The Golden State Warriors are now one of the major fixtures in the Bay Area following their run of dominance over the past decade or so. Local politics relating to sports, including the then-Oakland Raiders of the NFL moving to Las Vegas and the MLB’s Oakland Athletics flirting with the same outcome, have also played a role in this.
As owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber lead one of the most-valuable franchises in professional sports, it sure looks like they’re about to land another one.
According to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, the Warriors are nearing a deal that would bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area.
The report stressed that nothing if completed and some hurdles need to be overcome. But if finalized, the expansion team would be headquartered out of Oakland and play its games inside the newish Chase Center in San Francisco, the current home of the Warriors.
The Warriors moved from Oracle Arena to San Francisco in time for the 2019-20 NBA season. It was part of a large push from their ownership group to increase the franchise’s brand. As for the potential WNBA expansion team being headquartered in Oakland, the Warriors still own a practice facility in that city.
The Bay Area region is well known for its interest in women’s basketball, dating back to the heyday of excellence from the Stanfard Cardinal Women’s basketball program.
Meanwhile, Lacob has long had an interest in women’s basketball. As Thompson notes, Lacob played a major role in the creation of the American Basketball League in 1996. After the WNBA started play in 1997, that league folded.
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Golden State Warriors to bring WNBA to the Bay Area
It’s not necessarily a surprise that this is coming together. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said this past spring that the league would like to add two more teams by 2025. Given the popularity of the sport in the Bay Area, it makes sense for things to trend in this direction.
The overall popularity of the WNBA has also grown with help from NBA start and powers that be within the Association itself as well as the existence of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces who are headed by Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis. All-time great NFL quarterback Tom Brady is also close to purchasing a stake in that franchise.
Lacob and Guber owning a WNBA franchise could also be a boon for the league. According to Forbes, they boast the most valuable NBA franchise with the Golden State Warriors coming in at $7 billion. That’s $900 million more than the New York Knicks and $1.1 billion more than the Los Angeles Lakers. To put this into perspective, the two headed a group that purchased the Warriors for a mere $450 million back in 2010.