Warriors promoting Brandon Schneider to replace Rick Welts as team president

The Golden State Warriors are promoting Brandon Schneider to replace Rick Welts as president and chief operating officer at the end of the season, the team announced Tuesday.

Schneider, who will report to co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, will transition into his new role on July 1. Welts announced last week that he will step down from his current position at the end of the 2020-21 season.

The Warriors considered “several internal candidates,” according to Guber, before promoting Schneider.

“It’s a great pleasure today to announce Brandon succeeding Rick, who is going to be obviously very difficult to replace. He’s a legend in this business,” Lacob said. “Brandon is very intelligent, he’s collaborative, he’s well respected, he’s well connected in the industry.

“It’s not only important to be able to lead and manage the organization … but this person has to be able to work with me, and with Peter (Guber), who are very involved in the organization,” he continued. “We have to be able to work with our president, and we have a tremendous relationship and we get along so well. I think that’s going to serve us well going forward.”

Currently in his 19th season with the Warriors, Schneider, 41, spent the last three seasons as the team’s chief revenue officer, overseeing ticket sales, corporate partnerships, marketing and philanthropic efforts among other priorities.

Schneider said he considers Welts a mentor.

“I’ve learned so much from him,” Schneider said of Welts, the Hall of Fame executive who worked in the NBA for 46 years and held high-ranking roles in the league office before joining the Warriors in 2011. “In my opinion, he’s the most respected executive in sports — not just the NBA.”

During Schneider’s tenure, the Warriors sold out season tickets, had a 90% season-ticket renewal rate for seven straight seasons, and sold out 377 straight games, per the team. He was also heavily involved with the completion of the Warriors’ $1.4 billion Chase Center arena that opened in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood in 2019 as well as the organization’s effort to host spectators at Chase Center at 35% capacity for the final nine home games of the season, starting April 23.

“We’re excited for that,” Schneider said of fans attending games this month. “There’s light at the end of that COVID tunnel, but we’re going to have to navigate that. What does that look like as we look ahead to next year? And then longer-term?”

Going forward, Schneider’s priorities include safely welcoming fans at 100% capacity next season and developing the land around the arena — dubbed “Thrive City” — with businesses, bars and restaurants.

During the introductory news conference Tuesday afternoon, Schneider also mentioned international opportunities, NFTs, media rights and sports betting as potential areas of revenue.

Schneider, who attended high school at Menlo School in Atherton and describes himself as a “die-hard” Warriors fan growing up, was hired in 2002 a day before his 23rd birthday as a season ticket account executive. He was promoted to several executive positions in ticket sales before being promoted to senior vice president of business development in 2015, then to chief revenue officer in 2018.

“I started out selling tickets and my job evolved over the years,” Schneider said. “But this is something I’ve aspired to for a long time — it is a dream job for me.”