The A.I. Effect

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Basketball star Allen Iverson is living up to his nickname "The Answer" financially speaking as well, sparking revenue at a time the Denver Nuggets really need a boost.

The team's home attendance has slipped this year, and season-ticket sales are flat. Adding to the marketing dilemma, star forward Carmelo Anthony is serving a 15-game suspension after a December fight.

Enter Iverson.

The four-time NBA scoring champion, traded from the Philadelphia 76ers a couple of weeks ago, is a costly addition to the Nuggets' lineup, but he also provides a sales lift.

Since the high-profile move, the Nuggets have sold 620 season tickets and more than 1,100 six-game packages, while ratings on regional television network Altitude Sports & Entertainment - another piece of Stan Kroenke's sports empire - have jumped significantly.

In the past week, the retail operation at the Pepsi Center has recorded 1,700 sales of Iverson jerseys. On New Year's Eve alone, when the Nuggets faced the Dallas Mavericks, the shop sold 400 replica No. 3 shirts, a playoff-level spending spree, said Kroenke spokesman Brian Kitts.

The "authentic" jerseys, like the ones worn by the players, haven't hit the market yet. When they do, fans probably will reach into their wallets again.

Jim LaRoche, manager of a Sportsfan store near Invesco Field at Mile High, said those jerseys should be available in mid-to-late February.

In the meantime, replicas are flying off the shelves.

"We're blowing through them pretty quickly," LaRoche said, adding that customers have shown a similar level of interest in jerseys bearing the name and number of Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler.

The hoopla will cool off, but the Nuggets bet enough of the buzz will linger to justify Iverson's high price. (He is earning about $17 million this season and then a total of roughly $40 million through the 2008-09 season.)

Down the road, Iverson's appeal will translate into big money only if the Nuggets win. The club currently has a 16-13 record.

"Even if you bring over the world's greatest player, if you lose 40 games in a row, the spike is not going to continue," said Paul Andrews, top executive of Kroenke Sports. "At the end of the day, you have to prove you're competitive, and our goal for the Nuggets is to build a consistently competitive team that gives us a chance to win a championship."

The Nuggets' average per-game attendance at home this season is 16,442, down 4 percent from the 17,135 recorded last year. The team ranks 23rd in the NBA in attendance. Last season, Denver finished 15th.

The attendance figure has risen since Iverson's arrival. For his Nuggets debut on Dec. 22, attendance topped 18,000, Andrews said, despite post-blizzard conditions.

Andrews expects attendance to climb later this season, assuming the Nuggets are poised to reach the playoffs. The final eight to 10 games of last year, he said, drew especially large crowds as the team battled for a playoff spot.

The return of suspended starters Anthony and J.R. Smith - bounced after the brawl with the New York Knicks on Dec. 16 - should help marketing efforts.

Smith should return to the lineup next week, and Anthony can come back the following week.

At the same time, Andrews acknowledged Kroenke Sports isn't satisfied with the ticket sales so far this year.

"Obviously our goal is to sell out every game," he said. </div>

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