Hawks crowds lacking

[Weez]

coincidence that this is being mentioned in another thread?

http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/st...0423sptbiz.html

Good Hawks crowds lag in NBA

By TIM TUCKER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/21/06

The Hawks this season had their best attendance since moving into Philips Arena — and yet had the second worst attendance in the NBA.

The Hawks' average announced attendance of 15,072 per game was the team's best since the 1997-98 season. But it ranked 29th in the 30-team league, topping — by 19 people per game — the Portland Trail Blazers' average of 15,053.

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The Hawks' previous best-attended season in Philips was 1999-2000, when they averaged 14,664 in the arena's debut season.

The Hawks have had seven consecutive losing seasons since Philips Arena opened.

Meanwhile, the Hawks' corporate sibling — the Thrashers — tied for 21st among NHL teams in attendance this season with an announced average of 15,596 per game. That's up about 450 per game from 2003-04, the last season before a lockout put hockey out of business for a year, and the Thrashers' highest since their inaugural season in 1999-2000.

League-wide, NHL attendance was up 2.4 percent this season from the pre-lockout level, with only eight of 30 teams posting declines.

The Montreal Canadiens led the NHL in attendance (21,273 per game), and the Detroit Pistons led the NBA (22,076).

(Reminder: Both the NBA and NHL define "attendance" as the number of tickets distributed, not the number of people actually at the games.)

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FRANCHISE VALUES

Forbes magazine previously valued three football teams (the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots) and two soccer teams (England's Manchester United and Spain's Real Madrid) at more than $1 billion.

Now, for the first time, Forbes puts a baseball team in the billion-dollar class.

In its annual valuation of Major League Baseball franchises, Forbes estimates that the New York Yankees are worth $1.026 billion — a whopping $409 million more than the second most valuable baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.

That difference is enough to buy the Atlanta Braves, whom Forbes values at $405 million — right in line with what Time Warner is seeking from prospective purchasers.

Forbes says the Braves are baseball's 12th most valuable franchise — and only the fourth most valuable in the NL East division that the Braves have dominated on the field. Forbes values the New York Mets at $604 million, the Washington Nationals at $440 million and the Philadelphia Phillies at $424 million.

The world's most valuable sports franchise? According to Forbes, that is Manchester United, worth $1.373 billion.

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SALES REPORT

Braves season-ticket sales are up 13 percent vs. last year to "above 15,000," senior vice president of sales and marketing Derek Schiller said.

He said that about 94 percent of last year's season-ticket holders renewed and that new sales were boosted by two special offers — four-for-the-price-of-two season tickets in the terrace reserved and Lexus pavilion levels and $249 season tickets in the upper pavilion level.

From 1998 until 2004, the Braves' season-ticket base eroded steadily, from a high of 25,000 to less than 14,000. That drop accounted for most of a seven-season attendance decline that finally ended last year.

Average attendance for the Braves' six-game season-opening homestand was 34,749. Schiller said the team had a "strong" walk-up sale of about 10,000 for both the Friday and Saturday games of the first homestand.

The Braves return home next weekend for a three-game series against the Mets, followed by a May 1-2 series against Colorado.

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BRIEFING

• Apparently, the NFL draft has gotten too big for one network. For the first time, NFL Network will join ESPN in covering next weekend's draft. Rich Eisen, formerly of ESPN, will anchor NFL Network's coverage. ESPN, televising the draft for the 27th consecutive year, plans 17 hours of live coverage.

• As baseball commissioner Bud Selig continues to inch toward choosing a new Washington Nationals owner, the bid group led by Washington area real estate developer Ted Lerner has added former Braves-Hawks-Thrashers president Stan Kasten to its roster. Kasten previously headed another group bidding to buy the team. If the Lerner group gets the Nationals, Kasten is expected to be team president.

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TAKING INVENTORY

The NBA players whose jerseys are the biggest sellers at NBAStore.com and at the NBA Store in New York:

1. Dwyane Wade, Miami

2. LeBron James, Cleveland

3. Allen Iverson, Philadelphia

4. Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers

5. Stephon Marbury, New York

And the teams whose merchandise sells the most:

1. Los Angeles Lakers

2. New York Knicks

3. Miami Heat

4. Philadelphia 76ers

5. Chicago Bulls

Source: NBA. Based on sales from the start of the season through April 8.