Oregon Trail: Blazers Seeing Attendance, Ratings Increases
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Trail Blazers Seeing 20% Attendance
Increase So Far From Last Season |
The Trail Blazers, which are 13-12 and currently riding an eight-game winning streak, are averaging 18,200 fans per home game, a 20% increase from last season, and TV ratings and Web site hits "are up as well,” according to Joe Freeman of the Portland OREGONIAN. The team last week had its "most prolific week of single-game ticket sales this season,” selling over 500 tickets for a game against the Sonics on Christmas night. Team officials anticipate that game and Friday’s game against the Nuggets to sell out. To date, the team has sold out five of its 13 home games, compared to eight for the entire '06-07 season. Meanwhile, Comcast SportsNet’s broadcast of Jazz-Trail Blazers on December 14 drew a 5.2 share, the "highest cable TV ratings for a Blazers game in four seasons.” Comparatively, last season’s highest mark on CSN was a 3.1. Games on broadcast TV have "seen an even bigger boost,” as KGW-NBC earned a 7.2 local rating for Trail Blazers-Grizzlies on December 3, up from the station’s average of 4.4 for the '06-07 season. Trail Blazers Exec VP/Business Operations Mike Golub said, “All of this not only shows that our existing fans are really excited, but also that we are turning on some new fans to Blazers basketball and winning some people back who have been reticent to come back” (Portland OREGONIAN, 12/19).
HORNETS: In New Orleans, Teddy Kider reported the Hornets as of last Saturday ranked last in the league with an average attendance of 11,276, and the club is “sending out some of [its] highest-profile members, including [Owner George] Shinn, for the delivery of impassioned pleas" to fans. Shinn recently “lambasted negativity in the national media” around the team, citing the cancellation of a CNBC documentary that was “planned a few months ago.” Shinn said that he “ordered all of the organization’s employees to stay positive throughout interviews” for the program, and when "reporting was complete, the documentary was canceled” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 12/16). In Sacramento, Scott Howard-Cooper noted the Hornets' announced attendance, including giveaways, was 12,223 for a December 1 game against the Mavericks and 15,297 for a November 9 game against the Spurs. However, Shinn has “a history of finessing attendance figures.” The team is “projecting to the smallest attendance in the league since" the Hornets in '01-02, the franchise's lame-duck year in Charlotte (SACRAMENTO BEE, 12/16).
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