The Pelicans have "sold more than 3,000 season tickets" since winning the No. 1 overall pick and right to draft Zion Williamson in Tuesday's NBA Draft Lottery, and that "number is expected to grow," according to Tiffany Baptiste of Baton Rouge-based WAFB-CBS (5/15). Ticket resale marketplace Vivid Seats said that traffic on its Pelicans page was "up 350 percent year-over-year on Lottery Night" (TWITTER.com, 5/15).
READY FOR THE MOMENT: In New Orleans, Nathan Brown in a front-page piece notes Pelicans Senior VP/Sales Michael Stanfield for days had "set up a laborious checklist in preparation" for the 6% chance that the team won the No. 1 pick. Stanfield had already "ordered an override of the crew's phone system that automatically sends calls to voicemail on weekdays." IT officials were also "on-hand, ready to remedy the 15 seconds where the office's phone system failed." Even gameday operations managers were "on-hand to learn a crash course in over-the-phone ticket sales." Stanfield said, "You don't just plan for success. You expect it, whether you're on the court, the field or in the office. You expect success, and you're ready for it." Some Pelicans employees "showed up as early" as 6:00am the day after the lottery to "do it all over again, hoping to build upon the more than 2,000 season ticket packages they sold Tuesday night alone that included an annual suite, floor level packages that go for $75,000 a seat and tickets in the upper reaches of the arena that cost just $230 for the season." Pelicans Senior Premium Seating Account Exec Kevin Ferguson said, "I had four or five accounts that had been on the fence about renewing, and between last night and this morning, nearly all of them reached out to me saying 'Hey, are my seats still there? Can I get back on board?'" (New Orleans ADVOCATE, 5/16).
THE ZION EFFECT: In New Orleans, Jeff Duncan wrote the team "suddenly has juju again," and free agents "surely will take notice." TV networks will also "dutifully follow," because Williamson "changes everything." He will be "one of the biggest draws in the NBA the minute he joins the league." The only player with "comparable star power to enter the NBA in the past two decades is LeBron James" (NOLA.com, 5/15). In DC, Jerry Brewer writes while Williamson is "instantly marketable and figures to be a very good player at worst as long as he stays healthy, it will take an especially creative organizational approach to help him become a transcendent superstar." Williams is not just "vital to the future of the Pelicans." It is "important for basketball" that Exec VP/Basketball Operations David Griffin and the team "get this right" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/16).
