As their respective teams prepare to face off in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Warriors owner Joe Lacob and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbet met on stage Friday night to discuss their lives, careers, and experiences owning the NBA’s last-standing franchises.
The event, “Chat Sports: The Minds Behind the Game,” was the fifth iteration of the Minds Behind the Game series hosted by Chat Sports. Lacob and Gilbert discussed an array of topics that ranged from investment strategies to the brand of cellphones they use.
Having just found out earlier in the afternoon that Kyrie Irving fractured his kneecap in Game 1 of the Finals, both owners expressed sadness. “I was really sorry to hear that,” Lacob said, speaking directly to Gilbert. “First of all, he’s a great kid. And we want to play you guys at full strength.”
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The conversation also touched on the importance of technology in presenting sports product to consumers. Both Lacob and Gilbert agreed that the way sports are consumed has changed and continues to change with technological advances. Fans now demand more information, want that information quicker, and look for ways to continue interacting with the team even after the game has ended. According to Lacob, sports it now more of a community than a product.
Gilbert also stressed how technology allows franchises to monitor how customers interact with their teams and improve their presentation. As an example of how technology can make an immediate impact, Gilbert recounted an instance this season where a fan at the game tweeted that the cup holder in his seat was broken. Having seen the tweet during a timeout, Gilbert was able to forward the tweet to a staff member who fixed the cup holder within a matter of minutes.
The owners also discussed the resale ticket market; a topical item, given the high prices tickets for the NBA Finals are currently fetching. Lacob indicated that at every Warriors game around 30 people report to the ticket office that they purchased counterfeit or void tickets. Going forward, the owners believe it’s important to find a way to ensure that all reseller marketplaces offer valid tickets.
Gilbert discussed how consolidation of the resale markets could ultimately help the consumer. “Like stock,” he said, “you wouldn’t want it traded on 27 different markets so that you need to check 27 different prices.” Instead, says Gilbert, having all tickets for resale visible in one spot with transparent transactions would allow consumers to feel confident that they are paying an accurate market price.
Virtual reality also seems close to being market-ready for sports applications. Although neither Lacob nor Gilbert know how the technology will eventually be rolled-out or licensed by the League, the product is visually stunning and would allow fans to feel like they are at the game even from the other side of the world. One of the NBA’s next big tasks, according to the owners, will be to determine how to get this technology into the hands of fans.
Lacob and Gilbet also took a few light-hearted jabs at each other. At one point Gilbert pointed out how the screens in Oracle Arena displayed very limited statistical information. “We may lose the series,” he said, “but we will win the arena stat thing.”
Lacob responds by promising that the Warriors’ future arena in San Francisco would have all the technological improvements offered at the Cavaliers’ Quicken Loans Arena. “Yeah,” Gilbert said, “but by then we’ll have Steph Curry.”
A full video of the conversation can be found here: