..Attendance is embarrassing.

[MVP23]

9695...its not 2004....

I understand its a Wednesday night, and its cold, and the Wiz are terrible, but we have to give people reasons to come to all the games, not just for Kobe, Wade, and Lebron...I would expect 9695 for the Nets, and Twolves..wow..

[Buzzard]

9695...its not 2004....

I understand its a Wednesday night, and its cold, and the Wiz are terrible, but we have to give people reasons to come to all the games, not just for Kobe, Wade, and Lebron...I would expect 9695 for the Nets, and Twolves..wow..

The Wizards may be better than the Nets but they are only four wins ahead of the Twolves in the lotto race. Also its hard to get excited about a bunch of reported gunslingers who THEN make jokes about it on national TV.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Buzzard

[MVP23]

..Its bad enough people only show up for Lebron, Wade and Kobe, but when they do...they CHEER Lebron, Wade and Kobe lol....we have to give people a reason to show up..other than watch the other team..

[TanAdam]

..Its bad enough people only show up for Lebron, Wade and Kobe, but when they do...they CHEER Lebron, Wade and Kobe lol....we have to give people a reason to show up..other than watch the other team..

You keep saying we have to give people reason to show up...is winning and being a top tier team in the East not "reason" enough. It is glaringly obvious that Atlanta is the WORST sports town in the history of mankind. Go to any Hawks game when the play the Cavs, Lakers, Celts, Heat or Braves game against the Sox, Yanks, Cubs or Falcons against the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, etc and you will hear more people cheering for the opposing team. It disgusts me.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The Wizards may be better than the Nets but they are only four wins ahead of the Twolves in the lotto race. Also its hard to get excited about a bunch of reported gunslingers who THEN make jokes about it on national TV.

That's the problem though. You got a significant percentage of the crowd who don't go to Hawk games . . . to see the Hawks. They go to see the Hawks play some good team, or a big name star.

Only the true die hard fans will go to weekday games vs lesser teams . . because their main interest is to see the HAWKS only. But if you like to see the Hawks win, those are the types of games to go to.

This is what JJ was talking about. It's got to be a little disheartning as a team, when you're one of the best teams in the league, yet, people don't come out to see YOU play every night. They LOVE to see YOU play "so and so" though.

If the Phoenix game was tonight, there would be easily 15 - 17,000 in the building.

If the Lakers played tonight . . it could be 4 inches of snow on the ground, on a school night, with 22 degree temps outside, and the place would be packed.

[volman]

I find it completely ironic that the person complaining about attendance doesn't go to the games in person.

[MrRyda]

What? We boo the s*** out of Wade and Lebron. Kobe is another story for some reason.

The only ways the Hawks draw good numbers against crummy teams on cold, weeknight games is:

a. Win a championship

b. Get a superstar

And Atlanta isn't even close to the worst sports town. Miami has a superstar and can't even draw.

[Crank]

That's the problem though. You got a significant percentage of the crowd who don't go to Hawk games . . . to see the Hawks. They go to see the Hawks play some good team, or a big name star.

Only the true die hard fans will go to weekday games vs lesser teams . . because their main interest is to see the HAWKS only. But if you like to see the Hawks win, those are the types of games to go to.

This is what JJ was talking about. It's got to be a little disheartning as a team, when you're one of the best teams in the league, yet, people don't come out to see YOU play every night. They LOVE to see YOU play "so and so" though.

If the Phoenix game was tonight, there would be easily 15 - 17,000 in the building.

If the Lakers played tonight . . it could be 4 inches of snow on the ground, on a school night, with 22 degree temps outside, and the place would be packed.

But at this point its time to start discounting the tickets hardcore to school groups and other charities and get some of those celebs to buy chunks of the tix at a discount to give away just to try and get people in the seats . Haltime entertainment , Wednesday night specials ,date night , honor roll etc whatever needs to be done to get peeps into the seats .

