The Golden State Warriors have played in Oakland, California, since 1971 and have one of the league's best home court advantages thanks to their energetic fan base.
So far this season, the Warriors have one of the NBA's best records at home, sitting at 7-1 at Oracle Arena. But while Oracle has been good to the Warriors, the team is planning on moving to a state of the art arena in San Francisco in 2019.
The Warriors already have a sponsor for their new arena, Chase Center. However because of environmental concerns about construction (mainly traffic and noise) and the location of the arena, everything was put on hold.
But a California court of appeals ruled in the franchise's favor Tuesday, upholding the Warriors' environmental impact report (EIR), which allows the team to move ahead with construction.
"We're very pleased by the Appellate Court's ruling," Warriors COO Rick Welts said in a statement. "We engaged in an extensive public planning process and we were approved by every board, agency and regulatory body we went before. This decision clears the path for us to build a new state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue and bring the Warriors back home to San Francisco. We look forward to breaking ground soon."
The Warriors played in San Francisco for nine years (1962-1971) before moving to Oakland, so their move in 2019 will be something of a homecoming. And thanks to the California court of appeals' ruling, that homecoming will become a reality for the Warriors in the next two years.
