Where are the Warriors fans? Kings faithful defend home court for Game 1 of playoffs

Michael McGough
Updated ·2 min read
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With tipoff fast approaching and fans pouring into Golden 1 Center, there sure appeared to be a lot of purple in downtown Sacramento.

Blue and gold? Not so much.

Ahead of Sacramento’s first playoff game since 2006, some Kings fans expressed worry – and opposing fans boasted – about a potential takeover by fans of the visiting Golden State Warriors, given the relatively short distance from the Bay Area to Sactown.

But a Warriors fan “invasion” has not materialized, at least early on. It appeared to be at most an 80-20 split in favor of the Warriors, according to fans and journalists posting their observations shortly before the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start.

After a Kings team-affiliated tweeted a video showing the Downtown Common area outside Golden 1 Center, many users pointed out an apparent lack of Warriors fans at the arena.

“At the playoff game, where’s the invasion of golden one that warriors fans kept talking about??” one fan, with the Twitter name “Fox Enthusiast,” tweeted at 4:40 p.m.

Sacramento Bee reporter Chris Biderman tweeted just before 5:30 p.m. that there were “hardly any Warriors fans” at the Kings’ home venue.

Other journalists inside Golden 1 Center noticed a similar lack of Warriors fans, relative to expectations.

“At least 80-20% Kings maybe closer to 90-10,” Tim Kawakami, editor-in-chief for The Athletic’s Bay Area coverage, tweeted.

Kawakami in another tweet said Warriors fan turnout appeared to be lower than he had anticipated, judging by the lack of reaction in the crowd when Golden State star Stephen Curry took the floor for warmups.

Prior to the game, the Vivid Seats Fan Forecast projected a 70-30 crowd split in favor of the Kings in Game 1 at home. Fan Forecast uses an algorithm that explores its own proprietary data to project which team will win the crowd with more fans in attendance.

“Anybody who’s ever been to Sacramento for a playoff game … it is one of the great home court advantage cities in the NBA,” ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon said during the televised pregame show. “Yes, this is a scene tonight. People should not ignore (the Kings) any longer.”