Kings last in attendance!

One and Done

One and Done

Bench
#2
#2
Keep in mind we also have one of the smallest arenas in the league. I'm more interested in % of capacity...

Here's what I've heard from a few fairweather Kings fans (ex-season ticket holders), but I'm not sure this is entirely factual: once the Kings got good, the Maloofs jacked up prices, pricing-out the loyal long-time fans, allowing the trendy fans to take their place. Now that the Kings are not the "in" thing to do, the trendy crowd no longer buys tix and the original fans are alieneted...and still priced out. Is there any legitimacy to this?

Whatever the case, the Kings will need a "draw" to get fans back in their seats. Lower prices all around couldn't hurt either...
 
nebs

nebs

Starter
#3
#3
One and Done said:
Here's what I've heard from a few fairweather Kings fans (ex-season ticket holders), but I'm not sure this is entirely factual: once the Kings got good, the Maloofs jacked up prices, pricing-out the loyal long-time fans, allowing the trendy fans to take their place. Now that the Kings are not the "in" thing to do, the trendy crowd no longer buys tix and the original fans are alieneted...and still priced out. Is there any legitimacy to this?
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I believe that may be true actually.

Although they do seem to be pushing hard to get the old fans back with those $10 and $20 tickets they keep pumping up during broadcasts.
 
quick dog

quick dog

Starter
#4
#4
I agree that what One and Done stated may be a reason for lower attendance at ARCO Arena these days. I think that dubious player-trades influenced the fan-base. The apparent (probably false) lack own owner interest in winning contributed to the decline. But, I think the interminable arena dispute and veiled threats by the Maloofs to leave Sacramento could well have been the gretest issue.

Sacramento fans are discouraged, but they will come back when the Kings get back into the playoffs with personable and exciting players. Next season will be pivotal.
 
beb0p

beb0p

Starter
#5
#5
I think we have to keep in perspective that Arco is the second smallest arena in the league and if we had sold out every game, it'd still place the Kings all the way "up" to #20. I think the bottom feeders (except Detroit) that came to Sacramento during the home stretch didn't help much.

The thing is I doubt we'll finish the season last in attendance. Last season, the Kings' 13,500 average places us near the bottom but it's around 80% of capacity. That's not bad, imo.
 
nebs

nebs

Starter
#6
#6
beb0p said:
I think we have to keep in perspective that Arco is the second smallest arena in the league and if we had sold out every game, it'd still place the Kings all the way "up" to #20. I think the bottom feeders (except Detroit) that came to Sacramento during the home stretch didn't help much.

The thing is I doubt we'll finish the season last in attendance. Last season, the Kings' 13,500 average places us near the bottom but it's around 80% of capacity. That's not bad, imo.
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Even if Arco was the largest arena, right now, they'd still have the lowest avg. attendance in the league.
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#8
#8
First, the Maloofs took over a franchise drowning in red ink, including a debt to the city that the former ownership group had to get to try and stay afloat. (It didn't work. That's why they sold majority interest to the Maloofs.)

Second, we paid the price for having one of the very highest payrolls in the league during our glory years. The Maloofs also had to pay luxury tax at least a couple of years, too. Since we have almost no corporate base in Sacramento, fans paid the price.

It's taken awhile, and constant payroll cutting to get down from those costly years. The Maloofs have been able to keep ticket prices on hold for about 3 years now. I suspect, they will be in the red this year. Maybe were in the red last year, with no playoff tickets.

It doesn't help that Arco needs a lot of maintenance and isn't a very economically viable arena for maximizing profits from other events.

I understand the economy is taking a toll and the Sacramento region is one of the hardest hit housing markets in the country, but I'm still a little surprised at how low attendence has fallen.
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#10
#10
kennadog said:
Second, we paid the price for having one of the very highest payrolls in the league during our glory years. The Maloofs also had to pay luxury tax at least a couple of years, too. Since we have almost no corporate base in Sacramento, fans paid the price.

