Golden State Warriors must pay off $40 million Oracle Arena debt

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors can’t leave for the City without paying the Town, an arbitrator ruled Monday.

When the team crosses the bay next season for its gleaming, new $1 billion arena in San Francisco, it will still be on the hook for about $40 million to retire the debt for renovation costs at its current home, Oracle Arena.

Arbitrator Rebecca Westerfield’s ruling settled an argument between the Warriors and the city of Oakland and Alameda County, which own the arena, over language in a 1996 contract.

“This was an after-the-fact attempt by the Warriors to rewrite the parties’ deal, and it would have left the people of Oakland and Alameda County holding the bag,” said Daniel Purcell, a partner Keker, Van Nest & Peters, which represented the city and county. “We are grateful that the arbitrator saw it our way.”

In a statement, the Warriors said the team disagreed with Westerfield’s interpretation of the license agreement with the Coliseum authority.

“Of course we are reviewing our options at this time, but as we’ve always said, we will fulfill any debt obligations that we owe,” the team said.

The decision was a major victory for the city and county, which are still saddled with nearly $80 million in renovation costs at the Coliseum for the Raiders, for which the NFL team is not obligated to pay, even when they leave for Las Vegas.