The Warriors make their regular-season Chase Center debut tonight against the Clippers, and everything about the arena reflects the team's "bold move into the future, with all the glamor, aesthetics and amenities one can imagine." The basketball experience "will be much like" that at Oracle Arena, but the Warriors have "gone to great lengths in expanding a fan's visual experience." There were moments during the preseason that made it seem that Chase Center "can sound just as loud as Oracle," but the question is whether fans will be "leaving their seats to wander around" the new venue (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/24).
The sound coming from Warriors fans at preseason games at Chase Center was "not impressive ... when compared to Oracle," as that arena "at its best was loud, boisterous and more than a little imposing." Chase Center was "built for noise ... but construction crews can't produce game-night noise." The atmosphere during the preseason "so obviously flunked the noise test" that it seems unlikely that a "grand transformation" will take place for tonight's game (NBCSPORTSBAYAREA.com, 10/24).
Roughly 30% of Warriors season-ticket holders from last year did not renew with the team moving from Oakland to S.F., as many longtime ticket holders "faced steep ticket price increases," as they lost a "loyalty discount" to an extent. Warriors Senior VP/Ticket Sales & Services John Beaven indicated that the team previously had a "tenure-based pricing system that resulted in long-term holders paying less than newer ones in similar seats." He said the move to S.F. "brought everyone to the same per-game ticket price [within each pricing section] to reset and provide equitable value to all members." That resulted in some ticket holders paying "more for an equivalent seat at Chase" while others paid less (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/24).
