Berger: League Attendance Struggles, Blazers Roll Along

In what shouldn't surprise anyone that watched last night's Blazers/Pacers game in front of a total paid attendance of 17 people (12 Hansbroughs, 5 randoms), Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that league-wide attendance is down substantially from last year.

But what also shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that's been in the Rose Garden or fallen victim to variable pricing hikes: the Blazers are doing quite well at the gate.

According to Berger's numbers, the Blazers are second in the league in average attendance and third in net gate receipt revenue gain over last year.

Will there be a Greg Oden effect? I would hope not. There's still plenty to like about this team... especially when they show up and play hard.

-- Ben Golliver | (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com) | Twitter

about 2 years ago Ben Golliver 35 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Good news for the Blazers.

by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 10, 2009 10:17 AM PST reply actions

its bad news that

we lost more money as a franchise than any other team int he league. OKC managed to turn a huge profit while we are dead last.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 11:51 AM PST up reply actions

No it isn't

As I said below, its due to the mega deals we had from our own stupidity.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 11:56 AM PST up reply actions

It didnt stop the Knicks from producing a profit

They have multiple professional teams (much more successful than the knicks) in their market, a horrible and overpaid basketball team, a player buy out, and an owner/gm scandal.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:11 PM PST up reply actions

And can charge more for tickets

Get more in merchandise sales, TV rights, etc.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 12:11 PM PST up reply actions

its also

that Portland’s city government is not a good partner for sport franchises. theres a reason we only have 1 team, and our other semi pro teams keep coming and going.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:21 PM PST up reply actions

I wouldn't necessarily say that

Its true they haven’t bent over backwards to hand over vast sums of $ for stadiums but beyond that I think they’ve been fine.

The Lumberjax, for example, failed because their owner didn’t spend any money on ads after the first year. Not the city’s fault there.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 12:47 PM PST up reply actions

paul allen had to step up to the plate to build the rg

someone said it was one of the worst arena deals at the time.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:50 PM PST up reply actions

For him maybe

But not for the city.

It is kind of amazing that we didn’t get stuck with a huge bill for a new arena when everyone else was.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 12:53 PM PST up reply actions

well i was trying to point out

that the city isnt a good partner for sport franchises. if the team was really sport friendly, they could have emulated the packers if paul allen still had the team on the market.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:55 PM PST up reply actions

really?

I don’t think the NBA would be receptive to that kind of ownership agreement. I know for a fact that it’s now against NFL bylaws.

by atomiccafe on Dec 10, 2009 1:36 PM PST up reply actions

What do you want exactly?

We were going to lose more money if we sold less tickets. This is good news.

by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 10, 2009 12:11 PM PST up reply actions

i expect that

they will continue to have double digit increases in ticket prices again next year while most teams will cut prices again. it will probably continue to do so as long as they are in the red. its not like corporate sponsors are lining up at the RG’s doorsteps to advertise or anything.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:19 PM PST up reply actions

Even when we sucked we sold more tickets than some good teams

Being the only game in town has that advantage.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 10:29 AM PST reply actions

Here's the Money line, so to speak...

The disparity between high-revenue teams and low-revenue teams is one of the key issues looming with owners and players preparing for negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. As expected, owners have notified the players’ association that they will not extend the current agreement, which expires after the 2010-11 season.

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Dec 10, 2009 10:50 AM PST reply actions

This is not just about short term trends and $.

#52

by KINGofMACct on Dec 10, 2009 11:06 AM PST reply actions

why are they still in the red?

#52

by 50backflips on Dec 10, 2009 11:22 AM PST reply actions

Sins of the past

We still had to pay Steve Francis, Darius Miles and Raef LaFrentz last season, which is a LOT of $.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 11:29 AM PST up reply actions

Operating expenditures (and income) is much more than player salaries. And those will rather rise than fall in the future.

We will become luxury tax payers in the next years. If Allen and Vulcan Inc. allow it, since their order was to operate at a break even. Not good. They will be happy about the increased team valuation and increased revenue, but could ask to cut costs or further raise prices.

by Norsktroll on Dec 10, 2009 12:12 PM PST up reply actions

Bad news for the Blazers

We are 1 of 12 teams who still operated at a net loss over the last year. Despite our win totals, despite the big comcast exclusive contract, higher prices for tix and beer…they still cant turn a profit.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 11:47 AM PST reply actions

Francis and Raef are gone now

#52

by jscot on Dec 10, 2009 12:09 PM PST up reply actions

why does nobody mention

the declining size of NBA cities as a cause for the drop in attendance. In the last decade, we’ve traded:

Vancouver BC (metro population 2.1 million) for Memphis TN (metro population1.3 million).
Seattle WA, (metro pop. 3.3 million) for Oklahoma City (metro pop. 1.2 million).
Charlotte, NC (metro pop. 1.7 million) for New Orleans, LA (metro pop. 1.1 million).
The league then decided to expand to Charlotte (pop. 1.7 mill) instead of San Diego (3.1 mill (apparently Tijuana adds another 2 million, which I won’t count).

