Officials from the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, the public entity that owns Oracle Arena, "insist that it has a bright future as a concert venue, and that it won’t be a drag on taxpayers" after the Warriors leave for S.F. in '19, according to Rachel Swan of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Scott McKibben said that the Warriors "will have to pay" the entity $60M "in renovation debt after they move across the bay." But the Warriors said that their debt obligations "will end as soon as their lease expires" in '17, and that anything beyond that "is up for negotiation." McKibben said the plan is to "absolutely continue to operate" the arena after the team's departure. He said, “It will be a wonderful venue for entertainment and a world-class venue for large sporting events like the NCAA final for March Madness.” McKibben said that "for the last few years the venue has turned a small profit for the authority." He "attributes the trend at least partly" to Warriors co-Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. McKibben is "optimistic that the arena will reap more money for Oakland and Alameda County once the Warriors leave." Without the team, the Coliseum Authority "will collect all the proceeds from luxury suites, signage on the building, sponsorships and ticket sales." McKibben added that the authority "won’t have to block off 40 to 60 days a year for basketball" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/19).
