硅谷科技男吸引NBA球队把主场搬到旧金山

    旧金山市有望迎来一位新客人。上周，NBA金州勇士队宣布，计划把球队主场从奥克兰迁到隔着一个海湾的旧金山，同时将在旧金山修建一座漂亮的新球馆。当然，勇士队强调，它们需要市政议员们的协作，才能按时完成体育馆修建工作，这样球队才能按计划于2017年顺利迁至旧金山。不过，一旦体育场建好，勇士队将更需要另一个群体：硅谷科技男。

    勇士队将耗资5亿美元，在旧金山滨水区30至32号码头修建新体育馆。Twitter、点评网站Yelp和社交游戏公司Zynga等大名鼎鼎的互联网公司就坐落在新场馆周边，相隔仅仅一箭之遥。这些公司财力雄厚，有能力包下豪华套间、购买企业套票。

    勇士队联席执行总裁彼得•古贝尔在修建新体育馆的新闻发布会上恭维说：“这里是技术界的地盘。”另一位执行总裁乔•莱科布深知勇士队需要很多帮助，但他显得更具幽默感。本赛季是勇士队在旧金山湾地区度过的第50个赛季。他打趣说：“新体育馆耗资巨大，我们也许需要50年才能还清债务。”

    对勇士队而言，在旧金山修建体育馆的财务优势很明显。整个地区生意正在以旧金山为中心源源不断地流出，有了这座新体育馆，技术大佬们在旧金山举办活动、招待客人时看球赛将方便得多。“现在我们可以赢得众多不愿驱车过桥前往奥克兰（观看球赛）的初创企业，”勇士队企业和高端拓展经理格雷格•乌里克说。“赢得硅谷的科技男当然是迁往旧金山的意图之一。”乌里克负责企业赞助，同时负责销售贵宾和企业季票以及豪华套间票。

    乌里克拒绝透露目前有哪些硅谷公司和勇士队建立了合作关系，虽然他表示几乎所有大型技术公司都与球队有联系。苹果（Apple）互联网软件和服务部高级副总裁艾迪•库就经常捧场勇士队的球赛。乌里克还特意强调了一位缺席者。“Twitter就在这里（在旧金山）。但我们目前还没有任何合作，不过我相信以后一定会有。我准备邀请他们加入。”

    勇士队的另一老板莱科布同样在技术界颇有人脉，他是硅谷传奇投资公司凯鹏华盈（Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers）的合伙人。硅谷未来学家兼斯坦福大学（Stanford）工程学院咨询教授保罗•萨夫表示：“如果凯鹏华盈的合伙人掌控球队，闭着眼睛都能想到，他一定会向所有律师事务所施加压力，所有凯鹏华盈帮助上市的新创企业也不会放过。”

    San Francisco is likely getting a new toy. This week, the NBA's Golden State Warriors announced their intentions to move the Oakland-based team across the bay to San Francisco, complete with plans for a swanky new arena. Yes, the team stressed it would need the cooperation of civic leaders to build the arena in time for its expected move-in date of 2017. But, once it's built, the team will need another group even more: the tech community.

    The new $500 million arena, to be built along the city's waterfront on piers 30 to 32, is a stone's throw from the offices several marquee web brands including Twitter, Yelp (YELP), and Zynga (ZNGA). Those are the kinds of companies that will have to fill luxury suites and buy corporate tickets.

    "This is the tech world right here," said Peter Guber, co-executive chairman of the Warriors, during press conference on the future building site. Joe Lacob, the team's other chairman, at least has a sense of humor about how much help they'll need. This NBA season marked the Warriors' 50th anniversary in the Bay area. "With the cost of this arena, it may take us 50 years to pay it back," he quipped.

    The financial upside of an arena in the city seems obvious for the sports team. Commerce in the region flows out of San Francisco, and it will be a lot more convenient for tech bigwigs to hold events and entertain guests at a game on their side of the peninsula. "Now we can get all the tons of startups out there who didn't want to drive over the bridge from Oakland," says Greg Uhrik, manager of corporate and premium development for the Warriors. "Getting the tech world was definitely one of the intentions in moving to the city." Uhrik is in charge corporate sponsorships and sales of VIP and corporate season tickets and luxury suites.

    He declined to share specifics on what Silicon Valley companies currently have corporate relationships with the team, though he says almost all of the big tech companies have accounts. (Eddy Cue, Apple's (AAPL) senior vice president of Internet software and services, has often been seen at Warriors games.) Uhrik did however mention one notable absentee. "Twitter is out there [in San Francisco]," he says. "They don't do anything with us now, but I'm sure they will. I'm going to try to get them to."

    Co-owner Lacob also has personal tech ties that could serve him well; he's a partner at legendary Silicon Valley investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. "If a Kleiner partner owns the team, you can count on the fact that they'll be putting the squeeze on all the law firms, and on all the startups that they've helped go public," says Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley futurist and consulting professor at the Stanford engineering school.