http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nbaattendance&prov=ap&type=lgns NBA sets attendance record for third straight season April 19, 2007 NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA broke its attendance record for the third straight year, drawing more than 21.8 million fans during the 2006-07 season. The league also surpassed its previous best by averaging 17,757 fans. The previous best marks were set last season, when the average of 17,558 fans led to a total of just under 21.6 million. The top three teams in average attendance are all from the Central Division: Chicago (22,253); Detroit (22,076), and Cleveland (20,436). Orlando, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston all had attendance increases between 7 and 10 percent. The league had 600 sellouts, up from 471 last season and the most in over a decade. "We are grateful for our fans' continued support," commissioner David Stern said. "The third straight year of record attendance reflects the NBA's ever-increasing popularity, as the world's greatest athletes continue to display the passion and dedication they bring to this great game." The NBA last had three straight years of attendance increase during a four-year span from 1992-96. ------- Here's a list of the attendance ranking: Code: <TABLE> <CAPTION>2006-2007 NBA Average Attendance</CAPTION> <TR> <TH>Rank</TH> <TH>Team</TH> <TH>Average Attendance</TH> <TR> <TD>1</TD> <TD>Chicago Bulls</TD> <TD>22,253</TD> <TR> <TD>2</TD> <TD>Detroit Pistons</TD> <TD>22,076</TD> <TR> <TD>3</TD> <TD>Cleveland Cavaliers</TD> <TD>20,436</TD> <TR> <TD>4</TD> <TD>Dallas Mavericks</TD> <TD>20,351</TD> <TR> <TD>5</TD> <TD>Miami Heat</TD> <TD>19,721</TD> <TR> <TD>6</TD> <TD>Utah Jazz</TD> <TD>19,566</TD> <TR> <TD>7</TD> <TD>Los Angeles Lakers</TD> <TD>18,986</TD> <TR> <TD>8</TD> <TD>New York Knicks</TD> <TD>18,796</TD> <TR> <TD>9</TD> <TD>San Antonio Spurs</TD> <TD>18,654</TD> <TR> <TD>10</TD> <TD>Phoenix Suns</TD> <TD>18,422</TD> <TR> <TD>11</TD> <TD>Los Angeles Clippers</TD> <TD>18,421</TD> <TR> <TD>12</TD> <TD>Washington Wizards</TD> <TD>18,410</TD> <TR> <TD>13</TD> <TD>Toronto Raptors</TD> <TD>18,259</TD> <TR> <TD>14</TD> <TD>Golden State Warriors</TD> <TD>18,104</TD> <TR> <TD>15</TD> <TD>New Orleans/OKC Hornets</TD> <TD>17,833</TD> <TR> <TD>16</TD> <TD>Sacramento Kings</TD> <TD>17,317</TD> <TR> <TD>17</TD> <TD>Denver Nuggets</TD> <TD>17,230</TD> <TR> <TD>18</TD> <TD>Orlando Magic</TD> <TD>17,095</TD> <TR> <TD>19</TD> <TD>New Jersey Nets</TD> <TD>16,970</TD> <TR> <TD>20</TD> <TD>Boston Celtics</TD> <TD>16,843</TD> <TR> <TD>21</TD> <TD>Houston Rockets</TD> <TD>16,545</TD> <TR> <TD>22</TD> <TD>Portland Trailblazers</TD> <TD>16,360</TD> <TR> <TD>23</TD> <TD>Milwaukee Bucks</TD> <TD>16,186</TD> <TR> <TD>24</TD> <TD>Minnesota Timberwolves</TD> <TD>15,999</TD> <TR> <TD>25</TD> <TD>Seattle Sonics</TD> <TD>15,955</TD> <TR> <TD>26</TD> <TD>Atlanta Hawks</TD> <TD>15,595</TD> <TR> <TD>27</TD> <TD>Charlotte Bobcats</TD> <TD>15,549</TD> <TR> <TD>28</TD> <TD>Indiana Pacers</TD> <TD>15,360</TD> <TR> <TD>29</TD> <TD>Philadelphia 76ers</TD> <TD>14,844</TD> <TR> <TD>30</TD> <TD>Memphis Grizzlies</TD> <TD>14,655</TD> </TABLE> It's pretty sad that the Rockets are down on the list. I know the Toyota Center only holds just over 18,000, but it would have been nice to have better attendance. I'm sure if we do well in the playoffs then attendance next year will be better.
