Behind the scenes at the Oracle Arena

The Golden State Warriors is playing its last season at the Oracle Arena before moving to the Chase Centre. Tickets for the team's games are expensive so I was willing to go on a public tour to see what it looks like inside... pretty much what I wanted to do at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney except that I watched the rugby match instead (I couldn't afford the public tours back then).

The BART stops at the Coliseum Station so the Oracle Arena was just a walk away. It was quite a bit of a walk too because the Oakland Coliseum was much closer... and people had to walk around it to get to the Oracle Arena. 

The public tour started just outside the souvenir shop of the Warriors. The guide, Ken, provided some information to us (a very diverse group) about the venue and some house rules before we proceeded to one of the exclusive spots of the arena: the Premium Suites. As we exited the lift, I was surprised to see that there's a Tanduay Rum Club at the mezzanine level. Tanduay is a Philippine brand and I didn't know until I noticed the label on the lift directory that it is a sponsor of the Warriors. Cool!

So, the Premium Suites. This space is reserved for some of the richer audiences of basketball games. According to Ken, the suite we entered has an 18-person capacity. It has its own toilet facility and its own kitchen area. So, no popcorn and beer vendors up here... and no need to line up for the public restrooms.

The privacy of the premium suite also provides a good vantage point to watch the game. Obviously, it's not the spot to feel one with the audiences because the suite is far from court side but this is perfect for people who prefer to watch the games live while bringing with them small children and their elders, or they just didn't want to mingle with the rest of the audience.

Now, Ken was saying that the seats in the Premium Suite were not even the most expensive in the arena, despite easily costing around $38,000 per suite. There were other places that had more expensive seats... like the suites we didn't have access to. In these suites, clients can bring in their private chefs, they are provided their own concierges, and media aren't allowed to take photos or videos of people watching in those areas. Talk about privacy! The most expensive seats, according to Ken, are court side seats. How could regular people pay for such expensive tickets?!? Perhaps, I'm not that much of a basketball fan so I don't have high willingness-to-pay. But I'm sure regular people normally find ways to watch the game live... even though that meant sitting on the bleachers.

After showing us where the rich and famous people watched the Warriors, Ken took us on a history tour of the Warriors. As I listened to him, I learned that he's an avid fan and a season ticket holder for decades. He really knows his team. 

Ken showed us the evolution of the team logos. There have been quite a few over the years and it's fascinating to see how the team's branding has changed.

For example, the first team logo was originally hand-drawn by an artist who wasn't familiar with the sport. The logo featured a volleyball rather than a basketball... and nobody dared change it for sixteen years! The team eventually removed the American Indian character and made the headdress more elaborate. Then the logo was changed to feature the Golden Gate Bridge.  

A few more tweaks over around three decades and then we ended up staring at the current team logo. This one featured the Bay Bridge, which was a good thing because the logo now symbolises the link between San Francisco and Oakland. 

Aside from the logos, Ken showed us the visiting team's locker room. First thing Ken pointed out to us was how high the door was. The additional height is supposed to accommodate the towering players. Inside, the locker room was spartan: narrow lockers per player, cupboards designed for valuables (but without keys), utilitarian foldable chairs, and shower rooms where the hand dryers are way up in the wall. The colour palette was bland and cold, mostly greys and whites. Apparently, the team was using psychology and interior decoration to break up team spirit in the opposing basketball team.

When the opposing team walked onto the court, they had to pass through the rear of the arena, the place where fork lifts are parked, where supplies are stored... this, literally, was behind the scenes. Only people who are into production will probably enjoy being in this part of the arena.

One of the basketball players got so frustrated that he was able to throw a heavy garbage can onto the wall of the arena hard enough to puncture the wall. When this player returned, he saw that the wall wasn't repaired... the management decided that it's now part of the arena's history. So the basketball player put his autograph there and the space was covered in plexiglass.

Ken led us to the court floor through the passage used by the visiting teams. The Oracle Arena wasn't set up for a basketball game though. Rather, it was being prepared for a concert. Hence, we saw the platforms and the spare parts being used to assemble the stage. From here, I wondered how it must feel like when a new teammate comes in for the first time and the Oracle Arena is filled to the brim by Warriors fans. In fact, these supporters are very vocal that the arena is nicknamed Roaracle Arena... public announcements couldn't be heard over the din of the fans' cheers.

Through a smaller tunnel, we finally reached one of the highlights of this tour for Warriors fans: the locker room. According to Ken, typically, tourists aren't allowed inside the locker area but because our group had foreign guests (among the group were Turkish and Francophone visitors), Ken opted to show us what it looks like inside. We weren't allowed to touch anything though. Plus, there were areas that were off-limits to tourists (like the shower rooms and the therapy section).

This was where the fans were distinguished from the tourists. For instance, the tourists (like me) just had a look, took a few photos, and then left the room. The fans, however, asked a lot of questions, took note of the details of the scribbles on the board, had selfie shots in front of Stephen Curry's locker room, and pointed out the contents (the shoes!) of the other players' lockers.

Just outside the locker area, we saw the "hall of fame", a collection of photos of the Warriors' best players.

After our 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes access to the Warriors home court, many members of my tour group are now looking forward to watch a game live in the Oracle Arena before the team moves back across the bay to San Francisco. I found it cool that we were actually allowed inside the locker room... I could just imagine how crowded that room must be, with the athletes, the coaches, the physiotherapists, and the staff who prepared the players' uniforms, warm-up attires, and shoes.