The "unpleasant" season of the Warriors, who are 18-59
and have lost 19 of their last 21 games, was examined by
C.W. Nevius of the S.F. CHRONICLE, who wrote that "it now
seems certain that the Warriors will finish dead last in NBA
attendance, behind even the always horrible Clippers." In
addition, Nevius noted that the Warriors face more problems,
as luxury boxes "are readily available" at the New Arena,
there is "very little" corporate advertising, and the
contracts for the team's three main sponsors -- Southwest
Airlines, Bank of America and Budweiser -- "are not only up
at the end of the year, but reports indicate that one of
those three is not happy." Nevius added that naming rights
to the arena, "which should have been easy to market"
because it hosted the NBA All-Star Game in February, still
haven't been sold by Oakland officials. Meanwhile, Warriors
Owner Chris Cohan recently lost a binding arbitration
hearing with the Oakland Joint Powers Authority (JPA) over
"some" $17M in back rent due at the arena, and he just began
another binding arbitration "for as much as" $31M the JPA
claims he owes for not selling PSLs at the arena and then
promising to guarantee the amount himself. With a decision
on the latest arbitration case due in about 30 days, Cohan
"could get hit with" a total bill of $50M. As a result,
Nevius reported that Cohan "is no longer turning down"
potential buyers interested in the team and "several NBA-
approved suitors have been sent out to make a pitch." But a
price tag on the team could depend on Cohan's financial
obligation to the JPA, and he "may want as much as $200
million to get his money out" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/8).
