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April 15, 2009
One of the most incredible stories in all of professional sports is happening in New Orleans.
While many of you might assume I am referring to Chris Paul’s second consecutive MVP run as the best point guard in the NBA I am actually focusing on Hornets fans, which are spinning the New Orleans Arena turnstiles at an amazing pace.
Just two seasons removed from a temporary relocation to Oklahoma City, the Big Easy has embraced its basketball team in record numbers during the 2008-2009 campaign. The reality of this phenomenon is that it actually has been happening since the last third of last season. The Hornets sold out 13 regular season games in 2007-2008, including the final six games leading to the franchise’s first-ever division title. Die-hards and bandwagon fans alike combined to fill the arena for all seven home playoff games as the team advanced to a Game 7 semi-final encounter with defending champion San Antonio.
Despite falling at home in that epic post season matchup at the Hive fans have responded in a way nobody would have predicted when the Hornets returned to New Orleans post-Katrina. With nearly 11,000 season ticket holders heading into this season the Bees ranked in the top 10 in the NBA. But, translating a great season ticket base into a steady flow of sellouts is not always an easy process in pro sports. For the Hornets, however, connecting with the Gulf Coast community off the court and providing a league best in-arena entertainment package during games has enhanced the value of the Hornets game-day experience.
Fans have obviously recognized this by turning out in record numbers this season. With 22 sellouts the Hornets have set a regular season record in New Orleans. They sold out 12 of their final 13 regular season games and are primed to sell out every playoff game for the second consecutive post-season.
While doubters told Hornets principal owner George Shinn it was financial suicide to return to New Orleans after the worst natural disaster of our time, the organization stayed focused on community and energetic players whose commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast region was as strong as their desire to bring home the city’s first championship. While it’s sometimes difficult to measure a pro team’s affect on its market, I believe the remarkable attendance numbers being recorded in the Crescent City since the Hornets full-time return last season are strong evidence that Hornets fans believe in the organization’s desire for a symbiotic relationship with its fans; we need each other for New Orleans to grow and for the Hornets to reach the NBA’s holy grail.
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| SEASON | SELLOUTS (regular season) | SELLOUTS (post season) |
| '07-'08 | 13 | 7 |
| '08-'09 | 22 | ? |
| TOTAL | 35 | 7+ |
Next, let’s look at how the sellout phenomenon has actually gained momentum since the southwest division-clinching run last in the spring of 2008 that started on 3/19/08:
| GAMES | SELLOUTS | PCT OF SELLOUTS |
| 47 | 29 | .617 |
And if selling out over 60% of their home games since March of LAST SEASON isn’t evidence enough of what’s happening in the Hive let’s break down the numbers that really matter from the NBA league office…what percent of capacity each team is filling its arenas. In other words, instead of comparing the Hornets’ 17,200 capacity to the Chicago Bulls’ 22,000 maximum at the United Center let’s compare apples to apples.
| TEAM | % OF CAPACITY |
| 1. DALLAS | 104.28 |
| 2. PORTLAND | 102.65 |
| 3. BOSTON | 100.00 |
| 4. L.A. LAKERS | 100.00 |
| 5. PHOENIX | 100.00 |
| 6. UTAH | 99.96 |
| 7. CLEVELAND | 99.72 |
| 8. DETROIT | 99.03 |
| 9. NEW ORLEANS | 98.59 |
| 10. CHICAGO | 97.84 |
While the Hornets are ranked in the middle of the pack of NBA teams in terms of average, per-game attendance it is important to remember that with one of the smallest arenas in the league the Bees get stung in the attendance race simply because they have FEWER SEATS TO BEGIN WITH. So, let’s focus less on where the team ranks in average attendance and more on how many seats are being filled nightly. As they say in the sports business…you can’t sell what you don’t have.
What the Hornets do have is a ravenous fan base…turning out in record numbers to prove two things: New Orleans is alive and well as an NBA city, and the Big Easy is primed to support a Chris Paul-led championship run.
