What Can Sixers Do to Change Terrible Attendance?
Posted by Johnny Goodtimes on November 10th, 2009
The Sixers are in a world of hurt. They are currently averaging a mere 57% capacity rate for home games. The next lowest, Memphis, is at 77%. Keep in mind that their season started as the Phillies started the World Series, so most of the city hardly even knew they were playing. Even so, 57% constitutes a disaster, especially when you consider that they are selling some tickets for $10. The Camden Riversharks have tix for around $10, and they pull in almost half as many fans per game as the Sixers. They are an unaffiliated minor league team whose sponsors include PJ Whelihan’s, while the Sixers are part of the one of the largest marketing behemouths on earth, the NBA. The first step is admitting it: This is a disaster.
But within every disaster lies opportunity. If you don’t believe me, watch The Fish Who Saved Pittsburgh. The Sixers can draw a crowd, but they have to get creative. Running the same old gags out onto the floor just isn’t going to cut it. Here are a few ideas I have (some of which I have offered before). In the comments, please let me know: what can the Sixers do to get folks in the seats?
Dim the freaking lights already. My number one pet peeve. The court is where the action happens, so why are the stands lit up like a cafeteria? Create a mood. This is theatre. Present it as such. See Palestra, The.
Kill the stupid music and sound effects during game play. The sound of sneakers squeaking, balls hitting the wood, and coaches yelling instruction are what I want to hear, not a video game “Clang” when the ball hits the rim and the latest crap by 50 Cent.
More Live Music. There are tons of local bands, rappers, etc. that would love to play between quarters, during halftime, etc. and would certainly do so free for the exposure. Take advantage of it!
Make Halftime a Show. Spoken Word Battles, comedy skits, Slam Dunk Contests with local high school kids, American Idol type competition, baby races, trivia events, spelling bees, hell anything but a giant rabbit banging Thunderstix together. You’ve got 15 minutes. Take advantage of it. Tell people they’ve got 5 minutes to get a hotdog before the halftime show begins. Make halftime half of the fun.
Customer Service. The Sixers are already good at it, but they need to be better. How about a King for a Day promotion, where 2 people from one of the worst sections win a front row seat for the game? You’ve got those seats sitting empty. Use them!
Use the Players. The Sixers have a likeable team. The players need to get them out in the community as much as possible, and you need to have them sign every single autograph that is requested of them. This is more than just TV appearances. This is charity events, community engagements, high school b-ball tournaments, etc. This city loves teams that they feel a real connection with. Make the Sixers look like a part of the community, not just a bunch of young millionaires who play ball in South Philly.
November 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Two Words: Pat Croce.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
How about fixing the real problem: the NBA sucks. Start calling fouls on star players, traveling, palming, etc. How about more team basketball like college? Most Villanova games there are close to sellouts. The NBA is more like the WWE.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
The can stop being awful. That would be a start.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
They are not awful. The Sixers are a decent team, much better than several teams that are outdrawing them, including the Knicks who somehow continue to sell out the MSG. I agree with Greg, but the problem is that the NBA will never change as long as David Stern is commissioner. He apparently learned how to run sports leagues from Vince McMahon. The difference between the WWE and the NBA, of course, is that the WWE is entertaining. Nonetheless, that is a different topic for a different day. The question is what can the Sixers do to get people to the arena. Bringing Croce back on board would certainly be a good start.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
fire matt cord and replace him with johnny goodtimes…peace d.o. http://www.myspace.com/dannyozark
November 10th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I’ve had several people tell me that I have the same voice as Matt Cord (seriously). I don’t think people would notice the difference.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
The Sixers are awful, at least by the standard of real competitiveness. Teams like the Sixers that are near .500 have absolutely no chance of a playoff run. Unlike the other 3 major sports, the NBA is the most top-heavy and fans get that. The Sixers are capable of beating teams like the Nets but they are incapable of beating teams like the Celtics. In fairness, that’s just the way the NBA is structured and the Sixers aren’t the only team that’s caught in this holding pattern.
Turning down the lights, getting bands to play at halftime, et cetera: those are all good ideas but the bottom line in sports is that if your team isn’t competitive you won’t draw. Exceptions like the Knicks exist in environments where there is a culture around them, big corporate money associated with them and a market that is several times larger.
The shame of the Sixers situation is that they’re stuck in the mode of mediocrity because of the way the NBA works. They aren’t bad enough to get a lottery pick and they aren’t good enough to win as is. Add that to questionable front office decisions (Elton Brand) and you have a team that doesn’t generate excitement because fans know they’re not competitive. Any window dressing you put up around that isn’t going to fill the seats. They’re a mediocre product, plain and simple. And with the way things are these days, consumers simply aren’t going to spend their hard-earned money on something they know won’t deliver much of a return.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:33 am
You make good points, but simply winning will not fill the Wachovia Center for the Sixers. During the greatest period of Sixer basketball, the ’75-’83 seasons, when the Sixers had the best and most exciting talent in the League (Doc, McGuinnes, Collins, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, World B.Free, Toney, Chocolate Thunder, etc), the Sixers rarely sold out the Spectrum, except for games against the Knicks and Boston, when there were plenty of opposing fans. They also had the best marketing in the League then, and were famous for running the kind of halftime shows and giveaways that JGT is calling for now. Philadelphia traditionally was a college basketball town (unlike NY) and also had far more difficulty warming to a sport where most of the athletes were black (you saw this with the other major sports teams in town, especially the Phils).
While Iverson was a tremendous draw later on, they still did not draw well until Pat Croce came in and convinced many people who otherwise would not go to pro basketball games that the team was part of Philadelphia and went as far as to personally welcome fans to games. That had a greater effect than anything the team ever did in attracting fans who never before were particularly interested in NBA basketball. Within a couple of seasons under Pat, the Sixers had among the highest attendance in the League. When he was forced out, you can see a steady decline in attendance, even when the Sixers had good years. There is no “face” to the Sixers anymore that convinces people that they are “one of us”, something that is vital in this very provincial town. How Snider didn’t realize that is astonishing—ego got in the way of money, I guess. But the general attitude in town is back to the kind of attitude BP (Before Pat), where a sizeable percentage of the population considers the team to be overpaid “thugs” (not my opinion at all). We all know what that really means. Add to that a major recession in which people simply are unable and/or unwilling to spend $80 or more for a ticket and you have a real problem. Having a real chance to win a title is not a major factor in the collapse of attendance, although it is very meaningful to real basketball fans. They need to get the non-real basketball fans to attend, however, and that requires a presence like Croce.