The Toy box is too small... shoot.. our college arena sits more than the Toyota Center. I am sure they have really nice luxury boxes, but when you put a bunch of those in you sacrifice regular seats. Most of the games this season were "technically" sell outs right. Can't do much better than that.
Eh, don't place a lot of emphasis on the fact that your college has a larger arena than the Rockets, because I can only think of a handful of college only arenas that hold more than the Toyota Center, and those would be the arenas for Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Syracuse, and maybe one or two others. Futhermore, if you look at several of the teams with top attendance, you'll find out that they are in older arenas. Detroit's arena is probably one of the older in the NBA at this point, Chicago's was built a good 10-15 years ago (and is in the 3rd largest metro area), Cleveland's is about the same age, and Utah's arena was probably built a good 20 years ago. It seems like the trend in the NBA is to build smaller arenas with nicer ameneties (of course this means more luxury suites). Considering that the Rockets have trouble filling up their arena, I wouldn't really say the lack of seats is a major problem.
16,545? HA! The only thing that could get 16,500 fans into the Toyota Center is Corporate Douchebags Night Out. Two free hot dogs, two free beers, and two free bluetooth headsets for hands free cell phone talking during the game...
wow didnt realize that, I though the palace was pretty new just opened in 1988, I thought that this was still pretty new. I'm getting old or something.
And here goes for freedom of speech, and sad but the truth. Ban me all they want, ban me for telling the truth, ban me for freedom of speech, ban the truth.
All the critique of bad characters in the NBA, all the bashing of "hip hop" attitude. And the league is setting attendance records still. Obviously people are seeing past that and still have interest. Or the NBA's managed to relate to people (corporate douche bags) despite the negative images.
Houston ranked 19th (similar the attendance) in percentage capacity filled, so it's hardly an arena size problem.
Of the 3 major sports....Basketball is the most exciting. However, the racial and hip hop factors dilutes the popularity. If you had an even balance between white and black the NBA would rival the NFL. The NFL will hold the lead due to just a 16 game season.
Going back through that list, I can't believe that the Orlando Magic average that many fans per game. Every time I see them on TV the arena looks absolutely empty.
there obviously isn't a huge correlation between team success and attendance. see knicks. if anything, this just shows houston is full of bandwagon fans. if the rockets win the championship this year, next year's attendance will be high. and if we suck, attendance is gonna plummet fast. some cities just have better (or more fanatical) fans. detroit and chicago being as high as they are is impressive, because neither team is really that great (yeah detroit is the best in the east but c'mon, we all know they'd be like the 8th best team if they played in the west). i bet you dallas' attendance will drop like a rock the moment they start sucking.
do you completely lack the capacity to perform any analytical thought at all? Detroit not that good? 8th in the west? Chicago not that good, what? So are you telling me the only fans in the NBA that should actually go to games are San Antonio, Phoenix, and Dallas? New York being so high probably has something to do with them being in the largest metro area in the country. Furthermore, there's a huge correlation between team success and attendance figures. The bottom 9 teams in attendance didn't make the playoffs. 10 of the bottom 11 didn't make the playoffs. The Hornets and Kings are only so high because they play in a one-sport city with nothing else to do for entertainment, and they're still in the middle of the pack. Knicks so high because they are in NYC.
Ok this is just my personal opinion but I think the arenas and stadiums in Houston should be build in the suburbs cause Houston traffic is the worst in the country. For one unlike NY or Chicago, Houston is very large area so people come from very far to see the games and it is pretty bad even around 7-8 pm. Downtown isn't very accesible especially with all the construction and unlike Manhattan or other cities our downtown is dead and full of corporate douchbags. I used to live in NY and it was amazing to see people from everwhere come to MSG even though parking is a b**** in that city. Also Rockets need to do some aggressive marketing to bring back the average joe. I remember during our rebuilding years aka steve francis and co. The attendence dropped dramatically since the Hakeem era. I think at that time the rockets went to all the corporation cause times were bad and now we the resurgent Rockets should hopefully re-energize our fanbase especially if go deep win the 1st round which is something we haven't done in a decade. No wonder our attendence sucks.
