I just crunched the numbers and counting the games from December 1st on (the date the announcement said would begin the counting of the average), the Hornets are averaging 12,500 at home as of tonight (the night of the Trailblazers game). Meh. A shame, really. In the lead with the best record in the West. As said above, fun team to watch, too.
that is bad, but to be honest, I thought it was worse. I think the 2nd half, once football is totally over, people will get out there.
This is about the time I get depressed that we gave up our club seats a couple years back. Had a nice little system too. My uncle paid half and we split the games up. Since I live in the BR I would get the late week games and weekends and my Uncle and cousin would go the other times. Uncle had a aneurysm and was forced to retire being a doctor and all. He was weak and had to be wise with his money with my cousin in Med School and it would have been a waste for me to make 40 home games while working on a Masters with 2 kids. I will get those seats back soon and split them with my brother who is moving back to N.O. or I will get them as an investment to give out to seal some business deals.
i am glad the hornets are doing well even though paul is a ball puncher. yeah, im partial to ray felton.
My wife got some club seats from her work for the Timberwolves game last month. 6th row at mid court. It was great watching from that close and it gave me a whole new respect for basketball. Too bad I can't afford those kind of seats normally, or I may actually go to more games. The seats were so great we never even made it into the lounge area until we were leaving.
Next time you go make sure to hit up the Pasta Station. There are 2 lounges also. If you walk down the hallway to the other side you can watch the players and cheerleaders gather over the tunnel. Then they have an all you can eat buffet but they stop serving at the start of the 3rd quarter. If you refuse to get up from your seat just call up one of the waiters. I have not done this but I bet they take on a few extra $$$.
I've sat in the club seats owned by Mr. Chouest, the owner of the team, and I've sat in the upper deck behind the goal, and I can say there really isn't a true "bad" seat in the whole arena. It was designed real well for basketball.
At this point I couldn't care less about the attendance issue....at first it pissed me off...but i'll remain optimistic that it will pick up after the all-star game and next season. Shinn has been on record it's really about "next year" and developing a season ticket holder base (they started from 0 and got to like 6,500 this year.) I'm not too optimistic they will hit the 14,750, but that won't mean automatic doomsday. If attendance is good next year but we fall short of the mark I still think Shinn will renegotiate a new contract or something. If they leave, they leave. But I'll be happy knowing I supported them and am enjoying one of the best pro teams to ever play in the city of New Orleans.
it's not that I don't think people here like the NBA, because I know for a fact they do. Just look at the attendance for Cavs games or Lakers games, etc.. But that is the problem... People my age and older already have "their team", and if you're a real fan of that team, you won't just totally abandon them and become a fan of the Hornets just because they play close to where you live. Where it will pay off is with the young'ins. They will grow up with the Hornets being "their" team, and it will be their generation that will embrace the team.
I heard Shinn on WWL and he said he doesn't want to move. He is tired of moving and his family likes it here. He will renegotiate if the attendance mark isn't met. It could be all fluff, but he sounded convincing.