It's taken awhile, and constant payroll cutting to get down from those costly years. The Maloofs have been able to keep ticket prices on hold for about 3 years now. I suspect, they will be in the red this year. Maybe were in the red last year, with no playoff tickets.
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No, they never paid the luxury tax. It didn't exist back then. When it did they started cutting salaries to stay under. They have remained right below the luxury tax the past few years. Any cost cutting just kept them below it. Once SAR's contract becomes insured it will drop them to the lowest point since the 1998 season when they hit the FA market. And they will still be over the cap.

The Kings are still around the 12th highest salary and had the 9th highest ticket prices last year.
 
J

Jer

G-League
#13
#13
One and Done said:
Keep in mind we also have one of the smallest arenas in the league. I'm more interested in % of capacity...
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The PCT column is what you're looking for.

Average attendance is 11,947 according to the chart, and Arco's NBA capacity is 17,317. 69% corresponds to their figure.

If you sort by PCT, we're third from last in front of only Philadelphia and Memphis (San Antonio should actually be around 93%).
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#16
#16
Jer said:
The PCT column is what you're looking for.

Average attendance is 11,947 according to the chart, and Arco's NBA capacity is 17,317. 69% corresponds to their figure.

If you sort by PCT, we're third from last in front of only Philadelphia and Memphis (San Antonio should actually be around 93%).
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Percent is irrelevent. It could hold 10,000 and sell out at 100% or could hold 100,000 and have 10,000 show up and be 10%. Capacity just means the maximum it can hold.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#18
#18
Percentage is as relevant as anything else... There aren't any 100,000 seat basketball arenas in the NBA.

Trying to find a way to increase attendance with a team that is rebuilding is always a concern. The Maloofs are well aware of the situation as they're actually in attendance at more games than not.

We all knew - or should have known - the attendance figures would drop when the team dropped out of elite status. If they continue to play with the heart and hustle they've been showing recently, however, the fans who love the game will return. It's the "Hey, look at me" fans who won't be back until/unless it's once again "cool" to go to Kings games. Quite frankly, I don't care if those "fans" ever return...
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#19
#19
VF21 said:
Percentage is as relevant as anything else... There aren't any 100,000 seat basketball arenas in the NBA.

Trying to find a way to increase attendance with a team that is rebuilding is always a concern. The Maloofs are well aware of the situation as they're actually in attendance at more games than not.

We all knew - or should have known - the attendance figures would drop when the team dropped out of elite status. If they continue to play with the heart and hustle they've been showing recently, however, the fans who love the game will return. It's the "Hey, look at me" fans who won't be back until/unless it's once again "cool" to go to Kings games. Quite frankly, I don't care if those "fans" ever return...
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The 100,000 just to prove the point. Plus, the 1010 all star game is at the new dallas cowboys stadium, seats 100,000.

So if they had a 13,000 seat stadium that was sold out everything would be ok?
 
Packt

Packt

Starter
#20
#20
VF21 said:
Percentage is as relevant as anything else... There aren't any 100,000 seat basketball arenas in the NBA.

Trying to find a way to increase attendance with a team that is rebuilding is always a concern. The Maloofs are well aware of the situation as they're actually in attendance at more games than not.

We all knew - or should have known - the attendance figures would drop when the team dropped out of elite status. If they continue to play with the heart and hustle they've been showing recently, however, the fans who love the game will return. It's the "Hey, look at me" fans who won't be back until/unless it's once again "cool" to go to Kings games. Quite frankly, I don't care if those "fans" ever return...
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Well you should. The casual fans are a huge revenue stream for teams. Pre Maloofs, the team relied on the loyal fanbase, but that didn't stop them from going in the red and essentially having to sell.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

All-Star
#21
#21
VF21 said:
If they continue to play with the heart and hustle they've been showing recently, however, the fans who love the game will return. It's the "Hey, look at me" fans who won't be back until/unless it's once again "cool" to go to Kings games. Quite frankly, I don't care if those "fans" ever return...
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I didn't see attendance increase when the Kings played with heart and hustle last year and I really don't see attendance increasing this year. I have been to every home game this year and they have played with heart and hustle and attendance has even dropped more this year. Yea, we can say the economy has played a factor, however, I think IF we had a caliber team like we did in the year 2001/2002, I think there would be an increase in attendance. Just my 2 cents.
 
