Oracle Settlement Reached

A settlement reached between the Golden State Warriors NBA team and the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority means Oracle Arena could soon get an upgraded sound system and as much as $4 million in funds for other improvements.

The deal also calls for that authority to pay another $3 million to end litigation.

The settlement marked the end of a more than five-year dispute and includes a payment of more than $10 million in back rent that was made last year by the team’s new owners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. The Warriors stopped making rent payments to the arena authority in 2006.

The team said the authority had failed to pay for a new scoreboard or book enough concerts and shows there. The authority and team share revenue from some non-basketball events at Oracle Arena, according to the Oakland Tribune.

Alameda County supervisors and the Oakland City Council signed off on the deal, ending the dispute. But it doesn’t end all of the authority’s sports woes.

“It’s a good deal for the county and city,” Alameda Supervisor Nate Miley told the Tribune. “We continue to be challenged with our professional sports teams – the A’s, Warriors and Raiders – but there may be better days ahead.”