It became official September 3, 2019, on a beautiful Tuesday morning: Chase Center is ready to open its doors.
Dignitaries, including Mayor of San Francisco London Breed and Governor of California Gavin Newsom, and media members were on hand to watch as Warriors Co-Executive Chairman & CEO Joe Lacob and Co-Executive Chairman Peter Guber officially cut the ribbon on a project more than seven years in the making.
Or as ceremonial host Ahmad Rashad put it, “2,600 days, 23 hours, and 30 minutes… but who’s counting?”
To summarize the journey of the Warriors franchise under the guidance of Lacob and Guber, Rashad drew a comparison to legendary college basketball coach John Wooden’s pyramid of success, noting that the Warriors’ pyramid includes “seven straight trips to the playoffs, five straight appearances in the NBA Finals, three NBA Championships, two NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and… one incredible, astonishing, staggering, phenomenal, spectacular, remarkable, unbelievable, magnificent, outstanding, impressive, extraordinary, gorgeous, breath-taking, scintillating, world-class, beautiful, fantastic, masterpiece: Chase Center.”
Lacob noted that the goal of the Chase Center experience from the beginning was one thing: an intimate environment.
“Growing up, seeing new basketball buildings and concert buildings built around the world, the one thing I have noticed — from our first meeting, Peter and I talked about this — was that we didn’t want to see a building that was some giant building where you got lost in it and where the sound wasn’t as good.”
“[Chase Center will provide] greater sound, reverberation, more of an intimate environment. And I think that you’re going to find every seat in this building is as close to the court as its existing seat in [Oracle Arena],” said Lacob.
Fans will soon experience this atmosphere as Chase Center is set to host the first public event in its history this Friday with the reunification of Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their S&M album. Many more events, including a variety of musical artists and pro wrestling, are lined up throughout September before the Warriors play their first preseason game on October 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In addition to the inaugural basketball season at the arena and upcoming entertainment stops, Warriors President & COO Rick Welts reminded everyone that the events are not limited to what happens within the doors of Chase Center: “This will be an ever-evolving place… every trip you make here, you’re going to discover something new. A new restaurant. A new activity [at Thrive City]. Maybe it’s a farmers market, maybe it’s a movie night.” Chase Center will play host to something for those in the Mission Bay neighborhood and everyone in Bay Area to enjoy.
From jokes about the luxuries of the players’ practice facility to the anticipation of the surrounding food and amenities, there was much excitement to be had at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Re-watch the full stream of the festivities here.
