Is this a CHAMPIONSHIP LEVEL fan base?

[niremetal]

One thing that is not mentioned but I think is relevant to bring up with this particular ownership group is the way they have crapped over all their hockey customers the last few years. I would assume there is some real overlap between the hockey fans and basketball fans and there is less reason to be excited over the Hawks' future if you have been subjected to the terrible investment in and management of the sister-franchise. No one can look at this ownership group with the way they have been in court with one another and with the way they have ran the Thrashers side of the business and feel the kind of comfort that a Portland or Dallas fan feels in how the front office will be run. Just one more factor to add to the list.

Trust me, as long as Pritchard is GM, there aren't many Blazers fans feeling comfortable with how the front office is run. And ever since the creation of the luxury tax, Paul Allen's checkbook has gone back in the drawer, to the chagrin of the fan base.

[drzachary]

What the hell is a championship level fanbase?

It means absolutely nothing.

[Buzzard]

Eddielives, on 17 May 2010 - 04:55 PM, said:

What the hell is a championship level fanbase?

It means absolutely nothing.

He may have meant a fan base that comes out to watch championship level play.

j/k...I agree it means nothing lol

Edited May 17, 2010 by Buzzard

[drzachary]

He may have meant a fan base that comes out to watch championship level play. You knw teams like the Lakers and c

You're right! Our team is slightly shy of championship level. Our coach is (was) high-school level. Average them together, and you sure don't get championship level play!

I would like to live, if only for a moment, in Northcyde's world where the fans are to blame for the management decisions and, somehow, Woodson was considered a good coach.

Anyone have any powerful psychotropic drugs they could share with me?

[LouFan]

It's because of traffic, pathetic public transit because of racist yokels outside of the city, and because beer is 1/4 the price outside.

But hey, you want me to go in earlier, feel free to pay me and all the other fans for time lost working and the $28 4oz Coors Lights we have to buy in the arena.

This is why I drink Beers outside the arena before the game. 6$ 32 oz cup at the food court. Cheers.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

When you can sit at home and watch the game on Hi-def, with $0.80 beers it makes it rather dumb to spend $100 on a decent seat , $25 to park, $7.50 for a 12 oz. beer, and $7 for a hot dog. Much less if your taking kids and need 4 of those $100 seats and 4 of those $7 hot dogs, etc.

Why would people buy the $25 affordable tickets if you are seated so far away from the court that you can't even read the names on the back of jerseys.

Its a fact that Large 50'' - 60'' Hi-def teams have become more and more affordable while going to games is more expensive. The value for the dollar is just not there. That is effecting every sports team in every league. Arthur Blank is not afraid to talk about it.

Then there is the transportation, the beggars, the long commutes, the high number of transplanted Atlantans, etc.

Well . . there you have it. If what coachx says is correct, we will NEVER have a championship level fan base here. If the casual fans in ATL don't cherish the arena in-game experience, they'll always use these excuses to not attend Hawk games.

These same excuses will be used, no matter how good the Hawks get I guess. So can the fan base grow, if we don't reach the NBA Finals?

LOL @ beggars . . . the only "beggars" people will run into in downtown ATL for a Hawks game, are the guys begging you to purchase a ticket.

I don't know about anybody else, but I personally LOVE being at sporting events LIVE. No way I'm staying at home if I have the option to attend a game.

[drzachary]

The fault of this shouldn't lie on the fans. At least the majority of the blame shouldn't be.

Quoted for truth!

Sorry, just can't stop commenting on this preachy, insulting thread.

Furthermore, here's the quick answer to "if we want the owners to spend money, we should attend the games" crap:

We had the 22nd highest payroll last year. That's even lower a rank than our attendance. By Northcyde's faulty logic, which I in no way agree with, in which ownership spending should be a reaction to the fan draw, the ASG was stealing from us!

This is why I drink Beers outside the arena before the game. 6$ 32 oz cup at the food court. Cheers.

Amateur! Ask for the white cup, it's 4oz for $8 :) I almost always sit outside while the first quarter is going on because I don't want to blow my beer budget inside.

[drzachary]

Well . . there you have it. If what coachx says is correct, we will NEVER have a championship level fan base here. If the casual fans in ATL don't cherish the arena in-game experience, they'll always use these excuses to not attend Hawk games.

