The value of the Golden State Warriors is sinking faster than a Steph Curry jump shot.
An attempt to sell a minority stake in the team, the NBA’s most successful franchise over the past decade with four titles, has languished for nearly a year amid concerns about the aging team — combined with broader fears over San Francisco’s exodus of high-paid tech workers, The Post has learned.
The asking price for the 8% chunk in the Warriors, which also includes the recently built Chase Center in San Francisco, values the team at $5.4 billion, sources close to the process said — after seeking a deal at reported $7 billion valuation last September.
The purported haircut comes as NBA franchises fetch skyrocketing prices amid soaring popularity and the league’s impending new TV contract worth $76 billion over the next 11 years.
Last month, Julia Koch snapped up a 15% stake in the struggling Nets for about $3.8 billion, as The Post exclusively reported.
The majority owner of the Boston Celtics, coming off an NBA title, put the team up for sale Monday.
Forbes estimated the franchise to be worth $4.7 billion last October, trailing only the Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion), the Knicks ($6.6 billion) and the Warriors — who were valued at $7.7 billion.
But Golden State failed to make the playoffs last year as Curry turned 36 years old.
On Monday, Klay Thompson — one half of the vaunted “Splash Brothers” with Curry, signed a free agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
“This is a hard sale,” one of the sources close to the talks said.
A sports investment banker cited the prospect of fair-weather fans abandoning the team as its plummets from its meteoric rise for the Warriors’ depreciating value.
The source noted that many tech workers have fled San Francisco or are working remotely, and may be less likely to come to games — especially if the Warriors are not competing for titles.
The price to attend Warriors home games trails only the Knicks as the costliest in the league. The cheapest four tickets, plus four hot dogs, two beers, two sodas and a parking spot will run $608.39, according to Axios.
Joe Lacob and Peter Guber bought the Warriors in 2010 for $450 million.
In 2022, Arctos Sports Partners bought a 5% stake in the team, including the building and real estate, at a $5.6 billion valuation — a record price paid for a stake in an NBA team.
Gerry Cardinale — founder of RedBird Capital Partners, which owns stakes in Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group and Italian soccer team AC Milan — said in a recent interview that sports team valuations were in an economic bubble and would come down.
“There is a tremendous amount of inexperienced capital chasing sports,” Cardinale told Private Equity News.
“I just think everybody has to calm down a little bit. We need some sober, unemotional, non-trophy-hunting investing in sports.”
