A down economy and issues with some formerly robust franchises leaves NBA attendance flat — but it may be worse when you count the actual fannies in the seats.
A down economy and issues with some formerly robust franchises leaves NBA attendance flat — but it may be worse when you count the actual fannies in the seats.
Attendance is significantly down in Sacramento (12,185), Minnesota (13.727) and Memphis (12.037) this season, as those teams struggle both on the floor and at the box office. Anecdotal reports say the actual attendance is far lower, and these numbers are dragging down the total attendance for the league. In fact, take away the attendance increase notched by the Oklahoma City Thunder — up almost 5,000 per game over last season in Seattle — and league attendance would actually be down.
Also of concern: solid teams that are winning are not rebounding strongly at the box office. Portland has recovered from the front-office disasters fostered by Paul Allen (this season, attendance is 20,516 per game), but both Philadelphia and Indiana are drawing poorly based on their on-court records: Philly is attracting only 13,895 fans a game, and Indy 14,180.
