Golden State Warriors sale doesn't hurt, but it doesn't necessarily aid Karen Davidson's efforts to sell the Detroit Pistons

060210-karen-davison.jpgThe Golden State Warriors could get Karen Davidson to rethink the Detroit Pistons value.

Last week, Christopher Cohan agreed to sell the Golden State Warriors to a investment group fronted by Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber and Boston Celtics minority owner Joe Lacob. The $450 million price tag was a record figure for an NBA franchise.

It's also worth noting that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made a last-ditch effort to trump Guber and Lacob's bid. In fact, there were actually four official bids made for the team.

Remember, this is a franchise that has only made one playoff appearance in past 16 seasons.

Michael Rosenberg took the sale as a good sign when he wrote, "But the gamble of selling a team in a depressed economy looks a lot better than it did last week."

It's hard to argue with his logic when the Warriors, valued at $315 million by Forbes, sold over 40 percent higher than that estimate. In the same valuation, the Pistons were estimated to be worth $479 million.

There are probably a couple different reasons the Warriors' final price came in so high. First and foremost, location. Golden State plays in Oakland, Calif., but the fan reach easily extends into neighboring San Fransisco. That's the number six television market in the country. 

Second, the Warriors are located in Silicon Valley, home of some of the wealthiest Americans. In fact, California has nearly 10 times the number of billionaires as the state of Michigan. Not that they're all sports fans interested in owning a franchise, but the pool of potential owners is much larger.

Another factor is attendance. By all accounts, the Warriors have been run into the ground by Cohan's mismanagement. Yet, despite years of bad basketball, the fans continue to turn out in droves for Warriors home games.  The potential to build on this fan base, in ticket sales, merchandise and advertising dollars had to be intriguing to each of the bidders. 

Obviously, the Pistons fan base is even more deserving of praise. Detroit was number one in attendance for six out of seven seasons before last year, but times are different now.  The Pistons still ranked top ten in ticket sales last season, but many of those tickets, including luxury seating, were steeply discounted.  With the economy still struggling and the team unlikely to seriously contend for championships anytime soon, the Pistons will likely struggle to fill the Palace the next few years.  

A third reason is supply and demand.  As Sacramento King co-owner George Maloof pointed out in a recent interview, NBA teams are hard to come by. 

"We tried buying eight different NBA teams, and they are hard to buy because there are only 30 of them and the owners never want to sell," Maloof said. "It’s an emotional thing."

If there are only 30 teams, and owners are reluctant to sell, it's going to drive up the value.  How else can you explain how Cohan was able to sell the Warriors for $331 million more than he purchased the team for only 15 years ago. 

Still, the biggest question has to be whether the Warriors selling at a premium will reset the bar on Karen Davidson's exceptions.  Before those expectations may have been tempered, but now one has to wonder. If the Pistons price tag goes go higher with this news, will it scare off any potential local buyers? If it does, Davidson won't be able to sell the team by the start of the season like she had been planning.