A little perspective on attendance woes

[dnbman]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/It-was-awfully-quiet-in-Atlanta-last-night-;_ylt=AsKpnaLAlahfqcE28sZWZiK8vLYF?urn=nba,126800

[bing!]

Read that last night, and I've gotta tell you, comments by some people there are hilarious.

...and recession's got nothing to do with the drop in attendance, the product on the floor does (alongside people behind the curtain).

[swetooth9]

kinda off topic, but still relative in a way...

if i bought tix to the bobcats vs suns game. if there are a few empty seats in the lower section...are me and 2 of my friends allowed to go down there and sit and cheer?

if so, when is proper timing to move down?

[dnbman]

kinda off topic, but still relative in a way...

if i bought tix to the bobcats vs suns game. if there are a few empty seats in the lower section...are me and 2 of my friends allowed to go down there and sit and cheer?

if so, when is proper timing to move down?

No. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. But the last game we were at a couple of guys were trying to argue their way into the bottom bowl. They didn't get in.

Aside from not wanting to establish the precedent for everyone to buy cheap tickets knowing they can get into expensive seats, a lot of the folks with expensive seats will show up at random times during the game.

[bing!]

I heard that season ticket holders have their seating upgraded if the lower sections are vastly empty. Let's say it serves as an incentive to buy the season tickets in the first place. Would like to know if I'm wrong.

[dnbman]

I heard that season ticket holders have their seating upgraded if the lower sections are vastly empty. Let's say it serves as an incentive to buy the season tickets in the first place. Would like to know if I'm wrong.

I think I have heard of that. But, usually they come around asking if I'm not mistaken.

[swetooth9]

what if it's like halftime or the 3rd qtr and the seats are still not filled?

i mean...i go to unc and the fans cheer a lot (i've been to about 10 or so games so far); i just wanna cheer where the players can hear it and get amped about playing if things ever get stale

[dnbman]

what if it's like halftime or the 3rd qtr and the seats are still not filled?

Same deal. I mean, humans are humans. It's always worth trying. I just don't think they do it.

[playoffs...PLAYOFFS?]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/It-was-awfully-quiet-in-Atlanta-last-night-;_ylt=AsKpnaLAlahfqcE28sZWZiK8vLYF?urn=nba,126800

wow..thats pretty bad, i hope that if we get around winning game and being playoffs contender the same doesn't happen to us..

good read, adds perspective...but still, the lack of attendance i think is still due to the community not connecting with the team

[SWedd523]

Read that last night, and I've gotta tell you, comments by some people there are hilarious.

...and recession's got nothing to do with the drop in attendance, the product on the floor does (alongside people behind the curtain).
I think the recession has PLENTY to do with the admission woes. Everybody is experiencing a slowdown. If I remember correctly, you're in Eastern Europe? I don't mean to sound rude, but you don't have/can't have any idea about the financial woes we're experiencing unless you see them yourself.

(and yes, I know we aren't the only place in the depths of a recession)

[bing!]

but you don't have/can't have any idea
Sure I can, interest rates dropping, jobs being cut, it's not to the same extent as it is in the States, sure, but we certainly 'feel' all the fluctuations on the world market.


I think the recession has PLENTY to do with the admission woes.
I just can buy the fact that the recession is the main culprit, it may have a role in the general drop in attendance, sure, but I don't understand how other markets in the NBA aren't experiencing the same slowdown, not to mention the NFL.

Recession slows the tempo, but people still spend their asses off, and now with the holiday season upon us, I dare say middle-class up will forget the quandary the world markets are in.

[davcbow]

Like that one fan said about the league....


David Stern reaping what he has sown. Fans have been turned off by the lying and cheating that the refs have done and still do at David Stern's behest. David Stern and his money grubbing cronies have ruined a once fine game in their greedy quest for money. The NBA will soon be in the toilet alongside the refs and their leader, David Stern.

To add to that, they need to spend money to make money, what I mean by that is how do you get fans? Show games on regular tv, more than just the Lakers, Suns or Celtics on a Sunday after football season ends.... stop with all this pay up or you cant watch the game stuff, hell unless you have the internet you cant even find the games on radio any more. The NBA is shooting itself in the foot and wondering why it hurts.... The Hornets when they were here had regular radio shows and every game was on the radio, just about every away game was on channel 48 in my area (Randolph Co.) Sure the econemy is bad right now but if they want fans to come back after it gets going again they had better get off their wallets and do what it takes to get the fans back....:cool:

[SWedd523]

I just can buy the fact that the recession is the main culprit, it may have a role in the general drop in attendance, sure, but I don't understand how other markets in the NBA aren't experiencing the same slowdown, not to mention the NFL.

