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Reader comment on:
Empty Seats Threaten NBA's Future in New Orleans

Submitted by Chris, Nov 23, 2007 14:02

How much homework did you do?

The New Orleans Arena holds 19K? News to me. Actually you are wrong. I could give you the sell out number, but do a little homework and find out yourself.

What is the status of New Orleans' sponsorship revenue? Answer? You don't know. If you dig, you will find that this season, sponsorship revenue is at an ALL TIME high in franchise history (including time in Charlotte and Oklahoma). Call the organization and ask yourself.

So 1/3 of th city left huh? Did you bother to research or make notice of the fact that surrounding parishes (yeah, we don't call them counties here, we have character) are booming in population growth and are experiencing increased jobs, revenue and tax dollars? Ahhh, but these surrounding areas must be too far from the New Orleans Arena to count. WRONG again. Lets see, it's about 4 miles from Jefferson Parish to the New Orleans Arena. Plaquemine is about 15 miles away. St. Tammany is about 20 miles away. St. Charles, Lafourche, etc. as well. Well, you know now.

Shinn can't make it with the attendance right? Is there a provision in their deal with the state of Louisiana that makes up for temporary shortfalls? What are the benchmarks? How long is the deal? Wait, I know the answer, you don't know.

How about this...while attendance is lower than expected, did you break down what tickets have sold versus what seats aren't selling? What would it tell you if the lower bowl, club seats were selling but the cheaper seats weren't? I'll help you since you seem a tad bit slow...it's not a money problem. Yes, the metro area is slightly down in population, but the median household income is up. Do you need me to help explain that to you? Hey, why do you care? It doesn't fit your negative story agenda.

Suite sales are nearly at 100%. Did you mention that? You didn't, because you don't know.

One of the most affluent areas in the New Orleans metropolitan area, the Northshore (St. Tammany parish) can't see any Hornets games because of a dispute involving the broadcasting rights. Does that play a factor? Never thought about it because you didn't bother to research your story.

No one in New Orleans is side stepping the attendance issue. It should and needs to be higher. But a team and league who openly pandered to another city has helped damage the fan base. More so than Katrina did. We are only a handfull of games into a 2 year hiatus. We are a people who are still rebuilding. Our lives are busier than ever. Anyone who bothered to poke around and ask questions could figure this out.

I don't mind criticism, but do you homework. Be fair. Whats the excuse of Charlotte? Indiana? Other NBA cities experiencing huge drops in attendance? Could the story be bigger than New Orleans? God forbid King David's master plan is finally catching up with him and fans across the nation are choosing to stay away.

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Empty Seats Threaten NBA's Future in New Orleans

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