Kings out, A's in?

[KingInExile]

You have to realize it's not the economy that is keeping people away from the Kings. It's the Kings, and the Maloofs themselves. The Kings franchise is on thin ice with this city. People remember the good ole days, but remember that crappy deal for an arena, too! The Maloofs drew boos at Webb's jersey retirement. Not just some boos, but serious boos! I think the only reason the booing was short was because the focus was supposed to be on Chris Webber.

I have to disagree with you on this...to an extent. I fully agree that the piss-poor quality of the team and the greed of the Maloofs has put off a lot of fans and that has a direct impact on attendance. But the state of the economy also is playing a role. This current team would not sell out even in a good economy. But in a good economy, there would be a few more people who be more willing to overlook the poor quality and the Maloofs just for the sake of going to a game. My guess is that the economy accounts for anywhere from 10% to 25% of the total attendance drop.

If the economy were truly the only factor then we would be able to say the RiverCats should have seen a decline in attendance, too?

I'm not saying that the economy is the ONLY factor...in fact I don't even think it is a major factor in attendance decline. A bad economy causes people to cut discretionary spending for "entertainment", especially when the quality of the entertainment is bad. However the Sacramento area has been through bad economic times in the past during the Kings' era and the team still had better attendance with bad teams. So it's easy to see that there is more than just the economy to the attendance drops. I agree that the quality of the product and the ill will many have towards the Maloofs have played a bigger role...in fact I would say that the Maloofs are the biggest factor since the Kings have drawn better even with bad teams in the past.

Anyway, I mostly agree with you on this. I just wanted to point out that effect of the economy shouldn't be discounted, even if it is not the main effect.

[pillwenney]

Couple of points here:

*Mitch go to a Laker/Kings game and see how many Laker fans are in attendance. I chose not to go this season, but last season there were at a minimum 35% Laker fans in the seats. Even when the Kings played the Lakers in the WCF Laker fans were everywhere.
*It wasn't always fashionable to wear Kings apparel. In fact admitting you were a Kings fan at one point was a brave thing to do. Who's seen anyone in a Wayman Tisdale jersey rollin' through town? Kevin Martin sells ok, but after that people are holding onto their Webber, Divac, Bibby, Stojakovic jerseys.
*The Kings have only been here for 22 years. There have been longtime Laker and Warrior fans in the region that are still true to their team.

This isn't speculatory Mitch this is quite factual.

It's been five years since the Kings were relevant and three seasons since we've had a winning record (I'm counting this season as a loss). When they interviewed Peja he said the right things, but he said politely he I haven't played here in three or so seasons. I've moved on. So have a lot of "fans" Mitch. People know and love a winner. The city wasn't in love with the Kings until they started winning, and now that they aren't it appears things are looking like they used to.

If we have been in a recession for over a year now how come the RiverCats didn't see a decline in attendance? They are winning! The Kings can use the bad economy as an excuse but I'm not buying it. I've seen the seats empty year by year in the arena. It's not like everything was fine and then people just stopped showing up. The Kings just aren't drawing because people have lost interest.

I have been to one, and I'm well aware it sucks. I also know that the support for the team is down right now due to the suckiness, but the fact of the matter is that it was still relatively strong until this year. The team wasn't regularly selling out last year, but they were doing all right. But most importantly, there is a chasm of difference between "this team isn't really worth watching right now" and "sure, let the Kings leave. See if I care." A few down seasons doesn't mean the city doesn't care any more.

And again, if it's a choice for a casual person between a Cats game and a Kings game, of course it's a Cats game. It's over all a lot cheaper (yes, there are $10 Kings tickets, but $10 Cats tickets are going to be much better seats), and yes the competition factor is in play--actually I would say that it's more to do with the lack of competition from the Kings. A lot of people that go to Rivercats games don't care if they win or lose--it's just something to do. Somebody can have fun at a baseball game even if it's not competitive because people don't pay attention to the game half the time any way. If a Kings game isn't competitive, it's incredibly depressing.

In fact, that's how I would use my own experiences to describe what I largely think is going on with the Kings--I don't look forward to going to games. I really don't now, because it's just depressing to have an arena full of people that can't get excited. There is nothing more pathetic than at the beginning of the game where that guy tries to start the "Go Kings go!" chant and just no one responds. It's a flat out crappy experience right now. But I still love the Kings, and I still follow them very closely. And I know that I would still like going to games if some how the crowd could get excited despite the team's play, but they can't.