Golden State Warriors Big Plan to Have Fans

The Golden State Warriors want fans back in their stadium for the upcoming season, badly.

Earlier this month, owner of the Warriors Joe Lacob presented a plan to local and state officials to reopen the Chase Center to 50% capacity for the next season, which is set to begin on December 22.

Lacob said the Warriors are prepared to spend upward of $30 million to test every fan, Warriors employee and player with the most accurate form of COVID-19 testing for each home game or day they come to Chase Center, according to ESPN. This plan would also require all fans to wear a mask and social distance as much as possible along with the instillation of an air filtration system to replace the air supply every four hours if necessary.

It is no question that the NBA, along with every other professional sport league in the world, struggled during the pandemic with the banning of fans at sports games. Ratings were down, but this could have been due to many factors not just the game and/or league itself.

Lacob sees bringing fans back into the stadiums essential for the survival of the league.

 "This is a serious, serious problem. It cannot go on for multiple years ... because if this were to go on for several years, the NBA is no more. You cannot sustain this league with no fans. You can do it for a year. We'll all get by for a year. But suppose we're in this situation next year. Now we're talking some serious, serious financial damage to a lot of people." said Lacob. 

While this plan is still in the works and has a lot more negotiations to go, it is an optimistic start to getting fans back in the experience with the players. Players and fans miss this interaction equally, and Lacob has been in constant communication with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league's senior vice president of player matters David Weiss on how to safely return to a somewhat normal situation for this next season. 

December 22 will be the official start date for the next 72 game season.

Lauren Moore

*UPDATE*

This plan was declined by the San Francisco Department of Public Health.