Poor Showing For NBA Preseason Game In Vegas Raises Questions

Lakers-Kings Game In Las Vegas Draws Fewer Fans Than Recent NHL Game

Sunday's Lakers-Kings NBA preseason game at the 18,776-seat Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas drew an announced crowd of 11,090, which is "not that good," according to Ron Kantowski of the LAS VEGAS SUN. The September 27 Avalanche-Kings NHL preseason game at the 17,157-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, which took place on a Saturday night opposite a Nevada-UNLV college football game at Sam Boyd Stadium, drew an announced crowd of 12,013 fans. Kantowski: "Make of those numbers what you will. But also know that a crowd of 11,090 is not going to cut it in the NBA" (LASVEGASSUN.com, 10/13).

SPRINTING AHEAD: In K.C., Jason Whitlock wrote under the header, "NBA Could Work Here If Given A Chance." K.C. has a "thirst for sporting entertainment," and the Sprint Center is a "sparkling success, the equal" of the adjacent Power & Light District developed by Baltimore-based developer Cordish Co. Friday's Trail Blazers-Hawks NBA preseason game at the Sprint Center featured a "few $10 tickets in the upper reaches of the arena, but most people paid between" $50-90 for the game. Sprint Center Dir of Communications & Marketing Shani Tate Ross: "We priced the game at NBA prices. We want people to get used to paying NBA/NHL prices." Whitlock: "I realize it was just a one-time affair, but I'm surprised Kansas Citians were willing to step out and pay [Chiefs President & GM] Carl Peterson prices for a nonfootball event, particularly in this brutal economic environment." Meanwhile, Whitlock wrote Cordish Co. Chair David Cordish, who has been critical of the Sprint Center's lack of a major tenant, "might want to keep his fingers away from his laptop for the next year or two," as his comments have done a "great deal of damage to the area" (K.C. STAR, 10/11).