Winning = Money

What would you do with $315 million? Would you by a basketball team? If so than you could afford the Warriors. Maybe you'd have to overpay a little bit, but I'm pretty sure you could walk away with them for $330 million. This would be a wise investment. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the Bay Area's population at just over 7 million. According to Forbes, the dubs play in a market containing 4,274,531 consumers. The Pistons who play in the economically ravaged city of Detroit in front of a metro population of 4,425,110 are worth $479 million. They won a championship in 2004 without a true star. They didn’t even have a superstar on their team during all of their playoff success from 2001-2008. They weren’t even a young team. They just won games. You do the math.

What if the Warriors were contenders every season?

What if they didn’t play “exciting” basketball but winning basketball? What if they had a roster of veterans that played defense and scored just a little bit more than the other team every night? Would that qualify as a great timeout? What if they didn’t have potential, but they had actual ability? What if they had a coach for longer than 2½ years? What if they had jerseys that were redesigned with better numbers and lettering?

It wouldn’t be correct for one to assume that Chris Cohan is okay with the W’s losing. It doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps we should look at it like we would a person who isn’t happy with their job. They would like to work somewhere else, but while they’re there, it pays the bills so they won’t quit. The employee doesn’t work as hard as he could because he’s comfortable. In the past he worked harder, but the results were the same and he was rewarded with nothing. Years go by and he could be in line for a promotion and a raise but he doesn’t even know it because he’s so used to his current wage and his job security. No one is going to fire him and he certainly isn’t going to quit, so he’s content with being … whatever.

This is how the W’s operate, whatever. Bad team? Whatever. Good team? Whatever. Future? Whatever? Bottom Line? Important.

If the W’s were given a plan to increase their profit margin and overall team value Cohan would take that plan. If that plan included winning he would love that plan. Most owners try to accomplish both of these objectives. After all, this is the point of buying a team. Owners are businessmen that happen to enjoy a particular sport, but they become owners of a team as an investment opportunity.

The great owners in sports understand that their teams are much like their businesses. In order to make money you have to spend money. More importantly you have to hire qualified and trustworthy people. And everyone that you hire has to be on the same page. In sports, the more you win, the more money you make. This is true with every team. There is no team in all of sports that wins consistently and loses money at the same time.

This is an appeal to Chris Cohan. Please start winning so that you can make more money. The W’s were one of the few teams in 2009 that brought in $1 million per home game. When you make the playoffs that number grows. Go deep into the playoffs and that number grows much larger. What about a championship? Imagine the possibilities.