If it's on ESPN, it must be true

Who are you going to believe, the NBA and ESPN or your own eyes?

I turned on the Detroit Pistons-Orlando Magic game the other night and noticed the Palace was a tad empty. Based on TV shots, there couldn’t have been more than 10,000 people in the arena.

Yet according to these stats from the NBA and ESPN, the Pistons are drawing their usual crowds. Through two home games, the Pistons are averaging nearly 19,000 in “attendance” per game.

To go Clintonian, it’s all about what you deem “attendance.” To me, attending a game means actually being there. To the NBA, it appears to mean that someone laid claim to a particular ticket.

Still, how do you get to these figures?

In May, the Pistons announced price cuts for tickets. Makes sense in a state with 15 percent unemployment.

A Sporting News story said Detroit was 4th in the NBA for new full-season ticket sales. But a report forwarded by Crain’s Detroit in October said the renewal rate of season tickets in Detroit had dropped from 80 percent to 50 percent.

So, are people buying tickets and not using them, thereby allowing the NBA to claim high attendance? That wouldn’t make much sense in this economic climate. And you would expect new season-ticket buyers to be the most eager to attend games, even midweek clashes such as the Magic contest.

Or are these attendance figures just the figment of someone’s imagination — or marketing campaign?

Comments

[IsntItGrand]

You answered your own question and very simply. You can look at actual attendance with your own eyes; they are counting ticket sales, and unless you have actual proof otherwise of them making up ticket sales, there isn't a story, here.

[---]

The NBA has been embarassed for
some time with rows of empty seats
being seen on TV and even suggested to some teams that they
try to bunch people more together
in the seating areas that are in
camera range so it doesn't look
so empty.

[WillythePimp]

Nascar is way down also,however still making money.