Case study of the golden state warriors business model

1. EBM Assignment Three
Golden State Warriors
Zaqui Saiyed
01/09/2021
Carol Wonsavage, Entertainment Business Models

2. Why I chose this company:
Moving from India to the US, the first sports team I was introduced to be the San
Francisco Golden State Warriors. Growing up 30 mins away from the warrior’s arena I became a
fan of the team. The Warriors have also had a huge impact on the community surrounding San
Francisco with their Warrior community foundation which is also another reason I chose this
team.
BackgroundInformation
The Golden State Warriors are a San Francisco, California-based professional basketball
team. The Golden State Warriors are a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division of
the National Basketball Association (NBA). Originally the Philadelphia Warriors, based in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1946 as a founding member of the Basketball
Association of America (BAA). The team was renamed the San Francisco Warriors after
relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962. (Han, J. 2021, May 20). In 1971, the team
adopted the nickname Golden State, which is the nickname for California. The Oracle Arena in
Oakland was the team's home court from 1972 until 2019 when the team decided to move across
the bridge to a new stadium in San Francisco named the Chase Center. (Augustyn, A. 2021,
December 9).
Over the past two decades, the franchise has grown its valuation from $200 million to a
whopping $5.6 Billion. This valuation ranks the warriors as the second most expensive franchise
in the NBA. The main reason behind this is the success of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and
Draymond green. The team struggled in the 1980s, but with talents like Tim Hardaway, Mitch
Richmond, and Chris Mullin, they were able to be regulars in the playoffs at the turn of the
decade. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green led the club to a championship in

3. 2015, and they won it again in 2017 and 2018 with the help of former MVP Kevin Durant.
Currently, the franchise has the best record in the NBA and has also signed Steph curry to $215
over 4 years making him the highest-paid player in the NBA. (von, K. 2021, May 12)
According to Forbes, the Warriors pull in approximately $500 million per season, with
estimates of closer to $700 million per year. The warriors also finalized the most expensive
jersey patch sponsorship deal worth $20 million per year with Rakuten. Before the pandemic,
each Warriors game at the $1.4 billion Chase Center in San Francisco brought in over $3 million
in gate revenue. Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid $450 million to buy the Warriors in
2010, The annual revenue of the team is more than that currently. (Canales, K. 2020, March 11)

4. Customer Segments
· Men 18-44: 60% of NBA watchers are men between the age of 18-44 (Gough, C. 2021,
October 14)
· Sponsors: Live games,the arena,and game telecasts all have sponsors. Brands with exclusive
rights to offer team jerseys or shoes, exclusive vendors of beer or soft beverages,airlines that provide
team transport, and more are examples of sponsors.
Value Proposition
· Star Athletes: Steph curry,Klay Thomson, Draymond green. 3-star players that have been
drafted by the franchise and have won 3 titles. Steph curry has the most 3 points made in NBA history,
Draymond Green is the Defensive Player of the year and Klay Thomson is 5x NBA all-star.
· Coach: Steve Kerr was a 2016 coach of the year. A man who has won the championships 5x
as a player and 3x as a coach also holds the records for most wins in a season.
· Chase Center: The NBA arena with the best facilitates and technological infostructure. Built-
in 2019 worth around $1.42 billion
· 6 NBA Championships: in 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, 2017, 2018 the golden state warriors
won the NBA title.
· NBA franchise: there are only 30 NBA franchises in the world and the golden state warriors
are the second most expensive franchise in the NBA.
Channels of Distribution
· Live games at chase center: 18,000 people are allowed at the Venue of each home game for
the warriors and the tickets range from $250-$7,000
· Games broadcasted on TV: There are 82 NBA games played by each team all broadcasted
on mostly TNT, ESPN,ABC, and NBA TV

