Golden State Warriors’ Owner Looking to Improve Fan Experience at Games


The new owners want to ensure that even if the Golden State Warriors aren’t contending for an NBA title anytime soon, their fans still have a blast when attending games. From the San Fran Chronicle: “[Warriors co-owner Peter Gruber] has had triumphs in minor-league baseball, including the ultimate success story in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Dragons, a Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, set the professional sports record for consecutive sellouts at 815 games last month. A city that has gone through two recessions and lost about 80,000 jobs has purchased almost 8,000 tickets a game for the past decade. ‘You’re putting on a performance every day,’ Guber said. ‘Doing it exactly the same in another market, wouldn’t work, but the secret sauce anywhere is being interested in the audience, not just be interesting to the audience. … Every touch point from the time a fan decides to buy a ticket to the time they leave the arena is important. If it’s difficult to get out of the parking lot, we’ve just ruined the dessert of their dinner,’ Guber said. ‘Music really counts. It sets the emotional tone of the audience. It’s like an IV to your heart. … ‘Introductions will be different. We can’t just turn off the lights, have a disco ball spinning and an announcer you can’t hear. That’s not show biz. That’s not good enough. … We need constant and never-ending improvement,’ Guber said. ‘I mean, we’ve got no (spot)light at center court. That’s simple drama. … Our music sometimes sounds like it was chosen by a passing truck. No detail is small, but we can’t fix every detail all at once. I ain’t the master of the universe, but I’ll take my shot.'”