NBA Teams See 4% Boost In Season-Ticket Sales In ’06-07
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T’Wolves Struggling To Sell Season
Tickets With On-Court Performance Lacking |
Full-season-ticket sales for NBA teams grew 4% in ’06-07, and nine teams
— the Bulls, Heat, Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Mavericks, Hornets, Cavaliers
and Suns -– had full-season-ticket sales of over 10,000, up from six clubs
in ’05-06, according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. NBA Senior
VP/Team Marketing & Business Operations Scott O’Neil said, “We’re
running out of inventory. Teams have hired larger sales staff and full-season-ticket
sales are up, and that drives the business year after year” (SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL, 4/23 issue).
T’WOLVES: In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse reported the T’Wolves
sold just 6,500 full-season-ticket packages for the ’06-07 season and an
additional 500 season equivalents. T’Wolves President Chris Wright said,
“When Target Center and the team were new, we were selling 16,000 full season
tickets. The building is 17 years old. We’ve had three bad seasons in a
row. It’s tough out there.” Reusse noted the team began an “early-bird
ticket campaign during the All-Star break” this season that cut prices on
40% of season tickets and froze prices on another 40%. Only the 20% of tickets
closest to the floor increased in price. Wright said, “The increase for
the high-demand tickets will offset the reductions in other prices. The revenue
for a sellout crowd for next season would be the same as it was this year.”
Reusse noted the team sold 611 new season tickets through the campaign, compared
to 37 through this time last year. However, fewer than 4,500 fans have renewed
their tickets for ’07-08 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/21). In Minneapolis,
Jim Souhan wrote it is “time for us to stop blaming” T’Wolves
VP/Basketball Operations Kevin McHale for the team’s troubles, as Owner
Glen Taylor “deserves all of the blame now, for having no plan.” All
McHale has done is “meet the standards of his employer and continue behavior
that has been generously rewarded” (STAR TRIBUNE, 4/22).
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