The NBA recognized 10 teams for having full-season-ticket sales of more than 10,000 when it handed out the annual league awards during its recent sales and marketing meetings in Miami.
Those full-season-ticket sales awards went to the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.
Though league officials refused to disclose which team has the largest season-ticket base, the Warriors are the NBA’s leader in new season-ticket sales with 5,600 sold, team officials said.
Eight teams were recognized for selling more than 2,000 new full-season tickets. Those teams were Cleveland, Toronto and Utah, along with the Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers.
The teams recognized for the highest number of group sales were Orlando, Detroit, the Houston Rockets and the Washington Wizards.
“Our focus is to clearly recognize performance, and what matters is full-season-ticket sales and retention,” said Scott O’Neil, senior vice president of team marketing and business operations for the NBA. “Teams know what the numbers are [to qualify for an award] and they want to be recognized.”
Miami, Cleveland and Houston were recognized for having the top team Web sites.
The NBA through Jan. 7 was averaging 17,082 fans a game, down 4 percent from last season to date. Detroit ranked first among teams at 22,076 fans a game. The New Orleans Hornets ranked last, with an average of 11,871 per game, down 34.6 percent from last season, when the team played all but six of its games in Oklahoma City. Portland had the highest increase in attendance, up 21.3 percent to an average of 18,730 fans a game through Jan. 7.
More than 400 league and team officials attended the two-day annual event in Miami Jan. 7-8. NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver were at the meeting for both days. Among the sessions included during the meetings was a presentation by a panel that featured former NBA stars Bill Russell, Julius Erving and Bill Walton. The league’s NBA Cares program also held an event to build a playground in Miami.
