Wizards Struggling To Sell Seats Due To Poor Start, Injuries
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Losses Of Arenas, Haywood To Injury One
Reason Wizards Ticket Sales Are Sluggish |
Wizards President of Business Operations & CFO Peter Biche said that the team's poor record, injuries to G Gilbert Arenas and C Brendan Haywood and the "overall economic downturn have been factors" in the team currently ranking 20th in the NBA in attendance, according to Ivan Carter of the WASHINGTON POST. The Wizards, who currently are in last place in the Eastern Conference, are averaging 16,552 fans per game through 25 home dates at Verizon Center. A season-low announced crowd of 11,442 attended Monday's game against the Grizzlies, while the team said that "only 12,602 attended Wednesday's blowout loss to the Nets." Those figures "reflect tickets sold, not actual bodies in the seats," and the crowds "appeared to be much smaller." Though Arenas has not played since November due to a knee injury and "there is no timetable for his return," the Wizards are "still marketing Arenas -- featuring him, as well as [Fs] Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, in television ads that run during broadcasts." But Biche and his marketing and sales staff are "coming up with innovative ways to keep the turnstiles moving." As part of "The Wizards Economic Stimulus Offer," the team "provides a certain number of upper-level seats for $11." Some $40 upper-level seats "have been dropped to $20, and the team has various offers aimed at driving group sales" such as "Guys Night Out" and "Kids' Day." Biche said, "A lot of what we are doing isn't very different from what we've done before, we just have to do it a little better and a little harder. Where you might have had a larger margin of error in the past, you don't have that now." Carter notes the next challenge facing the Wizards "will be getting season ticket holders to renew for next season," which "could be difficult given the team's struggles, doubts about Arenas's health and the economy" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/6).
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