As the Golden State Warriors open the season today at their new $1.4 billion arena in San Francisco, they’re turning out to be sore losers across the bay trying to stick taxpayers with the team’s $56 million debt.
That’s how much is still owed to retire bonds the city of Oakland and county of Alameda issued back in 1996 to finance renovations the team wanted as a condition of staying at the Coliseum Arena.
The bonds were to be repaid over 30 years. The team has tried to claim that, when it left town, it could also walk away from the debt.