5. · Games played at away arenas: Out of the 82-game season, 41 are played in a way stadiums
so other cities can watch star athletes live.
· Games shown on streaming platforms: YouTube TV and NBA league pass are the only
streaming services that allow you to watch NBA games at any time anywhere.
· Sports Bars: Bars that show basketball games at their venue and are filled with most sports
fans.
Customer Relationships
· Merchandise: Steph curry,the star athlete jersey sales are in the top 10 of the NBA. Warrior
jerseys sales as a team are in the top 5 most bought jerseys by fans.
· Social media pages: The warriors have 20.7 million Instagram followers (Instagram. 2022), 7
million Twitter followers, and have over 11 million likes on the Facebook business page.
· Website: Warriors website besides ticket sales and merchandise also has updated for fan
events, games, or meet and greets. They also post articles and blogs written regarding the current situation
of the team. (Lacob, J. 2021, March 1)
· Local talk shows: Dubs talk, and NBC sports bay area are the two main providers of fan
gossip and news for specifically the warriors. (Lacob, J. 2021, March 1)
· Warriors’ community foundation: The warrior community foundation supports education
and youth development to promote thriving students, schools, and communities mostly in the bay area but
partner with other organizations globally.
· Warriors Bars: warriors bars are restaurants/pubs specifically for warrior fans and show all
warrior games.

6. Key Resources:
· Chase Center: The home court arena for the Golden State Warriors. Newly Built in 2019,
the cost for this arena was just around $1.5 Billion. The arena fits about 18,061 people for basketball
games which means for concerts,the capacity could be around 18,500. Slater, A. (2020, October 10)
· Head Coach: Steve Kerr is currently the head coach of the golden state warriors. He has led
the warriors to 5 NBA finals trips while winning 3 of them. He gets paid $5,000,000 per year with a
chance to receive bonuses up to $10,000,000. Kozlowski, J. (2020, May 11)
· Athletes: The most important part of any sports team is the athletes who perform for the team.
The warriors have a 15 man roster per night but they also have practice players which play for the Santa
Cruz Warriors (G league Affiliate).
· Front Office Staff: Front office staff includes people from the executive team, legal team to
the marketing and PR team. Without any of these people, the warriors would not be able to run as
efficiently.
· Arena Staff: Arena staff consists of concession stand workers, retail workers, ticket sales,
security, and hygiene management. These people are crucial to the product for the Live audience.
· Health Staff: The health staff consists of 8 team orthopedists, 2 team doctors, 3 assistant
athletic trainers, 1 head athletic trainer, and 4 strength and conditioning staff members. Lucas,M. (2021).
Key Activities:
· Draft Upcoming Players: Each year,there is an NBA draft which consists of all the NBA
teams drafting upcoming young talents from college, The G league, and international basketball leagues.
For the 2021 draft, the Warriors drafted 19-year-old Jonathan Kuminga from the G league and 19-year-
old Moses Moody out of Arkansas university. Sanders, R. (2021, July 30).

7. · Sign/Resign Athletes: Each year the warriors resign players or add new players to their roster.
The main roster consists of 15 spots. This year’s new additions for the warriors include Otto Porter Jr.,
Nemanja Bjelica, Gary Payton Jr., etc. Klopfer, B. (2021, August 5).
· Sign/Resign Coaching staff: warriors coaching staff includes positions like player
development coach, assistant coach, Director of team development, etc. These positions are crucial for the
development of the players and team. The salaries could range from $5,000,000/year to $100,000/year.
Clemmon, D. (2021, March 20).
· Promote Upcoming season: Promotion of the upcoming seasons is extremely important for
generating revenue. Promotions could include creating advertisements to setting up a meet and greet for
the players. This will attract consumers to the brand and help bring in more live audiences.
· Finalize travel arrangements: Normally the warriors have their staff members handling
travel and hotel but due to the increased complexity with travel laws. The warriors have inked a deal with
sports-specific travel agency Pivot to help them manage their hotel and travel. Kulik, A. (2020, October
29).
· Finalize sponsorship deals: Before the start of the year, warriors need to finalize all
sponsorship deals for jersey patches and naming rights. Warriors continued with Rakuten as a jersey patch
sponsor, paying around $20 million per year. Leonard, J. (2021, November 12).
Key Partners:
· NBA: The Warriors are one of the original NBA teams which have been pro sports teams since
1946. NBA is the Parent league that monitors, promotes, and produces content for teams like the Golden
state warriors.
· Rakuten: Since 2017, Rakuten a Japanese e-commerce company has been paying the Warriors
$20 million per year to be represented as a patch on the warrior’s jersey. Leonard, J. (2021, November
12).

