Chased Away After 47 Years

A Feature Article by Ram Charan

At first, it’s the Raiders. Next year, they’ll be in Vegas.

Then it’s the Oakland A’s. They are drifting close to Howard Terminal, but they’d still be in Oakland.

Next year, it’s the Warriors’ turn. They are heading across the bay to San Francisco.

47 years after the first season at Oracle Arena, the Warriors have decided to part ways with the Oakland-based stadium. Instead, they have opted for a new arena called the Chase Center. The new home of the Warriors will be in close proximity to both the port of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge. This trend of moving sports teams seems to be related to the management of Oakland as a city; but leaving this problem aside, the question that really should be asked is why the Chase Center.

Compared to Oracle Arena, the Chase Center will have fewer seats. Oracle Arena sports nearly 19,596 in capacity for seating. In comparison, the Chase Center will only carry 18,000 seats. The Warriors are sure to draw large crowds for the foreseeable future as they have Stephen Curry, perhaps the greatest shooter in the game of basketball, under contract for at least the next four years. Other stars such as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are most probably staying as well, adding to a team with great entertainment value. This seems like an immediate drawback to the stadium since fewer seats seem to imply less immediate revenue made from selling tickets.

It is not. The Chase Center will also have various lounges and other seating areas separated from the actual array of seats surrounding the basketball court. More importantly, the Chase Center is also not just a basketball stadium. According to the plans for the stadium, it will incorporate 500,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retailing space as well. The Chase Center is part of a larger plan in San Francisco to renovate its overall infrastructure. The stadium will act more like a commercial center and gathering place. In front of the stadium, plans show a large water fountain arrangement or a recreation area.

Other plans for the stadium include mounting large electronic displays on the side and the top of the stadium for advertisement and to project the team’s logo. The functionality of the arena in this way is much greater than Oracle. Aside from Oracle’s close proximity to the BART station, and the Oakland Coliseum, it does not boast any specific benefits unrelated to sports such as the office space that will be  part of the Chase Center. This is why the relatively limited seating capacity, although questionable, seems to be accounted for with the various other venues of business built into the stadium.

Or so it seems.

The Chase Center will also have more expensive tickets. According to Forbes editor Patrick Murray, prices are expected to be between $515 and $600 as compared to the far cheaper prices at Oracle Arena where some tickets can be as low as $100. The higher prices can be attributed to the various retailing spaces and office space to be incorporated into the stadium. Close to the center, there will be a parking garage that has nearly 950 parking spaces for cars and other spaces for bikes. Still, the nearly $400 gap in ticket prices between the Chase Center and Oracle Arena does not seem to be accounted for in availability for parking spaces and other services available at the stadium.

Moving from Oracle Arena signals the end of a 47-year era. Along with the Warriors, other major sports teams in Oakland have sought out better stadiums. The Raiders, the football team of Oakland, will move to Las Vegas in the same season as the Warriors. The only major sports team left in Oakland are the A’s, its baseball franchise. Recently, they have proposed a new stadium that relocates them to the waterfront in Oakland. The proposal is yet to be approved by the city, and the stadium is meant to be a larger part of infrastructure remodeling in the Howard Terminal area of Oakland. While the city has not affirmed that the construction will take place, the proposal for the “Jewel Box” stadium looks sure to be approved.

Oakland Coliseum, the BART station, the parking lot, and the same small patch of land off Interstate 880 in Oakland that once acted as venues for two of Oaklands major sports teams will be vacated fairly soon. The Chase Center is nearly completed and the “Jewel Box” stadium for the Oakland A’s is sure to receive the green light. An era, not only for Warriors basketball but for Oakland sports, is coming to a rapid end.

A general exodus from Oakland of major sports teams has earned the Raiders threats of lawsuits and both the Raiders and Warriors face the scorn of diehard Oakland fans. The city will lose traffic as a result of the franchises leaving. This is sure to affect local businesses and more importantly the people of Oakland. What was once an area with a defined past and location will now become a desolate abandoned lot. While the Chase Center may seem more glamorous, at least in price and amenities, it remains to be seen if it can ever rival Oracle Arena in its legacy as the home to the Warriors basketball organization.