Warriors agreed to help finance $150M worth of basketball renovations to Oracle Arena in '96NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Authorities from Alameda County (Calif.) said that the Warriors were "ordered to pay" roughly $40M for renovations at Oracle Arena, which they will be leaving at the end of the season, according to the AP. The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority took out a $150M bond in '96 for basketball renovations that the team "agreed to help finance with annual payments." However, the Warriors said that their debt obligation "ends when they terminate their lease" and leave Oakland for S.F. and the new Chase Center at the end of the season. Arbitrator Rebecca Westerfield ordered the team to "continue making payments" until the bond is paid off in '27. The Warriors "make annual payments" of about $7.5M to the authority (AP, 10/29). In San Jose, David DeBolt in a front-page piece writes the authority's decision was a "major victory for the city and county," which are still saddled with nearly $80M in renovation costs at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the Raiders, for which the team is "not obligated to pay, even when they leave for Las Vegas." Oracle Arena "will not have a long-term tenant" come the '19-20 NBA season. There are "no plans to tear it down and it will continue to host concerts and other events" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 10/30).
