NEW YORK — Contrary to what other NBA franchises have remarked about their new state-of-the-art arenas, like Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive calling the Golden 1 Center the “most technologically advanced and sustainable arena in the world,” the Golden State Warriors’ Rick Welts said the organization isn’t making any superlative statements about the tech at Chase Center.
Instead of “trying to make the claim of being the most technologically innovative building,” the team President and Chief Operating Officer said the Warriors are concentrated on the fan, first and foremost, with the arena set to open in 2019.
“We’re trying to focus 100 percent on the fan experience where technology enables that, great, but just to say we have this or that, to us that isn’t the mission we’re going off of,” Welts said to SportTechie prior to the Sports Business Awards (established by SportsBusiness Journal/SportsBusiness Daily) ceremony on Wednesday evening. “The mission is to provide the best fan experience that’s ever been provided before. Again, where technology can enhance that. We want it to be additive, but it’s not the be-all, end-all by any means.”
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Welts continued that the team hasn’t ventured down the path of saying Chase Center will be the most technologically advanced venue or most-connected stadium because after a couple of years, or perhaps even sooner, a team’s arena won’t have that distinction anymore. Welts added that with Chase Center, which fans were previously able to view through augmented reality at the groundbreaking ceremony, the Warriors are pushing the timetable back as far as as possible to make those technology-specific decisions beyond the infrastructure because everything will continuously evolve over time.
“We’d like to lead with some things that we think are definitely sustainable over the long-term. We’ll do the best we can do with the best technology that’s available from day one,” he said.
Warriors co-owners Peter Guber and Joe Lacob echoed those sentiments in a February interview with Bloomberg at the NBA All-Star Technology Summit in New Orleans.
“Technology changes all of the time. That’s one thing you learn,” Lacob said. “We can design all of the greatest technology we want into this. It might not be relevant five years from now. So, it’s really more about the experience that we’re creating, the holistic nature of the venue that we’re trying to create.”
Added Guber: “We’re in the emotional transportation business. We’re in the experience business.”
The one specific area Welts highlighted was traffic and parking at Chase Center. He called it “probably the most critical aspect for us to be considered a big success” as the team focuses on a frictionless experience for fans coming to the arena for a basketball game, concert or other entertainment. Those two areas are arguably at the forefront of everyone’s mind given the Chase Center’s proximity to not only the University of California San Francisco Medical Center but also nearby AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
Outside of the new arena, Welts also briefly discussed the NBA 2K esports league, which the Warriors will be part of along with 16 other teams starting in 2018.
“While we’re very excited about the NBA’s entry into the space, we think it’s going to be more of a learning experience than a great economic venture for us,” Welts said. “It’s going to greatly support one of our most important licensees, and we’ll learn a lot about running a team. We’ll take that experience and then hopefully apply that to other esports ventures down the road.”