An Oakland official indicated "for the first time" Wednesday
that the city and Alameda County "now are willing to commit
significant public funds to keep the Warriors from moving to San
Jose," according to this morning's SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. Ostrom
& Akizuki report yesterday's assertion by Oakland City Councilman
Ignacio De La Fuente the city and county may be willing to lend
as much as $8M to help finance a new arena is "a sign" the team's
search for a new home "may be turning into a municipal bidding
war." Warriors officials met with San Jose city leaders
yesterday to iron out details of a $43M publicly financed plan to
lure the team to San Jose Arena next season. Although San Jose
officials have said "they have no intention of getting into a
bidding war," De La Fuente's statement "may turn up the heat."
De La Fuente said the loan, which would be used for preliminary
design and environmental work for a new facility, would be paid
back from arena revenue. Oakland may not have to offer a public
subsidy the size of San Jose's because the team would have "a
significant advantage" in terms of controlling revenue in its own
arena. Also, 45% of the team's season ticket base is in Alameda
and Contra Costa Counties (in and near Oakland), compared with
24% of ticketholders in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties (in
and near San Jose) (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 10/12).
