re: Why does the nba suck so bad?

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LosLobos111

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VOR

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taken from my previous thread about the Hornets lack of fan support - LINK


we are all Hornets ..... I mean Pelican fans who love and want this team to succeed. However some of us seem stuck on attendance issues, while others turn the other cheek claiming that attendance doesn't matter now that Benson owns the team. at the end of the day we all want the same outcome - for the team to be successful both on the court and with fan support. however for those arguing that attendance doesn't matter, I beg to differ. the Gulf South is not a good basketball market no matter which way you try and spin it and there are only so many billionaire owners who are willing to lose money nearly every year.

the "win more games and fan support will come" argument is somewhat true, but in New Orleans case it is not. this team has had FIVE different seasons in which the Hornets have made the playoffs during their tenure here in NOLA and it was only in ONE of those seasons did the organization turn a small profit. The Hornets organizing has lost money in 7 out of their 9 seasons in NOLA and 4 out of those 9 were playoff seasons.



Hornets History in NOLA


2002-03
Attendance: 15,650 (not bad, but not good. first year in new city)
Record: 47-35 *PLAYOFF TEAM*
Operating Income: (NEGATIVE) $8.3M
LINK


2003-04
Attendance: 14,332
Record: 41-41 *PLAYOFF TEAM*
Operating Income: unavailable by Forbes, but certainly negative again considering drop in attendance

2004-05
Attendance: 14,221
Record: 18-64
Operating Income: (NEGATIVE) $3.9M
LINK




Relocated to OKC, another small market


2005-06
Attendance: 18,168
Record: 38-44
Operating Income: $12.9M
LINK



2006-07
Attendance: 17,833
Record: 39-43
Operating Income: $10.2M
LINK


so despite having back to back losing seasons and overall poor teams they were still profitable and still drew impressive crowds. quite honestly we all should be thankful that Stern forced Shinn to come back because he certainly tried not to.





Returns to NOLA


2007-08
Attendance: 14,181
Record: 56-26 *PLAYOFF TEAM*
Operating Income: $3.2M (first profitable year in NOLA thanks to second round playoff run)
LINK



2008-09
Attendance: 16,968
Record: 49-33 *PLAYOFF TEAM*
Operating Income: (NEGATIVE) $100K (basically broke even)
LINK
LINK


2009-10
Attendance: 15,130
Record: 37-45
Operating Income: (NEGATIVE) $5.9M
LINK


2010-11
Attendance: 14,709
Record: 46-36 *PLAYOFF TEAM*
Operating Income: unavailable by Forbes, but again likely in the negative considering the poor attendance.


2011-12
Attendance: 15,109
Record: 21-45
Operating Income: $3.3M (second profitable year in NOLA)
LINK



2012-13
Attendance: 13,803
Record: 27-54
Operating Income: unavailable yet, but you can imagine




the bottom line is Louisiana sports fans need to step up and support this organization. they are not going to win 50 games every year and that cannot be expected. however the team makes the game experience top notch and they offer some of the most affordable tickets and ticket plans in the entire NBA (usually the cheapest tickets or in the top 3 cheapest every year). no there is nothing exciting about watching a bad team play basketball, however the elephant in the room is that even when we have had playoff caliber teams on the floor, the fan support has been decent at best.

you can walk into any random sports bar in NOLA, BR, etc. and chances are you won't see anything of the Hornets. however you'll see countless Saints, LSU, and you'll even see more Tulane and Southern stuff than you will of the Hornets. how can we help fix this and get this city and entire state of Louisiana behind the team? this issue is far more important than anything happening on the basketball court.

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link?

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LINK

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Please note my earlier post regarding your apparent pathology.

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and please note mine and others calling you out for ignoring facts.

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However some of us seem stuck on attendance issues, while others turn the other cheek claiming that attendance doesn't matter now that Benson owns the team

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I don't think the attendance problems don't matter they do but those of you who are "stuck on it" as you say what do you hope to accomplish by letting it make you mad? we can't do anything about it. it is what it is hopefully we can get some success and bring in packed houses but aside from attempting to force thousands of people to show up we have no control over it so the constant bitching about it is really pointless.

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I just can't take this statement seriously from a baseball fan

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I don't get basketball though. I never played, I don't really know the rules all that well, I can't think about anything from a players standpoint. I feel like a woman watching a football game. I can watch but I'm not at all engaged. I can get into a baseball game, it's much more interesting to me

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Please point out what I've ignored. TIA.

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VetteGuy posted an article about recent times in the NBA, and you spun it around that over the last 10-15 years the audience has grew. well no shite. nearly everything has grown over the last 15 years. that doesn't mean that what he posted about recent declines is irrelevant and shouldn't be noted. the NBA has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.

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ETA: I've not disagreed with you about Hornets attendance this season, btw.

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no you haven't. you've just mocked and attacked me or anyone who dares to bring it up. I'm just posting the facts about it. I want the team to succeed here, but it makes me cringe to hear the lame excuses that some have for the pathetic fan support. I've actually heard some idiots on the Hornets board blame poor attendance on "high school football games" being played at the same time. its those types of excuses that 90% of other sports teams fan bases would laugh out the room.

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I've actually heard some idiots on the Hornets board blame poor attendance on "high school football games" being played at the same time

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well to be fair our following is so small that a high school football game could literally take away a tenth of our fan base from a game

You realize ratings for EVERYTHING have fallen over the past 15-20 years because the proliferation of cable networks? As for the NBA recently, there have been numerous increases because, as common sense indicates, the popularity of players like LeBron have risen.

Saturation due ro more outlets is a good point.

That dosen't explain the NBA's TV problems though.

Alright, I'm here. Who's getting it?