Warriors lose appeal over arena debt
State Supreme Court denies team’s appeal; it must pay nearly $50M
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Warriors’ appeal of a ruling ordering the team to pay Oakland and Alameda County nearly $50 million in debt leftover from 1996 renovations at the Oakland arena.
In denying a request to review the petition, the state Supreme Court issued another legal blow against the team in its dispute with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, which is run jointly by the city and county.
After the construction was completed, the Warriors made annual payments toward the $140 million in bonds issued by the city and county to finance the renovations. The team’s contract to play at the arena, formerly known as Oracle, required the team to continue paying off the bonds, even if the contract was “terminated.”
When the team departed for Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019, attorneys for the Warriors
argued they had not “terminated” the contract, but exercised an option in the agreement to leave.
The matter headed t o the cour t s. A n a rbitrator and a California Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Coliseum A ut hor it y, conc lud i n g
the Warriors must pay up. In August, a state appeals court panel reaffirmed that decision.
The Warriors then appealed to the state’s high court. The appeal was denied Wednesday, without comment.
“While we are disap - pointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to deny our petition, we will, as we’ve always indicated, pay the debt obligation
in accordance with the ruling,” Warriors spokesman Raymond Ridder said Wednesday.
Last month, Coliseum Authority Executive Director Henry Gardner said the debt is about $47 million.
Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan, who has called the Warriors ownership “deadbeat billionaires,” Wednesday said it is time for them to pay what is owed to taxpayers.
“I’ve been saying this for years and the Warriors have been saying things that turned out to be wrong,” Kaplan said. “So sleazy for billionaires to try to stick their long-term fans with their debts. I’m so glad I pushed to fight this. Our taxpayers deserve to be protected.”