Photo: Gregory Varnum · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Gregory Varnum · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sports Travel
Chase Center, the league's loudest modern arena, and a city built for long weekends. How to plan a basketball trip to San Francisco.
The Golden State Warriors spent a decade as the NBA's defining team, and Chase Center (their waterfront arena in Mission Bay, opened 2019) is the league's model modern building: great sightlines everywhere, excellent food for an arena, and a crowd that learned championship habits during the dynasty years.
San Francisco is a natural for a basketball weekend: compact, beautiful, and full of things to do between games. The arena's location even lets you do the waterfront properly.
Chase Center is one of the NBA's pricier tickets, but the building earns it: there's genuinely not a bad seat, and the concourse food is a step above standard arena fare. Weeknight games against non-rivals are the value play, as always.
Photo: Andrew Choy from Santa Clara, California · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Check the Warriors' Dayfari page for the schedule and ticket links. The arena sits in Mission Bay with the bay right there; the pre-game scene spills out onto the plaza with the water behind it, which is a very San Francisco way to start a game night.
Take the Muni (the T line stops at the arena) rather than driving; parking in Mission Bay on game nights is expensive and slow. Arrive early enough to walk the plaza and the waterfront.
Photo: Image taken by Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The crowd is knowledgeable and loud when it matters. After the game, the Mission District (a short ride away) is where the night continues: the city's best burritos, great bars, and the Valencia Street corridor.
The classics hold up: the Ferry Building for food, the walk across the Golden Gate (go early, it gets windy), Golden Gate Park, and the Mission for murals and food. The city's hills mean you'll get your steps in without trying.
Check our San Francisco pages for what's on around your game. The city's concert calendar is strong year-round, and the comedy scene (Cobb's, the Punch Line) is a perfect post-game plan. A Friday show plus a Saturday game is the ideal shape.
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