Recession slows the tempo, but people still spend their asses off, and now with the holiday season upon us, I dare say middle-class up will forget the quandary the world markets are in.
Well the way I look at it is sort of a pseudo-excuse. For one, the economy has slowed down drastically. Enough to really catch people's attention and make them think twice. But Charlotte has a very reserved base anyway. We have what I like to call "bandwagoners", or what Thomas Paine calls "summer soldiers and sunshine patriots". The general Charlotte fanbase isn't that of the more established(and more successful) teams like the Celtics and Lakers; they won't come out unless there's a winning product out there.

It took the Panthers over ten years to gain the majority acceptance of the city, the Bobcats aren't going to gain acceptance anytime soon unless they start winning. Now that we're having this recession, fans are using the excuse, "Well, they suck anyway, so why pay $XX to go see them lose when I have gas to pay for, food to buy, etc." (This is especially true for fans who don't live in the greater Charlotte area.)

If they start winning and get in this playoff hunt, I guarantee they'll be there because there is a reason to. But with this recession and them not being a great or longtime team, of course attendance is going to be low. What they need is for us to try our best to get out there and support them, regardless of their record or the nation's financial status.

[TheBeagle]

I'm with bing: the economy is just an excuse, not a reason for attendance woes. A grad school part-time worker such as myself can easily afford a pair of season tickets (yes, those much ballyhooed $10 jobs) for less than the price of a XBox 360 elite, or flat screen mumbo jumbo doohickey, etc, etc. And with the gas prices dropping (filled up at $1.59 per an hour ago), I can make the 2 hour round trip to see the games with no distress to the wallet.

The simple reason for attendance woes is that people don't want to go to the games. As Charlotte is concerned, I think Bob has found at that you should never underestimate the malaise that results from a league taking a playoff team from your backyard, and two years later, putting an expansion team back in its place. The fact that he and Tapscott didn't see this coming early on shows how "questionable" of an owner he is.

I think winning will improve the attendance, but not drastically...at least not right off. It'll take years of consistency to accomplish I think, but hopefully, the "core" can be built up to around 14K give or take, as opposed to 7K or so as it is now.

Anyway, nice thought-provoking article...

[dnbman]

I'm with bing: the economy is just an excuse, not a reason for attendance woes. A grad school part-time worker such as myself can easily afford a pair of season tickets (yes, those much ballyhooed $10 jobs) for less than the price of a XBox 360 elite, or flat screen mumbo jumbo doohickey, etc, etc. And with the gas prices dropping (filled up at $1.59 per an hour ago), I can make the 2 hour round trip to see the games with no distress to the wallet.

The simple reason for attendance woes is that people don't want to go to the games. As Charlotte is concerned, I think Bob has found at that you should never underestimate the malaise that results from a league taking a playoff team from your backyard, and two years later, putting an expansion team back in its place. The fact that he and Tapscott didn't see this coming early on shows how "questionable" of an owner he is.

I think winning will improve the attendance, but not drastically...at least not right off. It'll take years of consistency to accomplish I think, but hopefully, the "core" can be built up to around 14K give or take, as opposed to 7K or so as it is now.

Anyway, nice thought-provoking article...

I think it's both. Beagle, while you make a good point, you're also an avid fan that believes those tickets are worth it. Let's assume I'm a father of two and want to take my family out. At $10 a ticket and another $10 per for soda and something to eat, that's $80, not including parking or any gas. A lot of families can't justify that right now. Things have gotten better in the last couple of weeks for gas, but that doesn't make everything else suddenly cheaper or give anyone else optimism that they won't need that money later.

There's certainly plenty of people who can afford games. However, there's a large lower middle class that can't.

[MoreMorrison]

I heard that season ticket holders have their seating upgraded if the lower sections are vastly empty. Let's say it serves as an incentive to buy the season tickets in the first place. Would like to know if I'm wrong.

We've had season tickets every season since year one in the Coliseum, and we just got our first free upgrade at the home game against the Bucks. But really I think the reason for the upgrade was the angry letter we sent them saying that we should get an upgrade, otherwise I most likely would have gone ignored..