Joe is 100% right but its up to the marketing and sales dept to try and introduce as many people to the hawks as they can . I bet the they have plenty of ideas but it all comes down to the bottomline .

[Sothron]

I truly wished I lived closer so I could attend more games. I agree that our attendance is a joke. Frankly I didn't blame people for not paying money to see a 13 win team but this is a top team. It deserves fans who pay to see them.

[mrhonline]

Naked cheerleaders or free beer would do the trick.

[Sothron]

Naked cheerleaders or free beer would do the trick.

Free naked cheerleaders that hand you beer.

[niremetal]

That's the problem though. You got a significant percentage of the crowd who don't go to Hawk games . . . to see the Hawks. They go to see the Hawks play some good team, or a big name star.

Only the true die hard fans will go to weekday games vs lesser teams . . because their main interest is to see the HAWKS only. But if you like to see the Hawks win, those are the types of games to go to.

This is what JJ was talking about. It's got to be a little disheartning as a team, when you're one of the best teams in the league, yet, people don't come out to see YOU play every night. They LOVE to see YOU play "so and so" though.

If the Phoenix game was tonight, there would be easily 15 - 17,000 in the building.

If the Lakers played tonight . . it could be 4 inches of snow on the ground, on a school night, with 22 degree temps outside, and the place would be packed.

I actually would be somewhat surprised if attendance cracks 15000 on Friday against Phoenix.

[jy23]

Who the heck keeps saying that people cheer more for LBJ and Kobe more than they cheer for the hawks? Really?? How many of these games have you been to? Not many to say crap like that....I mean those guys are stars...SUPERSTARS...and no matter where they go they're going to have fans, thats just the way it is. Same way in football with the cowboys and the steelers, no matter where they go they have fans, but trust me its alot more booing going on at those games than cheering.

And North stop with this Atlanta is the worst sports town crap.....not true. This is just football country and thats the way it is, The Falcons UGA n GTech get major support down here. Now answer this for me....how many places can say that they have a pro football, pro basketball, pro baseball, WNBA, pro hockey, 2....count em 2 top 25 football programs, top 25 basketbal program, and major nightlife all in one? I doubt you can come back with one.

Most people who live in Atlanta weren't born here, I'm one of them, I just moved here at a young age and became attached to all of the sports teams here early on in life, most already have their own loyalties to teams before they come here, thus the other fans that u get at games cheering the oppenents. what history do the Hawks have to draw the casual fan out on a weeknight game against a terrible team, what superstar do we have to put butts in the seats, what kind of marketing does management do to attract the casual fan.....oh u don't live here so u don't know. Close to 10,000 people on a Wednesday night against a terrible team is decent, we should definitely have more but oh well......for right now it is what it is, we had years of horrible teams.......HORRIBLE TEAMS........and you think 2 years is going to erase all of that in peoples minds and get them to make trips everynight and pay their money for something they don't really believe in? UH.......NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a diehard fan and I've only been able to make to 6 games this year, I mean you know there are things that go on that prevent people from making it out.

I mean this doesn't really apply to me and you and any other diehard fan but you have to do a whole lot better than squeaking into the second round and getting completely destroyed once you get there to get people to make 1 or 2 hour drives to go and pay to see you play........if this team stays on the path that they're on and we keep getting good pub from ESPN (bc god knows management isn't doing anything to get their product out there) fans will start coming....just be patient.

[MVP23]

I find it completely ironic that the person complaining about attendance doesn't go to the games in person.

I don't even live in Georgia..so..

[ILOVEmyWIFEtoo]

Most of the people that live in Atlanta now are "transplants" , so when those other teams come here they become overly excited to go see their team. I am not a season ticket holder, but a true Atlien. I make sure i attend atleast 4-5 Hawks game a year and 2 Falcons games a year. The cause for the lack of FANS has to do with Public Relations and Advertising... I have only seen two billboards around the City about the Hawks. And they are sharing those with the THRASHERS!!!! That is horrible when you have an ELITE team. Some people in the city doesn't even know the team is doing great this year.