These same excuses will be used, no matter how good the Hawks get I guess. So can the fan base grow, if we don't reach the NBA Finals?

LOL @ beggars . . . the only "beggars" people will run into in downtown ATL for a Hawks game, are the guys begging you to purchase a ticket.

I don't know about anybody else, but I personally LOVE being at sporting events LIVE. No way I'm staying at home if I have the option to attend a game.

Since you're so wealthy, I nominate you to fund the 2011 Hawksquawk Hawks outing. Buy us all some nice seats, please.

It's so insulting to call the reasons coachx listed "excuses." Taking your family to a game costs a lot of money, which is not a trivial "excuse."

[LouFan]

Quoted for truth!

Sorry, just can't stop commenting on this preachy, insulting thread.

Furthermore, here's the quick answer to "if we want the owners to spend money, we should attend the games" crap:

We had the 22nd highest payroll last year. That's even lower a rank than our attendance. By Northcyde's faulty logic, which I in no way agree with, in which ownership spending should be a reaction to the fan draw, the ASG was stealing from us!

Amateur! Ask for the white cup, it's 4oz for $8 :) I almost always sit outside while the first quarter is going on because I don't want to blow my beer budget inside.

Really? CRAP! Thank you master. Your knowledge is stored and will be used next season. Haha

[drzachary]

Really? CRAP! Thank you master. Your knowledge is stored and will be used next season. Haha

Whoops, meant to say 42 oz! Not 4oz!

[LouFan]

Whoops, meant to say 42 oz! Not 4oz!

As a fellow beer drinker, I knew what you meant.

[LouFan]

Well . . there you have it. If what coachx says is correct, we will NEVER have a championship level fan base here. If the casual fans in ATL don't cherish the arena in-game experience, they'll always use these excuses to not attend Hawk games.

These same excuses will be used, no matter how good the Hawks get I guess. So can the fan base grow, if we don't reach the NBA Finals?

LOL @ beggars . . . the only "beggars" people will run into in downtown ATL for a Hawks game, are the guys begging you to purchase a ticket.

I don't know about anybody else, but I personally LOVE being at sporting events LIVE. No way I'm staying at home if I have the option to attend a game.

The point is how you budget your money really. Instead of going to an expensive restaurant to eat wanna be Italian food (Olive Garden)... Use the money on a ticket. Or instead of watching Iron Man 2 in IMAX, get a Hawk ticket. The economy is not so bad that you cannot afford the tickets. You just have to re-budget. So money is not a factor more than transportation and getting up to go.

Live games > HD television any day. Because you are around a bunch of fans who are cheering with you. Had some great memories in Phillips! Met some cool people too.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

What the hell is a championship level fanbase?

It's a fan base in which if a team elevated itself to "championship level", the fans have shown the capacity to unconditionally support the team, no matter who they are playing.

In other words . . if the Hawls elevated itself to a team that wins 37 home games and 60 games overall, will the fan base support the Hawks like a top 5 team attendance wise?

Does it have the capacity to be a "championship level fan base"?

If the progression from 37 wins to 53 wins saw hardly any change in fan enthusiasm in a 3 year span, will anything short of reaching the NBA Finals bring the fans out?

If the excuses to not support the team financially outweighs the in-game experience, then we may always have a propblem with attendance, which may prevent ownership from making big money moves . . . even when it concerns hiring coaches.

[gsuteke]

I don't think fan support should be an overriding factor in an individual player's performance.

And Eddie the finger pointing and trying to spin it into why everything can go wrong for the hawks whether it be joe bolting, the team losing games, or insert your random hawks problem here ______ is getting tiring.

Its not my fault the team got housed. Blame it on the proffessionals.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So, you don't have a job? How do you live 2+ hours away and still make the 7pm games?

I can't speak for 99, but I schedule vacation time to see the Hawks about a week after the schedule comes out. My effort is to try to make at least 1 Hawk game a month plus go to any other games if I'm in the area.

Last year, I made it to 6 games + Game 3 vs Orlando.

I made it to a 7:30 Friday start vs Washington on Halloween Eve and a 7 pm Tuesday start vs Cleveland a few days before New Years.

When I make a commitment to see this team, I try to eliminate as many obstacles as possible.