I’d say the league’s obsession with punishing cities immediately for not bending over to arena demands even at the cost of leaving millions without an NBA team is at least partially responsible for their problems selling tickets.

by atomiccafe on Dec 10, 2009 11:52 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Half and half. While larger markets can bring more (high class) sponsorship deals and appeal to a larger population, a state-of-the-art arena with suites and concessions brings more revenue by itself. That was the main reason for leaving Seattle and going to OKC, and apparently it worked. Kansas City has a nice empty arena, too.

by Norsktroll on Dec 10, 2009 12:26 PM PST up reply actions

fools gold though?

The honeymoon in Memphis and New Orleans sure wore off fast.

Plus, I wonder if there’s a general impact that people in Seattle for example don’t watch the League as a whole as much as they would otherwise, hurting TV ratings (pure speculation).

by atomiccafe on Dec 10, 2009 12:37 PM PST up reply actions

I'm surprised how well OKC performed. That they are already operating at a profit speaks for the relocation.

by Norsktroll on Dec 10, 2009 12:13 PM PST reply actions

agreed

that was a pretty quick turnaround from the sonics.

Cloudy is Sergio. Makes other people look good, can’t score himself. -Cablinasian

Greg Postertag is probably wielding a jack hammer of a Wenis - AK1984

by Philthyanimal on Dec 10, 2009 12:16 PM PST up reply actions

I'm not

New arena, rabid fan base (remember how well they did the year they had to move the Hornets there), etc.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 12:48 PM PST up reply actions

OKC isn't selling out their games.

"I'm at the thingamajig talking the yakety-yak" - Kenny Smith

by blzrfan on Dec 10, 2009 10:54 PM PST up reply actions

There's going to be some unprecedent bargains to be had with expiring contract thanks to the economy.

But then, I have been saying this for an year or so. There’s going to be some Gasol-esque opportunities out there at the trade deadline for teams trying to cut salary/get into 2010 free agent sweepstakes.

The question is, will KP finally pull a trigger on a mid-season trade? I mean, we had the Ike Diogu for salary exception blockbuster and all, but I’d finally like us to cash in on our expiring contracts for a change,

by xedubx on Dec 10, 2009 1:40 PM PST reply actions

Problem is

With Outlaw going down until AFTER the deadline, our only expiring contract is…Blake, which is not worth a heck of a lot.

"Good evening Blazer fans, wherever you may be!"-Bill Schonely

by skywaker9 on Dec 10, 2009 2:09 PM PST up reply actions

Indeed, Outlaw clearly lost value

But still, his contract alone has some trade value given the current economies of the NBA. There’s going to be teams looking for straight salary dumps for expiring contracts this year..well, more than usual. For those teams, Outlaw’s contract has at least some value.

There’s going to be more than 1 “wow, I can’t believe XXX traded him for that!” moments before the trade deadline passes. That is my prediction, anyway.

by xedubx on Dec 10, 2009 2:19 PM PST up reply actions

I always wondered how many people were seeing games for free.

According to this, Portland averages 17,174 paid customers per game. That would mean that on average about 3,000 in the RG didn’t pay for their ticket. Incidentally, that figure is rather low compared to some othe teams, such as Atlanta.

Hit it. Yes he did. Ohhhh yeah.

by Badalona Baddie on Dec 10, 2009 2:16 PM PST reply actions

Sorry, I transposed. It's 17,714. So about 2,500 or so freebies.

Hit it. Yes he did. Ohhhh yeah.

by Badalona Baddie on Dec 10, 2009 2:17 PM PST up reply actions

As soon as the blowout loses start to pile up

this will change

#52

by Tiparillo on Dec 10, 2009 2:21 PM PST reply actions

Poor attendance

The NBA is slipping because the fans around the country are becoming jaded and cynical about the big market favoritism and the terrible or biased officiating.

by davebball on Dec 10, 2009 7:57 PM PST reply actions