Pacers game attendance is down 8% to 15,355 per game, 29th in the NBA, but that "isn’t reflecting how much" the city of Indianapolis "likes this team," according to Gregg Doyel of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Pacers CMO Todd Taylor said that after the team traded Paul George in the offseason, season-ticket holders "renewed their seats at the usual level," but he added that fans on the fence "stayed away." Those fans are the "ones who purchase tickets in multi-game packs, and they did not renew at normal levels." Nor did "new fans come rushing to take their place." The last couple of years, the team was "likable only when the scoreboard showed the Pacers with more points than the other team." But fans "like this team." They "love the way the Pacers play, faster than ever and shooting 3-pointers at a better clip" than anyone in the NBA. Doyel: "This team, it cares. So does the fan base. And believe me, Indianapolis: The Pacers have noticed." The "affection this fan base has for this team is real and tangible" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 11/28).
