The Hornets are keeping the price of ticket renewals flat for season-ticket holders for the ’16-17 season through Feb. 16, marking the first time the club has established loyalty pricing. Hornets President & COO Fred Whitfield said, “Typically we’ll have some slight increase that’s really more determined by sections and supply-and-demand in those sections. But we made a conscious decision this year to say thank you to our season-ticket holders by way of flat pricing.” The price increase beginning on Feb. 17 was not disclosed, but Hornets Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Pete Guelli said ticket prices were up an average of 6% across the board last season. Guelli: “That’s a normal ballpark for us.” The Hornets this season have a 15-8 record at home, and for the second consecutive season are averaging more than 17,000 fans per game at Time Warner Cable Arena. The team has also had seven sellouts this season, including an arena-record five consecutive from Dec. 23-Jan. 2. The Hornets last season met their goal of getting to 10,000 season-ticket holders, and the next step is getting to 12,000. “We think at 12,000, when you layer on partial plans groups, individual sales, that you’ll ostensibly have a sold-out building every night," Guelli said. "So that’s ultimately where we want to be.” Whitfield added that the team has made a concerted effort to have its season-ticket holders become more involved with its membership club, "Swarm 365," which includes early entrance to games and pre-sale tickets to non-Hornets events at the arena.
