<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND - There's still 48 games for Don Nelson to prove his worth as the Warriors' new coach in the NBA standings. So far at the box office, however, Nelson's return engagement has not quite set the turnstiles ablaze. After four consecutive years of record-setting attendance figures at the venue formerly known as the Oakland Arena, the Warriors have fallen behind that pace. Through 18 home dates, Golden State is averaging 17,902 fans per game, or 91.4 percent of the listed capacity of 19,596 at the newly named Oracle Arena. That's a decline of roughly 1.52 percent from this time last season, when the Warriors were on their way to setting a West Coast franchise record with a total of 749,185 fans in 41 home games, or 18,273 per contest. According to figures compiled by Sports Business Daily through games of Dec. 11, the Warriors are one of only 10 teams to suffer an attendance drop in the early going this season. Leaguewide attendance was up 3.1 percent during that time frame, and Western Conference foes such as the Phoenix Suns (8.5 percent), Utah Jazz (8.3 percent) and Portland Trail Blazers (7.7 percent) all enjoyed significant increases. So do these sales figures represent a blip in the Warriors' growth, or is the decades-long love affair between the Warriors and the diehard community of basketball fans in the Bay Area beginning to wane just a bit? Not surprisingly, Warriors president Robert Rowell feels it's the former. "I'm pleased that it's as close as it was to last season, seeing that we had 11 home games in November," when some fans' attention is still being drawn to college and pro football, Rowell said. "We've seen a pretty good sign of sales going into January. I'm fine with where we're at." Any boost that hiring Nelson gave the Warriors in terms of season-ticket sales has been counterbalanced by the attrition brought on by the team's price hike of tickets in the lower bowl -- an average increase of 15 percent. Rowell said season ticket sales were pretty much even with last year's. "When you raise ticket prices, unfortunately, you put people in a position where they maybe can't afford their seats," Rowell said. "But we're trying to make our business work."</div> Source
They had no reason to raise the ticket prices. After 12 years of no playoffs they raise ticket prices? Ridiculous.
This is 2005, but still food for thought: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Golden State Warriors Christopher Cohan www.warriors.com Team Value1 $ 243 mil (#26) The Golden State Warriors are owned by Christopher Cohan, who bought them in 1995 for $119 mil. 2004 Coach Mike Montgomery Sport: Portion of franchise's value attributable to revenue shared among all teams. Market: Portion of franchise's value attributable to its city and market size. Stadium: Portion of franchise's value attributable to its stadium. Brand Management: Portion of franchise's value attributable to the management of its brand. The skinny For ten years, owner Chris Cohan has been vilified for his team's poor play. But a solid collection of young talent has the team playing better and fans are starting to show up to the tune of 18,000 a game for the first one-third of the season. Of course, having ticket prices 20% cheaper than any other team in the NBA helps. After two straight years of turning a profit thanks to a total of $29 million in revenue sharing checks, the Warriors lost money last season. When league-wide revenues came in higher than expected, the luxury tax was not implemented and each team received an equal payment of $3.2 million. </div> Forbes Link Apparently in the 2004-2005 season ticket prices were 20% cheaper than anyother team -- of course, so was production. It says that luxury tax wasn't implemented that year... what? Am I missing something? DId the league say "okay, you guys, you all made more money than we thought you would, so we're not going to dole out the luxury tax bonus"?
I think that's how it works. Let's put it this way, baseball needs this type of thing. Players are getting spoiled over there. This year we may have to think about dumping some guys because if the Warriors lose money for several more years and aren't improving, then it's time to flush everything down the toilet. I wouldn't be surprised season ticket fans are upset. They basically got hyped up and it was a shill. They're not even playing Ike and popular players are getting hurt like Jason Richardson, maybe Troy Murphy, and Monta Ellis. It's hard to watch this style if it's not dominating like the Suns or Pistons. Let's just say I'm not going to any games at the arena, because the product isn't to my liking. It wasn't in 2004 and it wasn't in 2005. At least in 2003 they had a sensible lineup despite dumping all their talent.
A better rule would be season ticket holders get their money back if their team fails to win half their games. The compensation will come from the player salaries since they are ultimately responsible for the success of their respective team.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">A better rule would be season ticket holders get their money back if their team fails to win half their games. The compensation will come from the player salaries since they are ultimately responsible for the success of their respective team.</div> Hm... I don't think it should come out of the players pockets but out of the GM's. Watch, custodian will agree with me
<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hm... I don't think it should come out of the players pockets but out of the GM's. Watch, custodian will agree with me </div> GM's don't make anything close to the money the players make. The effort and commitment a player makes towards his team, is more vital than anything a GM can do for a team.
<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hm... I don't think it should come out of the players pockets but out of the GM's. Watch, custodian will agree with me </div> Right. It should come out of Mullin, Rowell, Mullin's friends, and Mullin's players that are way overpaid according to other players of similar abilities and consistency. Jrich at least wrote an apology ad when he wasn't most responsible for the losing. I'd like to see Foyle, Pietrus, Dunleavy, Murphy, Fisher for every single layup blown, pass dropped, defensive play blown, and other boneheadedness or softness which caused this team to lose. We got two good players on this roster, some nice prospects, but absolutely terrible veteran help formulating the starting rotation or bench rotation. The roster wasn't planned very well and guys jumped on money they didn't earn IMO. That's harsh, but that's me the overly critical fan who doesn't like the direction of this club when it began in 2004.
And also that is why they won't ever get my money. Not a dime. It's time to make a statement. I'll still follow the Warriors, but consider me in exile when it comes to paying for my own ticket. I'll let my friends who want to see the Lakers, Rockets, or Kings play, pay for my ticket.
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">And also that is why they won't ever get my money. Not a dime. It's time to make a statement. I'll still follow the Warriors, but consider me in exile when it comes to paying for my own ticket. I'll let my friends who want to see the Lakers, Rockets, or Kings play, pay for my ticket. </div> Hahaha. This reminded me of the Clippers marketing campaign when I first moved to LA, about 5 or 6 years ago. Their campaign slogan focused on "come see the other teams" play the Clippers.
For luxury tax, if entire teams spend less than certain amount, luxury tax doesn't kick in. That's why last year was the first year (as far as I know) some teams actually paid luxury tax. But the way things are going, it's unlikely that teams will avoid luxury tax now. For attendance figure, it's bit misleading, because last year's attendance figure has a lot to do with Davis' trade and our burst at the end of two season ago. At that time, Warriors were able to sold like three thousands more season tickets. Considering how we disappointed fans last year, it's rather remarkable that attendance only dropped by 1.5% For ticket increase, it's long overdue actually. Our ticket price still is at the bottom of league...