8. · Kaiser Permanente: before the Chase center was built Kaiser Permanente signed a $295
million deal with the Warriors for the naming rights. So, it’s the Golden State warriors presented by
Kaiser Permanente.Sovern,D. (2019, June 27).
· Adobe: When the warriors decided to change their home court to chase center,they partnered
up with adobe to become the warrior’s season ticket sales partner. Adobe Sign makes it faster,and easier
to buy season tickets. grinfelds, D. (2019, August 28).
· NBC Sports Bay area: NBC sports Bay area is the official cable broadcaster of the golden
state warriors. All warrior games are available on NBC Sports Bay area if you live in the bay area or
another NBC affiliated Channel.
· 95.7 The Game: 95.7 is the official Radio channel affiliated with the golden state warriors. It’s
a Bay area exclusive and offers severaltalk shows and debate shows to excite the fans.
· Nike: Nike is the official jersey partner for all NBA teams. Since the 2015 season, Nike has
been the sole producer of all NBA jerseys. The deal is an 8-year deal worth roughly around $1 Billion.
Rovell, D. (2015, June 10).
Coststructure
· Talent Salaries: The Warriors have one of the highest salary caps in the NBA. for the 2022
season,the warrior’s salary cap totals around $207 million. The biggest amount they pay is $45 Million
per year for the greatest shooter of all time: Steph Curry. N/A. (2021).
· Coaching Salaries: The head coach of the warriors is Steve Kerr, whose salary is $5 Million
per year. Recently Kerr signed a 5-year $25 million deal with the warriors to extend his stay with the
team. The exact salaries for the other coaches are unknown but could range from $1 Million per year to
100K per year. Clemmon, D. (2021, March 20).
· Front office staff salaries: The exact number of front office staff and salaries are unknown,
but the warriors have a total of 10,71 full-time employees to pay including the arena staff.

9. · Arena staff salaries: Arena staff includes, security, Ticket sales, Concession stands, hygiene,
and many more. The exact number of Arena staff and salaries are unknown, but the warriors have a total
of 10,71 full-time employees to pay including the front office staff. Growjo, N. A. (2020).
· Arena maintenance: Th warriors paid a whopping $1.5 Billion to create the chase center. The
maintenance for the center could cost around $5 million a year including all the computer system
maintenance. Slater, A. (2020, October 10)
· Marketing Costs: For an NBA team the exact marketing costs are unknown due to the heavy
involvement of the league marketing the games. The estimate for the golden state warriors marketing cost
ranges from $3 million per year to $10 million per year.
Revenue Streams
· Sponsorships: The warriors gain an estimate of around $100 million per year in sponsorships,
their main 2 sponsors are Rakuten and Kaiser each paying around $20 million per year.
· Live-Game ticket sales: The chase center seats around 18,000 people for a basketball game
and there are roughly 40 home games each season. during the 2019-2020 season, the warriors generated
$200 million from live game ticket sales. The average ticket price is around $175. Gough, C. (2021,
February 16).
· Merchandise Sales: The warriors have 3-star players who each have 3 championship rings.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are among the top 30 players in the league and their
jersey sales bring in millions in revenue for the warriors.
· TV Network Deals: The TV deals are negotiated by the NBA league, and they decide how the
money will be distributed. The NBA has a 9-year $25 Billion TV rights deal signed with ESPN and turner
which is coming to an end soon. Reports say the new deal could be worth up to $75 Billion over 9 years.
Young, J. (2021, March 22).

10. Summary
After analyzing, reviewing, and breaking down the Golden State Warriors I have understood why
the warriors are one of the highest valued NBA teams with a valuation of $5.6 Billion. The history of
being of the first NBA teams combined with the recent success of the team has elevated the warriors into
being one of the best franchises out there. Owner Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the team for $450
million. Over the 10 years,they have built a dynasty, drafted 3 All-NBA players, won 3 championships,
and built a brand-new stadium worth $1.5 Billion which has brought the team’s valuation to $5.6 Billion.
From the outside, you think all the success on the court is the reason for the off-court success,but
regardless of how they have played on the court, I believe the owners and front office have done an
amazing job, choosing their sponsors, partners, and affiliates to match their identity. Which is “Strength
in Numbers”.

11. References:
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