warriors sf arena editorial (Photo: Jeff Chiu / AP)
Following Golden State Warriors‘ owner Joe Lacob‘s appearance on KNBR 680 AM radio and the Warriors CSN broadcast Tuesday, the status quo for their massive San Francisco waterfront arena proposal has changed.
Really, it’s changed for the first time. If you’re not caught up on the Pier 30/32 arena news, our Maggie Pilloton has all the latest info.
In the radio interview with Fitz & Brooks, Lacob relented on the Warriors aggressive timeline:
“Right now we’re planning on full steam ahead in 2018. We’re still trying to do it as fast as we can but we have to listen to the people and we have to do it right. You can’t just ram it through. That’s not going to work.”
Essentially, Lacob finally went public with something that media has been reporting for a while: Getting the job done by the start of the 2017-18 season, the original franchise goal, would be almost impossible.
It was the first admitted step backward for the team since they announced their plan in May of 2012, but it’s also the first step forward.
With the admission that the arena would also need to pass a public vote to get done, Lacob is finally bringing his proposal to the people.
It’s not as if the Warriors are abandoning the arena project. They’ve just realized their original approach wasn’t working.
As Lacob said on the Warriors TV broadcast against the Charlotte Bobcats last night, the arena isn’t “on hold.”
Once it’s set, public opinion is hard to sway. Had the Warriors gone through all the hoops to get the arena done only to end up on the ballot in the end, they’d be going up against a voter base that has been hammered by a constant message from a small group of activists: that the San Francisco Bay, and views of the bay, are sacred and the Warriors are encroaching on that.
Now that they’ve backed off of their aggressive timeline, it’s time the Warriors counter that message.
Yes, they’ve released updated plans twice to help conform to some of the height and obstruction concerns, but that message isn’t being hammered home. The Warriors are still the bad guy to many San Franciscans, the big corporation trying to take from the city rather than give.
However the arena ends up on the ballot, it’s time they stop letting their opponents control the message that’s reaching the people. An aggressive marketing campaign was the only way the Warriors were ever going to succeed at Piers 30 & 32, and it seems now they’ve finally accepted that.
But the truth is, they’re already behind. Warriors on the Waterfront, an arena advocacy group, has done its best, but they just aren’t big enough to sway the minds of an entire city.
It’s time for Lacob and Peter Guber, the entertainment guru, to sell the city on a proposal that could end up one of the most beautiful waterfront facilities in the world.
Better yet, the city also doesn’t have any premier arena venue. With the success of AT&T Park just a few blocks down the Embarcadero, doesn’t the Warriors arena make for one of the most impressive waterfront stretches?
Lastly, in addition to environmental and visual concerns, the next biggest worry of San Francisco voters has seemed to be parking and traffic. What’s funny is the suggestion has often been for the Warriors to build in Lot A, owned by the San Francisco Giants. Meaning the two largest venues would be even closer than in the current proposal.
Essentially, much of the opposition to the Warriors’ plan is based on confusion and misconceptions. So show them the beautiful views AROUND the arena. Promise them the greatest performers in the world coming to San Francisco, rather than Oakland and San Jose.
Give the public a reason to see the proposal as a good thing. There’s certainly enough basketball fans to get things started, but that alone won’t win the necessary votes, just as support from Mayor Ed Lee hasn’t.
It’s a long, complicated process, and that’s really all the public has understood about the Warriors’ plan. For Lacob and company, it’s time to take control of the message.
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