And I live 4 hours away near the TN/KY state line.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Since you're so wealthy, I nominate you to fund the 2011 Hawksquawk Hawks outing. Buy us all some nice seats, please.

It's so insulting to call the reasons coachx listed "excuses." Taking your family to a game costs a lot of money, which is not a trivial "excuse."

LOL @ me being wealthy. Not even close.

I just plan out ahead of time how I want to spend my entertainment dollars. Me planning a trip to see the Hawks is NOT a spur of the moment thing that I come up with a few days before a game. It's usually mapped out months in advance, with me saving dollars here and there to fund the trip.

And like 99, I also go to Memphis to see them play the Grizzlies. I'm actually closer to Memphis than I am Atlanta.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The point is how you budget your money really. Instead of going to an expensive restaurant to eat wanna be Italian food (Olive Garden)... Use the money on a ticket. Or instead of watching Iron Man 2 in IMAX, get a Hawk ticket. The economy is not so bad that you cannot afford the tickets. You just have to re-budget. So money is not a factor more than transportation and getting up to go.

Live games > HD television any day. Because you are around a bunch of fans who are cheering with you. Had some great memories in Phillips! Met some cool people too.

Exactly.

And that's what it's all about. Gotta prioritize your entertainment dollas and you have to love going to games. Once you establish those 2 things, getting to the game is the easy part.

[LouFan]

I can't speak for 99, but I schedule vacation time to see the Hawks about a week after the schedule comes out. My effort is to try to make at least 1 Hawk game a month plus go to any other games if I'm in the area.

Last year, I made it to 6 games + Game 3 vs Orlando.

I made it to a 7:30 Friday start vs Washington on Halloween Eve and a 7 pm Tuesday start vs Cleveland a few days before New Years.

When I make a commitment to see this team, I try to eliminate as many obstacles as possible.

And I live 4 hours away near the TN/KY state line.

Well I will never complain about MARTA again. lmao.

[Buzzard]

It's a fan base in which if a team elevated itself to "championship level", the fans have shown the capacity to unconditionally support the team, no matter who they are playing.

In other words . . if the Hawls elevated itself to a team that wins 37 home games and 60 games overall, will the fan base support the Hawks like a top 5 team attendance wise?

Does it have the capacity to be a "championship level fan base"?

If the progression from 37 wins to 53 wins saw hardly any change in fan enthusiasm in a 3 year span, will anything short of reaching the NBA Finals bring the fans out?

If the excuses to not support the team financially outweighs the in-game experience, then we may always have a propblem with attendance, which may prevent ownership from making big money moves . . . even when it concerns hiring coaches.

1st In your opinion Top five in attendance is the minimum acceptance for a good fan base. If that is the case the other 25 teams should all relocate

2nd, I think getting at least out of the 2nd round is much more important in generating a championship buzz than finishing 2nd in your own division. And furthermore, two consecutive 2nd round sweeps is not going to help matters.

In a nutshell....you and I have a huge difference of opinion concerning what is a solid fan base and what is needed to generate that fan base into a buzz that gets the casual fan into the game....and it is a huge difference of opinion in my opinion.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Buzzard

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I don't think fan support should be an overriding factor in an individual player's performance.

And Eddie the finger pointing and trying to spin it into why everything can go wrong for the hawks whether it be joe bolting, the team losing games, or insert your random hawks problem here ______ is getting tiring.

Its not my fault the team got housed. Blame it on the proffessionals.

Yes and no.

No . . it's out our fault that the team got housed in the playoffs.

Yes . . a great crowd can help a team win a game by feeding off of its energy level.

It's just my view that fans can't have it both ways. If we don't make a serious commitment to see a damn good product . . ( 65 home wins in 2 years . . . tied for the best 2 year stretch the franchise has ever seen ) . . how can we seriously want or hope that management continues to upgrade the product?

I mean . . we basically drew only 11,000 more people in a 53-win 09 - 10 season, than we did in a 37-win 07 - 08 season. That like 270 more people per game.

We probably won't know for a while how much revenue the Hawks generated this year, compared to last year. But you'd have to wonder if we did any better this year, than we did last year. They did raise ticket prices on the marquee games. And they did stop giving away so many tickets. so maybe their fiscal numbers look a little better this year, despite the slight dip in attendance.