would be a stretch.

Anyways, regards to Warriors/Sharks/Bay Area. Sharks won't leave San Jose for a long time. They've got it good there, and HP Pavilion is more than fine (although, there are some things that are very Costco-y about it). The Warriors should be in San Francisco. How does SF proper not have an arena of any sort? And I don't even mean for a sports team, but even just for concerts or whatever else. Cow Palace is a dump. That place should not represent the SF side of the Bay in the arena world.

[dfwabel]

Yeah, most of these arenas are fairly easily updated. Honda Center is getting renovations/improvements done. Heck, MSG is getting improvements. Even a newer arena like Jobing.com Arena in Glendale (despite all the Coyotes/City debacle, it's truly a fantastic place to watch a game or concert) isn't all that much more advanced or whatever than some of those 90s arenas. It's comparable to Honda Center or Scottrade Center. However, the Coyotes old arena, US Airways, could use a MAJOR facelift. I've been there only one time for a Suns game, but I hated the place. The upper concourse is TINY, lower concourse is bigger, but not better, the stats boards are awful, the upper seating sucks too. Not a huge fan. It was built JUST before that 90s string of arenas, but it feels so much older. Some of those things I mentioned can be fixed, but the concourses would be a stretch.

Anyways, regards to Warriors/Sharks/Bay Area. Sharks won't leave San Jose for a long time. They've got it good there, and HP Pavilion is more than fine (although, there are some things that are very Costco-y about it). The Warriors should be in San Francisco. How does SF proper not have an arena of any sort? And I don't even mean for a sports team, but even just for concerts or whatever else. Cow Palace is a dump. That place should not represent the SF side of the Bay in the arena world.

USAirways Center received a $60 improvement in 2006. They could not do much with that narrow upper deck concourse, but the blew out a wall to add the main glass entrance to make the ticket center/will call indoors, added a 14,000 sp. ft pavilion, a TV studio, two new clubs and increased the width of the club level seats.

Remember that Scottrade Center and TBT Fourm are owned and managed by the teams directly.

When HP Pavilion was approved and subsequently broke ground, it was somewhat in between in terms of North American indoor facilities. It was built with suites, and clubs, but not to the level of the facilities opening along the same time.

The Cow Palace is not used for much outside of the parking lot is used for farmer's markets and the occasional marijuana fair or gun show. Concerts are few since it held a RAVE in 2010 in which it had deaths so the state had tell management to keep promoters out if they could.

NOTE: In 2000, then SF Major Willie Brown (not the former Raider CB) met with Dallas officials, and the Victory Plaza developers on how to work an arena plan for the essentially the same plot of land on the SF Bay and the Port of SF has had an arena idea since 1997.

[The Six]

Don't call it

Frisco

I don't think the Warriors want to be secondary tenants to the Sharks. You don't pay almost half a million for an NBA team so you can do that. By being in Oakland and being bad all these years, the Bay Area has been severely undervalued and underrated as an NBA market. Positioning themselves as a San Francisco institution could help the Warriors rejoin the league's elite circuit. Of course, that also requires not being run by idiots, but maybe given time they'll learn.

in b4 bosrs1 comes in to tell us how some giant suburb is actually superior to what's widely considered one of the greatest cities in the world.

SF may also be one of the most overrated cities in the world.

[HolyStroke]

USAirways Center received a $60 improvement in 2006. They could not do much with that narrow upper deck concourse, but the blew out a wall to add the main glass entrance to make the ticket center/will call indoors, added a 14,000 sp. ft pavilion, a TV studio, two new clubs and increased the width of the club level seats.

Damn all that for 60 bucks? Thats a bargain

[Still MIGHTY]

USAirways Center received a $60 improvement in 2006. They could not do much with that narrow upper deck concourse, but the blew out a wall to add the main glass entrance to make the ticket center/will call indoors, added a 14,000 sp. ft pavilion, a TV studio, two new clubs and increased the width of the club level seats.

Damn all that for 60 bucks? Thats a bargain

I didn't realize they had done all that, but they probably did just spend 60 dollars. Those improvements didn't do much for the average fan experience. Indoor ticket center! Better suites! Place still sucks.

[GFB]

Golden Gate Warriors?

[illwauk]

What helps the Tank out is the unique way the rink is laid out. It makes that single-concourse bigger so people can spend more cash.

Are there lots of Sharks fans up in the SF peninsula and East Bay?

And ya gotta feel bad for Oakland. If I were Oakland, I'd focus on trying to keep one of the teams the Raiders, because that's probably the best they'll do if that.

I'm sure Oakland is still capable of supporting one (just one) team, and it should be the Raiders... they're every bit as central to Oakland's civic identity as the Packers are to Green Bay's.

[LMU]

Except that there's still more Raider fans down here than up there.

[illwauk]

There's also more Packers fans in Milwaukee than there are people who live in Green Bay (and we're not nearly as big as LA ). As much as I'd love for the Packers to start playing games down here again, I can't say without any qualifiers that it would be a good idea.

[ninersdd]

Except that there's still more Raider fans down here than up there.

Not surprised; when I was in Mission Viejo in August, I was able to see the 49ers play the Raiders on local TV.