[spotatl]

I have said for years that I don't think its enough for Atlanta teams to be good- they also have to be flashy in order to draw a crowd. I am absolutely SHOCKED that Iverson didn't end up on the team. I do think he would have absolutely owned this town.

[coachx]

9695...its not 2004....

I understand its a Wednesday night, and its cold, and the Wiz are terrible, but we have to give people reasons to come to all the games, not just for Kobe, Wade, and Lebron...I would expect 9695 for the Nets, and Twolves..wow..

Hawks have to really lower ticket prices if they want a packed arena vs. the likes of the Nets and Wiz.

These $15 seats "discounts", in the upper deck, that are behind the basket , should be going for more like $5 for games like this one.

Better to sale a few cokes, beers, and hot dogs, then have empty seats that sale nothing.

1.) What working person in their right mind is going to leave work at 5:30 and fight 5:00 traffic to get to a 7:00 Hawks / Wizards game where a decent seat is $70 (through the Hawks) ? Then they get home between 10:00 - 11:00, depending on how far away they live.

2.) Big screen HDTV hurts attendance vs. crappy teams. I'd rather go home...., park for free, eat a home cooked meal, and drink a Miller Lite that I invested all of $0.75 in. (12 pack for $9 = $0.75 a beer). Sure as heck beats $8 per beer at Phillips.

3.) Plus there were about 9,000 people at the UGA vs. #21 Ole Miss game last night. Two games within a 70 mile radias. More people drive to Hawks games from the Athens area then some Atlantans may think.

Now when we are playing the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, Magic, Nuggetts, Spurs, Mavs, Heat, Thunder, Suns, Hornets, Blazers, Jazz, or even the Bobcats or Raptos.......I would say the inconvience is worth the live game expierence.........but not to see the Wizards, Nets, Kings.

Edited January 14, 2010 by coachx

[Buzzard]

But at this point its time to start discounting the tickets hardcore to school groups and other charities and get some of those celebs to buy chunks of the tix at a discount to give away just to try and get people in the seats . Haltime entertainment , Wednesday night specials ,date night , honor roll etc whatever needs to be done to get peeps into the seats .

Joe is 100% right but its up to the marketing and sales dept to try and introduce as many people to the hawks as they can . I bet the they have plenty of ideas but it all comes down to the bottomline .

Exactly Crank! This marketing thing is the kicker for me. I think I remember Blank marketing 8 to 10 dollar tickets when he first bought the Falcons. Weekday games at least need to marketed cheaply; especially against lower opponents.

One other thing, some people complain about the Braves getting 30,000 for a weekday game. If the Hawks could just win half their number of division titles in a row, I do not think there would be a problem getting 14,000 to 16,000 fans on a Wednesday to see a Hawks game.

But if management wants to get 14,000 in before we become a winner with some sort of tradition, they are going to have to aggressively market the Hawks as reasonably priced family fun. Or something along those lines. An empty seat does not make you a dime; a eight dollar seat makes you eight dollars and adds quite a bit to the food and beverage revenue. Plus the team gets the support they want so badly in the middle of the week.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Buzzard

[AUhawksfan]

I think part of the reason it sucks is because Philips isn't giving away as many tickets as they have in the past to bloat their numbers. I remember reading how our gate sales have improved quite a bit so at least they're actually making more money than before.

That said, I think we just need to accept the fact that GA fans suck. The problem is people don't want to go to games during the week, think about it. Our weekend games do decent, Falcons games do fair, and of course there's UGA football. But if you look at Braves, Hawks, or Thrashers attendance during the week and it's pathetic. A superstar has to come into town for it to do good. It's just convenience for most people.

I'm not gonna lie, a majority of the games I go to are on the weekend due to that same reason. I'm busy with work during the week and don't want to have to get home late.

[AUhawksfan]

And I agree with the fact that good ownership willing to spend money to market makes a difference. If only Blank would buy the Hawks....