Warriors welcome fans back to Chase Center: What you need to know

The Warriors will welcome back their faithful — about 6,300 of them — to the Chase Center next Friday for the first time in more than a year. Fans get their first shot at single-game tickets Wednesday morning.

They’ll be greeted by an entirely different gameday experience, never mind only having 34 previous ones at Golden State’s billion-dollar crown jewel, before COVID-19 shut down the season last March. It will have been 409 days since fans last entered the Chase Center when the Warriors take the court against the Clippers next week.

Now, pods of seats will be spaced throughout both levels of the arena — 35% of its 18,064 capacity — not unlike games hosted outdoors by the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s. What’s different: Fans can only consume concessions in designated areas — not in the arena bowl — and any ticketholder who buys at least seven days in advance will receive a complementary COVID test to self-administer at home. Similar to the Warriors’ neighbors in China Basin, all fans must present proof of vaccination or a negative test administered within 48 hours of tipoff.

Rick Welts, the outgoing Warriors president whose successor was named Tuesday, said being at the arena Monday night to witness Stephen Curry top Wilt Chamberlain’s franchise scoring record in a 53-point performance reminded him of the atmosphere awaiting with even a third of a full arena.

“I looked around and saw, what, a handful of people got to witness that in-person,” Welts said. “Moments like that become lifetime memories.”

Welts said he felt like he couldn’t step away when the pandemic struck.

“The timing of my departure, it could not have happened a year ago,” Welts said. “A year ago, we were wandering in the woods in the dark without a compass, like every other professional sports team. And today … I can’t wait to get people back in the building … The timing is perfect for me. I could not be more excited.”

Many more changes await Warriors fans for the final nine home games of the season. Luckily, we’ve compiled a guide to walk you through the process.

How do I get tickets?

If you thought it was hard to get Warriors tickets before the pandemic, just wait. Single-game sales for the general public begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday. With just over a third of available capacity, that means the Dubs will only be able to fit about the equivalent of three sellouts over the course of their nine games. Tickets will be available on the resale market but there will be no physical copies.

Before the pandemic, about 70% of all tickets scanned at Warriors home games were on mobile phones, according to John Beaven, the senior vice president in charge of ticket sales. Now, the club is going entirely mobile.

That means tickets, concessions, even driving directions and live transit information, are all available inside a revamped Warriors+Chase Center app, available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Is testing or proof of vaccination required?

Yes, every fan inside the Chase Center should either be fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past 48 hours. That also requires a smartphone app. Vaccinated fans will be able to buy tickets in designated sections of the arena, and they are not required to provide proof of a negative test unless they’re seated within 30 feet of the court. A test result beyond 48 hours in advance will be deemed invalid for all attendees.

In a novel move for a professional sports organization, the Warriors will provide every fan who purchases a ticket at least seven days in advance with a test to be self-administered at home. The results of that test, which is linked to the ticketholder, are uploaded to the CLEAR Health Pass app, which will show a green pass when approved for entry.

When a fan buys a ticket, that “triggers a molecular COVID-19 test to be mailed to their home approximately four days before Warriors games,” said Yoyo Chan, the Warriors vice president of government and community relations. “This program is the first of its kind for a sports team … and we’re incredibly proud to offer that.”

What about masks?

Yes, masks are required for everyone inside the Chase Center. In fact, they have been for many months even without fans in the building.

Dr. Robert Nied, a sports medicine physician for the team and at Kaiser Permanente, said there had been zero transmission of COVID-19 among the team’s players, coaching or staff at the arena.

“Masking wearing is going to be ubiquitous and has been in our time here,” Nied said.

How do I order concessions?

You might start to sense a theme here … you must use the Warriors+Chase Center app, which offers fans selections from 12 food stands and seven alcohol vendors. Fans place orders via the app for pickup at the concession stand.

Here’s the hook: You can’t take your food and beverages back to your seat. Eating and drinking (yes, even water) is prohibited in the arena bowl — a requirement in the city’s health guidelines, team officials said — so concessions must be consumed in designated areas, such as the concourse and outside on the esplanade overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

Chase Center will also be entirely cashless. Orders submitted over the mobile app can be made via credit or debit card, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

For those without access to a debit or credit card, new “cash-to-card” systems have been installed around the arena. Fans can insert dollar bills and get a preloaded card, which can be used for transactions inside and outside of Chase Center.

What other COVID precautions are being taken? 

Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco who worked with the Warriors to develop their plan for fans, said the Warriors had “gone the extra yard, far and away, to make this a safe experience for fans.”

Rutherford commended the modern ventilation system in the arena, which he called “a real divider” compared to older venues.

To get technical, the team says its arena’s HVAC filters aren’t only COVID-compliant but rate a 15 out of 16 on the MERV scale used to measure their filtration; experts recommend at least a 13 rating to filter COVID particles. An hour before doors open, the entire arena’s air supply will be replaced with outdoor air and then it’s cycled again four times an hour throughout the game.

The organization also partnered with Clorox, whose Oakland headquarters are blocks away from the team’s former training facility, to provide dispensers of sought-after wipes around the arena. There will also be a team of workers dedicated to disinfecting surfaces around the arena throughout the game, as well as 300 hand-sanitizer dispensers on site.

Kim Stone, Chase Center’s general manager, said the gameday experience had been “redesigned” and “reimagined … with the No. 1 goal of making sure we emerge from this with the safest arena in the country.”