Background:

The Golden State Warriors were first established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, where the franchise won the championship in the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the league that would eventually become the National Basketball Association. The organization has called the Bay Area home since 1962.

On November 15, 2010, the Warriors entered a new era in their history, as the team was acquired by an ownership group led by sports and entertainment fixtures Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. Since purchasing the Warriors, Lacob and Guber have shown commitment to building the brand to the level of NBA elites, both on and off the court. Since 2010, the Warriors have been to six NBA Finals and won four NBA Championships. With a core roster featuring former MVP Stephen Curry, six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler III, and former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green, the team has demonstrated its ability to seamlessly integrate in a remarkably short period, just in time for the playoffs. Off the court, the Warriors have twice been named Sports Business Journal “Team of the Year” and were honored as the Sports Business Journal’s “Team of the Decade.” 

Opening Chase Center in the fall of 2019 marked a new era for the organization and has enabled them to take their business to new heights. Chase Center, a privately funded, state-of-the-art arena located in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, has welcomed more than five million fans at over 400 diverse events across sports, music, comedy, theater, family entertainment, and more. Thrive City, the 11-acre district surrounding Chase Center created in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, features over a dozen diverse retail offerings as well as an open plaza that hosts hundreds of free events for the community each year.

Golden State was awarded a WNBA expansion franchise in 2023, the Golden State Valkyries. With the goal of building on the rich history of women's basketball in the Bay Area, the Valkyries will tip off their inaugural season this summer with a team comprised of WNBA stars Kate Martin, Monique Billings, and Tiffany Hayes. The Valkyries have set records despite not playing a game yet, including becoming the first WNBA team on record to eclipse 10,000 season tickets and becoming the first team in women’s sports history to surpass 15,000 season ticket deposits, having since surpassed the 22,000 deposit mark.

The franchise also owns and operates an NBA G League team, the Santa Cruz Warriors, who are four-time NBA G League Franchise of the Year Winners (2017-18, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2023-24), and the 2014-15 NBA G League Champions. The Santa Cruz Warriors have had 35 front office call ups (16 business office & 19 basketball operations), and 23 all-time player call ups. In addition, the organization launched its entertainment and content vertical, Golden State Golden State Entertainment (GSE), in 2022. GSE creates original content to tell compelling stories that are both rooted in and transcend the world of sports and entertainment. 

Golden State continues to look toward growth and development of their organization. They are only getting started. 

Any interested candidates should contact TurnkeyZRG directly. 

Contacting the Golden State Warriors will only delay consideration of your qualifications. 

Position Summary:

Reporting to the President & COO, the General Counsel will play a key role in business decision making by offering strategic and business-focused legal insights and guidance to internal stakeholders, including ownership, leadership, and employees across all entities (including, but not limited to, Golden State Warriors, Golden State Valkyries, Santa Cruz Warriors, Chase Center, Golden State Entertainment, and the Golden State Community Foundation). They will be responsible for overseeing all business legal matters, including contract drafting and negotiation, litigation matters, real estate portfolios, and corporate governance. The General Counsel will lead the Business & Legal Affairs team and be a member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide legal advice to ownership, executives, and staff on a broad range of legal matters, commercial contracts, and complex transactions. 

• Support the organization and its affiliates and subsidiaries with respect to complex commercial real estate matters involving retail, office, development, and financing. 

• Assist ownership and executives with corporate governance and ownership matters. 

• Manage all litigation, including working with outside counsel to minimize expenditures (e.g., settlements, judgments, and legal fees). 

• Lead, develop, and train a staff of attorneys and other business professionals within the Business & Legal Affairs department. 

• Draft or review contracts for all services needed to operate the organization, its facilities, and large-scale events, including, but not limited to:  ticketing, parking, concessions, promotions, television and radio broadcasting, sponsorships, construction, labor and security.  

• Assist all departments with interpreting and complying with league rules and regulations. 

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership for the organization’s risk management function. 

• Manage the Business & Legal Affairs department budget, including monthly budgets for legal fees and approving any legal fee invoices. 

• Conduct legal research as necessary, and proactively stay abreast of developments in applicable municipal, state, and federal laws. Ensure that the working practices of the organization and its affiliates and subsidiaries are compliant with applicable laws and regulations. 

• Promote continual development, optimization, and implementation of contract creation and legal review processes and standards to maximize efficiency. 

• Strong negotiation skills and excellent independent analytical judgment. 

• Congenial interpersonal skills and flexible attitude. Actively demonstrates teamwork at all times. Commitment to professionalism. Ability to communicate effectively and interact with employees at all levels of the organization. 

• Excellent time management skills. Self-motivated and regularly works with minimal direction. 

• Adept in managing multiple tasks with competing priorities, both simultaneously and efficiently. 

• Great attention to detail. 

• Ability to work non-traditional hours and be available as necessary. 

• Ability to work with outside counsel and other advisors as necessary. 

• Other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned.

Salary Range:

$400,000 - $450,000

Qualifications, Skills and Education Requirements:

• BA/BS degree and JD degree from an accredited ABA institution. 

• Admission to California Bar (or ability to gain admission). 

• Minimum of 10 years of successful transactional experience (i) at a law firm or (ii) as an in-house counsel supporting companies in the sports and/or entertainment industries. 

• Minimum of 5 years of supervisory experience 

• A strong background in transactional work is essential, including experience in structuring, drafting, negotiating, and successfully closing key transactions.  

• Advanced skills in resolving issues both internally and externally through various methods, including discussion, mediation, arbitration, and litigation. 

• Experience handling sponsorship and license and use agreements preferred. 

• Ability to identify emerging risks and trends, analyze and think strategically about complex risk issues and deliver solutions-oriented advice to mitigate or manage such risks. 

• Ability to work independently with limited oversight, but comfortable working collaboratively with internal and external parties when called upon. 

• Positive attitude with a desire to tackle unique and a wide range of projects. 

• Advanced skills in MS Office, especially Word and its redline functions, Excel, and PowerPoint