Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

WEEKEND MEDIA WONDERS WHERE NBA FANS HAVE GONE THIS SEASON

          With the NBA three weeks into its season, Peter May of
     the BOSTON GLOBE wrote that, "Each day, the numbers are
     there.  They don't always tell the full story, but they are
     telling a story. ... People aren't going to NBA games."  May
     reported that none of the nine games last Wednesday sold
     out, while Thursday night "was more of the same.  Six games,
     six nonsellouts."  May, on the NBA product: "[It] still
     isn't what it should be (although it's better than last
     year).  Basically, it's hard to make a case that an NBA game
     is worth it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/21).  In Dallas, Bart Hubbuch
     wrote that there are "rows and rows of empty seats" at
     Mavericks home games at Reunion Arena.  Hubbuch added that
     while that "might be nothing new" in Dallas, "attendance
     woes are a big deal in the league offices and in cities"
     like Houston, "where full houses were once common" (DALLAS
     MORNING NEWS, 11/21).  In Detroit, Perry Farrell noted that
     the Pistons were averaging 15,546 fans through their first
     four home games at the 22,076-seat Palace of Auburn Hills. 
     Pistons President Tom Wilson: "Anytime the seats aren't full
     there's cause for concern. ... Right now we're playing some
     midweek games, and that's always a little slower" (DETROIT
     FREE PRESS, 11/20).  In Houston, Dale Robertson wrote on the
     Rockets' presentation appeal at the Compaq Center: "All the
     bells-and-whistles theatrics ring hollow -- it's almost
     silly, really -- with so many empty seats and such desultory
     play on the floor" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/22).
          A NEED TO JAZZ UP THE PRODUCT? In UT, Rich Evans
     reported that the Jazz sold 14,200 season tickets, a "little
     down" from last season, but "more revealing, perhaps, is the
     fact that they have sold out only" one of five home games at
     the Delta Center.  Jazz Senior VP/Marketing Jay Francis: "I
     guess we're surprised.  November and December are always
     soft; those are the months we don't get sell-outs."  Evans
     added that to "find out why" the team has "become a harder
     sell," it is sending out questionnaires to fans who "didn't
     renew" their season tickets (DESERET NEWS, 11/21).
          MISSING MISHKIN, BUT HE'S ONLY A PHONE CALL AWAY: In
     N.Y., Mike Wise reported that NBA CLO Jeffrey Mishkin -- who
     is leaving to become a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate,
     Meagher & Flom -- "will continue to serve" as the NBA's
     "chief outside" attorney.  Wise wrote that Mishkin has
     "argued some of the most significant and sensitive appeals"
     for the NBA since '73 (N.Y. TIMES, 11/21).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1999/11/22/Leagues-Governing-Bodies/WEEKEND-MEDIA-WONDERS-WHERE-NBA-FANS-HAVE-GONE-THIS-SEASON.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1999/11/22/Leagues-Governing-Bodies/WEEKEND-MEDIA-WONDERS-WHERE-NBA-FANS-HAVE-GONE-THIS-SEASON.aspx

CLOSE