The Golden State Warriors have called Oakland their home since 1971, but with a new ownership group that took over in 2010, those days may soon be numbered.

The Warriors current lease at the Oracle Arena expires after the 2016-2017 season and a potential move to San Francisco is becoming more of a possibility as Warriors’ principle owner Joe Lacob has publicly stated they are exploring options in San Francisco.

A move to San Francisco would provide the Warriors and the city an economic boost, a national fan-base, the lure of a big city, appeal to free agents in their search for a team and provide them with a legitimacy they’ve been lacking for nearly two decades in the NBA.

As it’s name reveals, the Golden State Warriors are first and foremost a Bay Area team with fans in Oakland, San Francisco and elsewhere, and a move just across the bay would not hurt it’s fan base; instead it could grow.

Ever since the new ownership group took over in 2010, whispers of a move to San Francisco began and in December 2011, Joe Lacob made his first public comments about the situation.

“It took a year to get our feet wet, examine the organization and make a lot of changes. Step two is starting the process of getting a new arena somewhere in the Bay Area. We’re a Bay Area team. We consider the whole Bay Area our market, whether we’re located in San Francisco or Oakland,” said Lacob to reporters.

While Lacob turned down a deal with the San Francisco Giants to build an arena in the China Basin area next to AT&T Park, sources say the franchise is now looking towards a spot on Piers 30 and 32.

An arena in the heart of the city’s main tourist attractions would provide a significant boost to the team financially, with greater corporate sponsorships, enabling them to put a better quality product on the floor.

While it’s important to note moving to San Francisco does not immediately guarantee current players like David Lee or Stephen Curry will automatically step their game up, it does provide a promise to the future that can generate better players, more wins and a better basketball team.

According to the San Francisco Travel Association, tourism in 2011 was up 3 percent from 2010 with more then 16 million visitors who spent $8.5 billion while in the city. There’s no doubt having a successful NBA team would lure even more tourists and provide more revenue for the team and city.

The San Francisco Bay Area is the sixth largest media market according to Nielson Ratings, however, are not considered a major market to the NBA.

Outside of California, many people don’t even know what city “Golden State” plays in and a move to San Francisco would provide a national rebranding in becoming a major market. This in turn would attract valuable free agents, something that has been nearly impossible in the past ten years.

Oakland has become the forgotten city when it comes to sports franchises. The Oakland A’s have had just one winning season in the past five years, while the Oakland Raiders have not made the playoffs since 2002, with just one playoff appearance since 1994.

A move to San Francisco would also appeal to a broader fan base and link itself to the recent success of the San Francisco Giants and 49ers.

With the A’s looking to move to San Jose and the Raiders future up in the air, Oakland may soon find itself with no sports teams, and while this is unfortunate, it’s been a long time coming.
So often during nationally televised games, announcers can be heard saying the Warriors have the best fan base in the NBA, they deserve better.

Having only made the playoffs once in the last 18 seasons, Warriors fans do deserve better and a move to San Francisco would deliver them the winning team they deserve.