It seems to me that the Bobcats marketing team doesn't give a darn who shows up. Opening night sold out and they advertised half-price tickets to all in attendance that night for the next game. The next game was unbelievably lacking in numbers. However, rather than step it up a notch and go for more commercials, more community involvement, they just trim the offers [with the exception of Crazy Steve, or whatever the guy's name is with the cheap merchandise..]. Everybody I talk to doesn't want to waste their money when "The Bobcats are terrible". I love my Bobcats, but until they can maintain a solid record, their revenue in game attendance will not go up.

[ohara831]

I think it's both the apathy of the fan base following what happened with the Hornets and how the Cats haven't found the hearts of the avg fan yet, and it is also the poor economy. The economy wont matter to the avid fan, as they go anyway. But to your so-so fan whom you are trying to pursuad to come to the games and become an avid fan, and who are struggling now in the economic crisis, they are not of the mindset right now to be pursuaded to spend $ they dont have for a game.

[davcbow]

I agree with everybody opinions, its marketing (show away games on tv like the good ole days of the hornets, have radio broadcasts, have a Bobcats tv show or even radio show, that creates interest). It is the economy and people's having a lack of money to spare on basketball, sure gas prices are dropping but rent and groceries are going up so until the majority of the people that would go to a game have job's they aren't going to a game because they just don't have that much money to blow on a basketball game. People that have a good job don't feel the crunch, but the people that are on short time or that don't have a job do feel it and its painful to them. Yes it can be apathy still caused by the Hornets leaving town (I wasted all that money on tickets and t-shirts and warm up suits and cups and bumper stickers and loyally pulled for a NBA team that bailed on me. What am I supposed to do with all that crap now?). It could be the record of our team being a sub .500 team. The team that left was a playoff team, this team hasnt won over 33 games in a season yet. :o

[dnbman]

Another comment I heard months ago was that the NBA (and many other leagues) had outpriced a lot of its core fans: working class folks without a lot of disposable income. Instead, they've catered to a wealthier clientele who spend more money but often aren't as ravenous about the team. Games become places to be seen and to say you went to. But, many people who go aren't big fans.

I don't know what the truth of that is. Although, my dad tells me that he and his brothers could hop on the train to Yankee stadium, each buy a ticket for the game, and still have some change left over for a hotdog or a soda. It wasn't that big of a deal to go to a game. Of course, we all romanticize the past, and inflation rates may not bear out this suggestion of outpricing fans.

I think a lot of things are at work. Ultimately, sports just aren't as important to people as they once were. I think we just have more options and know too much about these guys. They're not our heroes anymore; they're just guys who impress us with their skills. So, making another sacrifice to go to to a game doesn't seem worth to a lot of people.

[SWedd523]

Another comment I heard months ago was that the NBA (and many other leagues) had outpriced a lot of its core fans: working class folks without a lot of disposable income. Instead, they've catered to a wealthier clientele who spend more money but often aren't as ravenous about the team. Games become places to be seen and to say you went to. But, many people who go aren't big fans.

I don't know what the truth of that is. Although, my dad tells me that he and his brothers could hop on the train to Yankee stadium, each buy a ticket for the game, and still have some change left over for a hotdog or a soda. It wasn't that big of a deal to go to a game. Of course, we all romanticize the past, and inflation rates may not bear out this suggestion of outpricing fans.

I think a lot of things are at work. Ultimately, sports just aren't as important to people as they once were. I think we just have more options and know too much about these guys. They're not our heroes anymore; they're just guys who impress us with their skills. So, making another sacrifice to go to to a game doesn't seem worth to a lot of people.


A lot of that can be seen with NASCAR fans. Before they gained huge popularity they had an extremely loyal fanbase. The majority of those fans are country, redneck, and low to middle class. Since NASCAR gained it's recent notoriety, they've been sort of alienating their true fans by increasing priceson tickets, food, and the like.

That's one thing that really pisses me off. Not only have most of the good seats to NFL, NBA, even Baseball and NASCAR been made so expensive that they can ONLY cater to the people with more disposable income, but the concession stands are stupid expensive. a 20oz, hotdog,and nachos can all go for $5 minimum. I was at the Charleston Classic (college basketball) tournament a few weeks ago and they had a single-size pizza for $6! It seriously had 5 pepperonis on the entire thing.

Most people can't really justify going to a game and easily paying 50-100 dollars and not even know it. Add that to the fact that most of these sports stars have been humanized over the past few years with TV and the Internet. They just don't mystify fans like they used to.