N

NewMonkey

Bench
#23
#23
VF21 said:
We all knew - or should have known - the attendance figures would drop when the team dropped out of elite status. If they continue to play with the heart and hustle they've been showing recently, however, the fans who love the game will return.
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Totally agree with this. After the first four games, the Kings have been a scrappy young team with a bunch of young guys playing very good basketball. That's fun to watch, and the people will come if it keeps up.
 
Kings Faithful

Kings Faithful

Starter
#24
#24
NewMonkey said:
Totally agree with this. After the first four games, the Kings have been a scrappy young team with a bunch of young guys playing very good basketball. That's fun to watch, and the people will come if it keeps up.
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I think it will increase as well, especially with the Warriors playing bad right now. That's where all our fair-weather fans went. I don't like em at all, but the team could use their money honestly. Either they come back to us or start following the Lakers which seems likely.
 
CruzDude

CruzDude

Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
#27
#27
I think the impact of the economy is being underestimated in this thread. It, the economy, is really as bad as the media says and discretionary $$ for fun stuff is the first budget item to go. One seat in the lower level now is $110-$120 including parking, a drink or two and something to eat. Plus the cost of driving now set by the IRS at $0.585 per mile. And rebuilding means different things to all of us but generally meaning struggling for awhile and not winning as in the past and not having a good product for awhile. It all adds up.

The attendance as a % of available seats is the only real measure. The top 1/2 to 2/3 of the league are bigger cities with lots of big corporate sponsors dishing out tickets. And in SacTown our biggest corporate sponsor is likely a car dealer!! Being the state capitol is a drain too as that crowd is not the core of big sports crowd.

If the Kings get to or above 500 this weekend, that will help but when all is said, the fun money we used to have just isn't there like it was in years past. Paying the mortgage and buying groceries is a much bigger hit this year than ever before. So we should be glad we have an exciting team during this econ mess.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#28
#28
Now I predicted this happening last spring -- the fanbase has already taken a huge hit, and then another bad season without a rebuild and... -- but who would have ever thunk it 5 years ago? And its a major problem too. Sacramento's one attraction as an NBA/major league sports town is its fanbase. With no corporate presence, its how they have to earn their money. When the fans abandon the old barn, what's the point of staying?

P.S. this whole "as a percentage of available seats" stuff a) doesn't really change things (still 3rd worst) and b) is irrelevant anyway. Its only relevant on the high end if you sell out your 18,000 seat building and another team sells out its 21,000 seat building. On the low end having 10,000 people show up in a 18,000 seat building is no different than having 10,000 show up in a 21,000 seat building. You still only have 10,000 paying customers, and there is nothing at all preventing more from showing up aside from lack of passion for the team.
 
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kupman

kupman

Starter
#29
#29
I think that the worst is probably over. I sense that fans are already becoming more excited about the team than they have been in the past 2-3 years. We still may not win many games but it is a lot of fun to see what the young guys like Jason, Spencer and Donte might do each night and Kmart is almost always entertaining. I sense the enthusiasm with those like us on this board who take the Kings very seriously (perhaps too seriously). I think that this will begin to spill over to the more casual fan soon.

My 2 cents.
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#30
#30
fiction916 said:
No, but it seems to me that bigger stadiums have a larger volume of quality seats that are competitively priced--thus the potential for higher attendance

Ever been to Staples? Ain't a bad one in the house
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I went to the 2000 game 5 against the Lakers. Sat behind Ken Norton and Ken Norton jr. They were good seats probably 40% up the lower level, but they felt alot farther away from the court than at Arco.

You assume that people would buy a seat for a lower price, but lower priced seats are available and they are good seats at arco. I don't think if they lowered some lower levels by $20 it would make much of a difference right now.
 
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