It has been a rough time for sports fans in California of late. First it was the San Diego Chargers moving to LA and now the Golden State Warriors have broken ground on a new stadium to be built in San Francisco.
The Warriors are essentially moving across the bridge from Oakland where they played at Oracle Arena. However there is of course some civic pride at stake. Fans in Oakland can still make the short trip to the new arena which will be ready for the 2019 -2020 season but it still stings.
The Warriors were purchased back in 2010 by Joe Lacob and he made it clear that a move was inevitable. However some major credit is due to his team, as the new arena and area around it are all privately financed. We all are aware that privately financed stadiums are extremely rare. Lacob was aware thought that getting public money in California was near impossible. The project on the 11 acre land will cost somewhere close to 1 billion dollars. Ticket prices are sure to go up in the future but as long as the team of Curry, Durant and others continue to perform, that wont be a problem.
In any case, it is nice to see a privately funded stadium. A business who puts their money where their mouth is. If it doesn’t work out at least he can say he left his heart in San Francisco.
