Warriors' owner pursues perfect fan experience

Walking into Peter Guber's Mandalay Entertainment Group office is like walking into a posh sports-memorabilia gallery.

Stepping off bustling Wilshire Boulevard in Hollywood and into a quiet haven filled with photos, athletic equipment and jerseys can be a little jarring, so the powerful film producer and executive is quick to direct guests toward the most important pieces.

The Warriors' co-owner beams as he shows off his Boston Bruins sweater from the 2011 Stanley Cup, his signed jersey from the Boston Celtics' 2008 championship and a Tom Brady offering from the 2004 Super Bowl.

That these three keepsakes are the ones closest to Guber's heart exemplify the approach he's taking to building the Warriors' fan base.

"I'm a legacy fan," Guber said late last month. "I grew up (in Newton, Mass.) cheering for those teams. The Patriots weren't even around when I was in Boston, but I'm a fan."

Legacy fans, ones who cheer their teams through ups and downs without hesitation, are few and far between in this era of free agency, franchise relocation and fantasy games. Guber aims to change that.

He has seen some devastating failures and equally overwhelming successes in minor-league sports, and Guber wants to bring that experience to the major-league level.

He owned a minor-league hockey team in Las Vegas that failed, because "fans didn't give a puck." He has had triumphs in minor-league baseball, including the ultimate success story in Dayton, Ohio.

The Dayton Dragons, a Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, set the professional sports record for consecutive sellouts at 815 games last month. A city that has gone through two recessions and lost about 80,000 jobs has purchased almost 8,000 tickets a game for the past decade.

Despite a 24-game home losing streak last season, the seats were always full and the outfield berm was, too. A waiting list for season tickets has grown to more than 9,000 people.

"No one could have guessed we'd have this success in that market, but there was an attention to detail from the beginning." Guber said. "We decided to build the integrity of authenticity and let that shine through."

Because the Dayton team is run by the big-league club, Guber, and his partners, Magic Johnson and Archie Griffin, have little control over the roster or coaching staff. Everything else has their fingerprints.

Everything.

They built a state-of-the-art stadium. They train for friendly customer service from ticket sellers to parking attendants and ushers to vendors. They have been acclaimed by local media for their food, merchandise, uniforms, mascot and in-game entertainment.

"You're putting on a performance every day," Guber said. "Doing it exactly the same in another market, wouldn't work, but the secret sauce anywhere is being interested in the audience, not just be interesting to the audience."

Guber wants to bring that method to the Bay Area, where he and Joe Lacob are less than a year into their ownership of the Warriors. They've already made major changes in the business and basketball operations, and they're completely renovating the team's headquarters and practice facilities in downtown Oakland.

More is coming.

A dazzling orator and storyteller, Guber managed to talk about the Warriors for nearly an hour without ever mentioning the NBA, basketball, the Warriors or any of their players. All the while, the topic was abundantly obvious.

"Every touch point from the time a fan decides to buy a ticket to the time they leave the arena is important. If it's difficult to get out of the parking lot, we've just ruined the dessert of their dinner," Guber said. "Music really counts. It sets the emotional tone of the audience. It's like an IV to your heart.

"Introductions will be different. We can't just turn off the lights, have a disco ball spinning and an announcer you can't hear. That's not show biz. That's not good enough."

The Warriors' new ownership team has little control of the arena, which it leases. The parking attendants are controlled by the city and could be getting a different company message from the Raiders or A's, who share their services.

That hasn't stopped Guber's marketing vision from developing Technicolor dreams. He wants to add more health-food options, find better ways to entertain the 1,500 or so fans who show up 1 1/2 hours before tip-off, and polish every crevice of Oracle Arena.

"We need constant and never-ending improvement," Guber said. "I mean, we've got no (spot)light at center court. That's simple drama. ... Our music sometimes sounds like it was chosen by a passing truck.

"No detail is small, but we can't fix every detail all at once. I ain't the master of the universe, but I'll take my shot."

Guber rarely has taken an out-front role with the Warriors. More often, he sits in the owner's suite instead of sitting courtside with Lacob, whom Guber calls "a visionary who has the audience at heart and deeply cares about the product he's fielding."

Guber is trying to figure out a way to make that product available to all - a tough sell when the Warriors' proposed schedule includes no Sunday home games and all home tip-offs at 7:30 p.m.

"I'd like to draw heavily on a diverse family experience," Guber said. "If you make all of the games during the week at 7:30 p.m., when does a 9-year-old come to the game? How does a family bring its 9- and 11-year-old to the game? How do you develop legacy fans?

"The Warriors have a great legacy, but we've got to honor that and find ways to continue it."