Attendance Down: Is the bad economy having an effect on the dollars being generated by the NBA? After roughly 10 games for each team in the league that question can be answered with a resounding YES! All one has to do is look around them at a game or in the background on television to see it.
Attendance is down an average of 2,056 fans across the league per game. Considering the average ticket price this season is $49.47, that's a $101,710.32 loss PER GAME this season compared to last. And no, that doesn't cover the rest of the things people spend money on at games like T-shirts, drinks, food and parking. This is data we don't have, but it would be interesting to know if concessions are down proportionate to the average attendance, or if they are down even lower as people go to cheaper alternatives since stadium food tends to be expensive.
Just for fun, consider this as well: At that dollar loss per game, that extrapolates out to almost $4.2 million for a 41-game season. Again, this doesn't take into account concessions, and considering that people are trying to get more bang for their buck now it's likely teams will be selling less of the tickets higher than the average price, and more of the ones lower than average. What does that mean? It means $4.2 million is the very low end of the estimate.
Multiply that by 30 teams and you get a loss of $125.1 million across the league compared to last season in ticket sales alone.
And how do the attendance numbers break out? Check the numbers:
Four teams are averaging a sellout and did last year as well – so no change: Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers
Biggest attendance jump: The Oklahoma City Thunder is drawing 5,144 more fans than the franchise did last year in Seattle (from 13,355 to 18,499).
Five teams have seen an attendance jump of over 1,000 fans per night: Oklahoma City (+5,144), New Orleans Hornets (+3,057), Atlanta Hawks (+2,610), Indiana Pacers (+1,196) and Portland Trail Blazers (+1,025).
Six additional teams have seen positive attendance changes: Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves (only +33 per game), New Jersey Nets and Washington Wizards.
Eight teams have lost between 1 and 1,000 fans per game compared to last year: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers (only -12), Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz.
Seven teams have lost more than 1,000 fans a game: Miami HEAT (-3,056), Los Angeles Clippers (-2,743), Philadelphia 76ers (-2,112), Sacramento Kings (-2,101), Charlotte Bobcats (-1,376), Golden State Warriors (-1,237), and Orlando Magic (-1,085).
So what conclusions can we draw? It's likely if you put these numbers on a nice colored map of the United States they would likely correspond to the areas being hardest hit by the current recession. Sure, most of the teams with the biggest losses aren't all that great, but considering the hype around Philly over the summer did anyone expect to see them near the bottom?
Remember when the warning came out the walk-up ticket sales – people showing up at game time and wanting to buy a ticket – would be drastically reduced this season? This is exactly what they were talking about. And guess what? That $101,710.32 is almost pure profit at this point. Teams haven't yet reacted to those numbers to laying off concession workers, ticket sellers, or other game-day jobs around the stadium. The whole stadium still needs to be cleaned and serviced.
But seriously, how long would any business expect to maintain the status quo while seeing an average loss of $101,710.32 per event?
Probably not very long at all. League-wide losses of $125.1 million at the low end – if these numbers hold true all season – will be quite painful.
Hawks Hit Comedown: Okay, so maybe the Atlanta Hawks aren't the best team in the Eastern Conference. After being one of the last two remaining unbeatens in this young season, the Hawks have now dropped three in a row and aren't even in first place in the Southeast Division anymore (that honor goes to the Orlando Magic).
It's not the first loss anyone should be concerned about. The Hawks played very well in a one-point loss in Boston, proving once again they have come a long ways from their playoff experience last spring when their series with Boston comprised of seven games won by the home team (the ones in the north all not close).
No, the first loss was fine and by those outside of Atlanta probably expected. It was the next two – back-to-back losses in a home-and-home with the New Jersey Nets what show reason to worry. Not only are the Nets not a very good team, but it's how they beat the Hawks – both of those games reek of letdown after such a strong start.
Atlanta had been playing very well defensively, but gave up 115 and 119 points in those two Jersey losses. They also couldn't seem to do a thing with Nets point guard Devin Harris as he sliced his way through their defense at will.
Now is the time for the Hawks to see what they are really made of. After a strong start this is the first test of their resiliency. Will they man up? Or will they fall apart?
The schedule is somewhat favorable over the next three games. They go to Indiana tonight and if they can't recover their mojo there the schedule follows with home games against the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats.
If the Hawks are still struggling after those three games, we will know the answer to the questions two paragraphs above.
Rockets Need Battier: Houston Rockets swingman Shane Battier is expected to practice with the team today after missing about a month and a half with sore left foot. Considering the injury suffered last night to Tracy McGrady – an MRI will come this week, but he could be out for awhile – Battier's return can't come soon enough.
Small forward is actually Battier's better position, but with Ron Artest now on the team Battier was going to back up both wing positions behind Ron-Ron and T-Mac. Considering the only other guards are Aaron Brooks (too small to play the two, though he has a shooting guard's game), Brent Barry (probably not a 35 minute a game guy at his age) and Luther Head (missing from the rotation completely), he most definitely is needed.
The Rockets have today off and then host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Battier probably won't be ready to play by then, but he could be available anyway. The Rockets then leave on a three-game road trip starting Friday through Washington, Orlando and Miami. Theoretically the Rockets should still have enough to handle the injury-stricken Wizards, so if they can they might hold Battier off until the Orlando game.
Or he could play tomorrow…just all depends on how quickly he gets his game legs back and how badly the Rockets feel they need him.
Starter Box Score of the Night: Roger Mason, San Antonio Spurs – 21 points, 3 rebounds, 3-5 three-pointers, game-winning three-pointer with 8.4 seconds left
Rookie Box Score of the Night: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder – 14 points, 5 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Reserve Box Score of the Night: Andrei Kirilenko, Utah Jazz – 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
Tonight's Schedule: There are 10 games scheduled tonight across the league. Let's take a look at the most intriguing matchups.
Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic, 7pm Eastern, NBA League Pass
These two teams, along with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks, are regarded as the second tier in the Eastern Conference. When the season comes to an end they will be the group jostling for homecourt advantage and hoping to avoid one of the Cleveland-Detroit-Boston buzz saws. Plus, what's not to like about seeing Dwight Howard and what Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal will do to try and stop him?
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics, 7:30pm Eastern, NBA League Pass
Who knew this would be a fun matchup so early in the season? The East's best (Boston) takes on the league's surprise (New York). Last season we got a NBA Finals featuring two legendary franchises in Boston and the Lakers, but if the Knicks can somehow stay on the steep track of positive growth over the course of the season people may think they are watching games on ESPN Classic.
