The Indiana Pacers are climbing the NBA attendance ladder—at a surprisingly brisk rate. With deals like the one the team
unveiled this week, it’s no wonder. The team is now offering $3 tickets. That’s about as cheap as it gets for an NBA game—without
actually giving tickets away.
The Pacers latest promotion, the Pizza Pack Deal delivered by Donatos, is an offer for two balcony tickets for 10 games for $60. Plus you get a free medium one-topping Donatos pizza. The games included in the package aren’t blockbusters, but there are some solid opponents in the mix including Detroit, Atlanta and Miami. Shoot, the pizza alone is worth $10. So technically, you’re getting tickets for $2.50 each. You can’t get into a junior high game for that. The deal also offers two club-level tickets for the same 10 games running from Dec. 30 through April 8 for $500. That’s $25 per ticket. With that deal, you get a large pizza.
All teams in the NBA are racheting up promotions during this skinny economy, but no team has been more aggressive at filling their arena than the Pacers. And the league’s official attendance figures show the efforts are paying off. Through 10 home games, the Pacers are averaging 14,483 per game. While the Pacers rank only 25th in the 30-team league, well behind league-leading Detroit at 22,076 per game, they’re well ahead of last year’s 12,221 per-game average.
And more impressive, the Pacers have boosted their average from 13,595 per game after seven home games to its current average. That’s a pretty strong gain in three games. In that short stretch, the Pacers have climbed past Minnesota and put some distance between them and the other attendance bottom feeders.
Yes, there’s still the question of devaluing the price of tickets long-term and decreasing revenue due to all the sub-prime ticket sales. Still, you can’t fault the Pacers for standing pat and hoping things will get better.
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This team is practically giving tickets away and providing no incentives for customers to buy season ticket plans in the future. The Pacers, like many other sports organizations, are reactionary and looking for short-term success instead of looking at the big picture.
Really? I am one of those prospects and I bought one of those ticket plans just recently. Not only that, I've had several other people express interest in the same deal because it IS a great deal.
It is a great deal both the lower level and upper levels and a wise move by the Pacers. Get fans in the seats, get them used to supporting the Pacers again. That's the only true way to win them back. Get them in the door any way you can. They are a solid young team and have a nice foundation for the next few years.
You seem to be saying that this move by the Pacers has no positive, long term effect. That is not logical at all. When you get the fans, both die-hards and fringe fans back in the door and give them a good experience, many of them will reconsider their Pacers allegience. We've been pushed away by the antics, the injuries, the staleness of the previous era... that era ended this past offseason. So a new tactic and a new team is the new Pacers product and they need fans to see it.
Conseco was once again voted the #1 overall Arena in the NBA. It is a great place to see a game. It is a fun team to watch too. Exciting, up tempo players and Danny Granger alone is worth the price of admission. Add in some very affordable tickets during some crazy economic times and the Pacers are one of the best entertainment options dollar for dollar you can do in Indy right now.
$60 2-TICKET PACKAGE FOR 10 GAMES in the Upper Level!!! Thats 20 tickets for 60 bucks!
OR...
$500 for 2-TICK PACKAGE in the Club Level! Face, that's almost $2,200 dollars, a steal.
After the Toughest Strength of Schedule to start in the NBA and playing competitively in almost every game (about 5+ they should have won), they will get more comfortable together and only improve.
So Naptown Man, what should the Pacers be doing? Nothing? They did a massive roster overhaul, are winning fans back, have some pieces to work with, some future Salary Space to manuever around, and are thinking long-term. You are faulting them by trying to win fans back by lowering the ticket prices during this economy and for a young team. To me it is the ONLY move they can make.
This is a genius move by the Pacers. It worked for me. I can honestly say, THE INDIANA PACERS ARE WINNING ME BACK!
Those games are actually pretty decent.
Hawks: The best Hawks team since Dominique
Pistons: Rival
Bucks: Yell at Sampson for 2 hours
Wolves: Garbage
76ers: Brand and a new-look team
Grizzlies: Indy's Conley
Jazz: Playoff team
Heat: Wade
Bulls: Rival & Rose
Raptors: Jermaine and our big trade partner
Not a bad mix of games really.
Pacers are doing everything they can to get people to come see them...and I think that is great. More and more people are talking positive about the Blue and Gold - and the reality is there record stinks. But the effort and competitiveness are there - so fans are responding.
The biggest problem I see is that because the tickets are inexpensive, it's easy to blow off the games. Tonight for example, with bad weather and roads, I might just stay home and watch on TV. Game time decision.
The Pacers can't have a game outdoors, they're trying to get people back after their image got killed the past couple seasons (because of certain players that are now gone), and a full price Pacers ticket is way more than an Indians ticket. You can pay $12 and sit in the 1st row behind home plate... a full price Pacers ticket in the first row is about 50 times that cost ($601 according to the website at Season ticket cost, $650 for individual game). So, by doing these deep discounts they're trying to get fans to try and give the team another chance. Also, these discounts will not get you in the lower level section... you want those tickets, you're still going to have to pay much, much more. These discounts (referenced in this blog) are just for the balcony and club levels. So, it's not devaluing the lower level tickets... just the club and balcony.
So, I applaud the Pacers for trying to win the city back with these kinds of promotions. It may devalue tickets in the short-term, but if someone really likes the experience they will pay more the next year to come back. Yeah, some won't... but as CreamCrimson said, should they just sit back and do nothing... and hope that people will just come back? No.. that would be the dumbest thing the Pacers could do.
I have no problem with discounted tickets, but you are giving your most loyal fans the shaft at the same time. The fans that were willing to make the commitment and buy an 11-game or 20-game plan for full price are getting jammed because of all these discounts. Discounts are fine, but you can't give them away. Many fans appreciate that this team plays hard and have better character guys, but playing hard and being nice guys don't pay the rent so to speak. Most fans know this team is not a playoff team even when Dunleavy comes back.
You have to applaud the Pacers for attempting to bring fans back. I understand your view points, but the Pacers are one of the best managed small-market clubs in the NBA and I trust them in their practices. As a huge Pacers fan I'm going to buy a plan next season, and if they continue to discount tickets I will not feel shafted, because I'm supporting a team I love.