Golden State unveils unique seat strategy
The Golden State Warriors are bringing the personalseat license to the NBA, and the fans interested in purchasing them will be asked for a 30-year commitment.
While pricing of the licenses has not been revealed, ESPN cited a team official as saying that the number of seats dedicated for seasonticket holders will decrease from 14,500 at Oracle Arena in Oakland to approximately 12,000 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The privately financed $1 billion Chase Center is scheduled to open in 2019.
Half of the tickets will come with a per-seat cost of $15,000 or less, while the other half will cost more than that, according to ESPN.
The Warriors, in turn, will return the money paid for the right to purchase tickets after 30 years, thereby creating a personal-seat license. The “membership” serves as an interest-free, tax-free loan to the team for three decades.
Fans can transfer or opt out of the license prior to 30 years, but they will not receive their money back until the final year.
The Toronto Raptors also offer personal-seat licenses, although those are for their best seats and also include rights for Maple Leafs tickets as well.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves and young star Andrew Wiggins are closing in on a five-year, $148 million contract extension.
Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau confirmed the discussions with the Canadian during a news conference to introduce new acquisition Jamal Crawford.
Wiggins has one season remaining on his rookie deal. The extension would begin in 2018-19 and he would make $25.5 million that season, according to published reports.
The base salary would increase to $30.6 million if Wiggins were to make an AllNBA team or be named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017-18.
The 22-year-old Wiggins averaged a career-best 23.6 points per game last season.