Blackhawks Owner Says He Might Put Team Up For Sale

After losing $31M this season and $191M over the past ten seasons on the Blackhawks, team Owner Bill Wirtz indicated that if the NHLPA “hires someone cut out of the mould of Bob Goodenow as executive director,” he will try to sell the team, according to Rick Westhead of the TORONTO STAR. Wirtz: “If the union hired someone like Bob, who just says [you’re] lying whenever you say you’re losing money, I’d put the team up for sale. And I think that might cause other owners to look at their own investments.” Westhead notes that NHLPA Exec Dir Ted Saskin is “on paid suspension and will probably not return to his job.” But Wirtz in ’03 indicated that he would “contemplate unloading the Blackhawks” before the lockout. The salary cap “doesn’t seem to be doing much to help” the Blackhawks, as they have lost a collective $59M under the new CBA (TORONTO STAR, 4/20).

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Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko in an e-mail indicated that the 76ers will not be raising ticket prices next season. Luukko: “We’ve readjusted some of our pricing for the Sixers and when you look at it (on average), some of our prices have been slightly reduced.” He added the ticketing structure for the Mezzanine Level will be reconfigured from four price categories to three, dropping the average price there from $33.62 to $31.58. In all, the “average overall ticket price will go from $70.26 to $69.39.” In Philadelphia, Paul Vigna noted the 76ers finished the season with “around 15,000 tickets sold per game, their lowest average attendance” since ’95-96 when they averaged 11,935 at the Philadelphia Spectrum (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 4/18).

SONICS: With the Sonics looking at possibly relocating before their KeyArena lease expires in 2010, Save Our Sonics & Storm’s Steven Pyeatt in a guest commentary for the DAILY OKLAHOMAN writes, “The message we are sending to Oklahoma City is don’t get too excited at what you see going on in Seattle right now. ... We all hope you get to have a NBA team in your fine city, but we will not allow it to be our team” (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 4/20). Sources said that if the team “gets the NBA’s okay” to move to Oklahoma City, Sonics Owner Clay Bennett will “likely go after” Spurs GM R.C. Buford (ESPN THE MAGAZINE, 4/23 issue).

T’WOLVES: In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman notes just 64% of T’Wolves season-ticket holders have renewed for the ’07-08 season (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/20).

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The Heat were the biggest draw on the road during the ’06-07 NBA season, averaging 18,945 away from AmericanAirlines Arena, while the Lakers packed opposing teams’ venues to a league-best 99.3% capacity. Despite finishing ninth in home attendance, the Spurs ranked 20th in road attendance. The chart below shows NBA team-by-team road attendance, with comparisons to team home attendance during the ’06-07 season (THE DAILY).

AWAY TEAM	AVG. ROAD ATTENDANCE	% ROAD CAPACITY	HOME RANK	AVG. HOME ATTENDANCE	ROAD VS. HOME
Heat	18,945	98.4%	5	19,721	-776
Cavaliers	18,941	98.0%	3	20,436	-1,496
Lakers	18,917	99.3%	7	18,986	-68
Suns	18,541	96.7%	10	18,422	119
Rockets	18,187	95.0%	21	16,545	1,642
Nuggets	18,163	94.9%	17	17,230	970
Bulls	18,153	94.2%	1	22,253	-4,100
Pistons	18,001	93.7%	2	22,076	-3,907
Knicks	17,984	93.1%	8	18,796	-811
T'Wolves	17,894	93.7%	24	15,999	1,896
Nets	17,871	92.4%	19	17,047	824
76ers	17,850	92.7%	29	15,012	2,838
Mavericks	17,822	93.7%	4	20,351	-2,530
Pacers	17,803	91.9%	28	15,360	2,443
Celtics	17,570	90.8%	20	16,843	727
Trail Blazers	17,558	92.3%	22	16,360	1,198
Jazz	17,501	91.9%	6	19,566	-2,065
Bobcats	17,477	90.2%	27	15,549	1,928
Magic	17,471	90.1%	18	17,095	376
Spurs	17,464	91.5%	9	18,654	-1,190
Sonics	17,436	90.7%	25	15,955	1,481
Clippers	17,406	91.0%	12	18,406	-1,000
Bucks	17,351	89.6%	23	16,186	1,270
Raptors	17,347	89.6%	13	18,259	-912
Grizzlies	17,337	90.4%	30	14,655	2,682
Kings	17,283	90.2%	16	17,317	-34
Wizards	17,270	89.5%	11	18,410	-1,139
Hawks	17,171	88.6%	26	15,595	1,576
Warriors	17,012	89.3%	14	18,104	-1,092
Hornets	16,982	89.0%	15	17,833	-852

Print | Tags: Chicago Bulls, Comcast-Spectacor, Franchises, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs