Officials to break ground on San Francisco Warriors arena, lease troubles loom
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The groundbreaking ceremony for the new home of the Golden State Warriors takes place in San Francisco Tuesday.
Watch the ceremony live at 11 a.m. on abc7news.com and the ABC7 News app
The Warriors' lease agreement at Oracle Arena is up at the end of the season. With the team's Mission Bay facility still hotly contested, lease negotiations in Oakland are underway.
The Warriors sold out for the 211th consecutive time including regular season and playoff games. The team is clearly valuable, but how much longer they'll bring value to Oakland is another question.
"Pride, that they bring the community, that you can't measure in dollars and cents," said Warriors fan Lee Neves. "You just really can't."
The Golden State Warriors have a real economic impact on the East Bay with their $7.5 million lease, says Chris Dobbins of the Joint Powers Authority. "The Warriors are actually paying down the debt on the arena that they occupy," he told ABC7 News.
RELATED: Warriors set to break ground on new San Francisco venue
The JPA and the team are currently in negotiations for an extension, since the Chase Center at Mission Bay will not be ready until 2019 at the earliest.
"I think the Warriors believe they have options to go other places," Dobbins said. "Namely probably San Jose. You know we want them to stay as long as they will and that's kind of where we're at."
The Warriors organization has a private groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Tuesday at their new site. "That's the cost of doing business," said Dobbins.
Fans say they get it, basketball is a business.
"You guys got a top quality product so a top quality product unfortunately, you gotta pay top quality prices," said fan Mitchell Brown.
The Mission Bay Alliance says litigation is ongoing over the Chase Center. Oakland City Council will discuss the Warriors lease Tuesday during closed session. An agreement should be finalized in the next couple of weeks.
PHOTOS: Golden State Warriors fans 2016-2017
Download the ABC7 News app here to watch the event anywhere.
