RealGM

Check this out.

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/advertising/wwltv/hornets/17154/

Is the NBA really okay with this?

uh, every team gives tickets away (Hornets have done it in every "home" market they've ever been in). I can't imagine why New Orleans would all the sudden be singled out for this...

Most teams count sold tickets and all (comp) tickets distributed....therefore MOST attendance is inflated or propped up. However, the Hornets have agreed to [only] count sold tickets and used comps, which is more than fair IMO. 2,300 is the number of comps per game, and the Hornets newest lease extension identifies this and accepts this, and uses it when counting attendance.

Also, about freakin' time that WWL started recognizing/covering the Hornets. Up until a few weeks ago you wouldn't even know New Orleans had an NBA team based on their level of coverage, or lack of rather.

they are being singled out for the giveaway because of certain benchmarks regarding attendance that where written into their new lease. this looks like someone is trying to pad attendance figures. and you know what catchandshoot? i would bet that not only is the nba ok with this, they are behind it. stern and the league have a hard on for new orleans right now. everyone it seems want to try and "fix" things down there right now. i think ownership wants out, thats why they have that backdoor in the lease. the league wants the team there, it looks good for the nba, like they are trying to help out the situation down there.

D5150 wrote:they are being singled out for the giveaway because of certain benchmarks regarding attendance that where written into their new lease. this looks like someone is trying to pad attendance figures. and you know what catchandshoot? i would bet that not only is the nba ok with this, they are behind it. stern and the league have a hard on for new orleans right now. everyone it seems want to try and "fix" things down there right now. i think ownership wants out, thats why they have that backdoor in the lease. the league wants the team there, it looks good for the nba, like they are trying to help out the situation down there.

Wow, what an apathetic response. Almost as if you're completely oblivious to the NBA being concerned about rebuilding the city itself, not just the team. There are things bigger than sports entertainment, you know.

are you kidding me dude? i was offering a couterpoint to your argument. get off of your highhorse for just a few minutes. the nba is about money and image, thats all.

You didn't really offer a counterpoint, you blew off the point I made about how free tickets are given away by every team in every sport, and then depicted the NBA as some self-serving conglomerate that doesn't care if a city/nation is in peril.

The NBA realizes that they have a duty to help New Orleans rebuild, and that it extends BEYOND a simple basketball game.

yes, i am sure that steve nash and tim duncan and the likes have pounded a few nails in a few houses down there, but what else has the league done for new orleans? give me examples. i did offer a counterpoint to your argument. show me where other teams are just comping two tickets to a game. what other examples like this are there? i havent noticed a giveaway like this in seattle. the sonics could use an attendance boost right now. and what duty does the nba have to new orleans? i am not trying to be callus or flip. but the nba IS a self serving conglomerate. david stern is a self serving egomaniac. if the nba wants a continued presence in new orleans, it is because they think that they can somehow profit from it.

What exactly does the NBA have to do with the Hornets organization agreeing to give away 2300 tickets (which btw was the average number of comps over their 3 full seasons in NO)?

Further, if you're so sure the opt-out clause is there so that Shinn can "escape," exactly why would the Hornets being giving away free tickets and running the numerous promotions that dramatically lowers ticket prices? Does that sound like the actions of an organization that doesn't want a [relatively low] benchmark to be met so that they can bolt?

And yeah, you're damn right the NBA wants to profit off of New Orleans...they already are. The franchise worth/corporate support the franchise has right now far exceeds that of previous years (or locations). What their current lease does is reduce much of the cost that the State would have to pay right now so that they can address other needs, which among other things, includes finalizing an agreement with the Saints that severely dictates what they can and cannot do for the Hornets (they're giving Benson 20+ mil per year). The lease will be amended once the Saints are taken care of, plain and simple.

edit: and have you really never heard of "comps?" Every organization has them. For the most part, they give them to sponsors for the sponsors to do what they will with them. WWL is fast becoming a very important "friend" to the Hornets organization.

the whole point IS the escape clause. why incude it? it makes the free tickets look suspect. i wonder who is really behind the giveaway. the team or the league. the league clearly wants the team there and shinn clearly wants a back door out of there. it is very much like the situation for bennett in seattle. he is in a win win, so is shinn, that is why he is trying to keep his options open, like bennett. but stern and the league may have different plans, for both teams.

yeah, i have heard of comps, dont patronize me. in my buisness i comp tickets to concerts and events all the time........to my clients, not the general public and not to pad stats. we dont even count the comp tickets when compiling attendance figures. its like they dont exist, we do it to help sales on the back end or as a thank you, it has nothing to do with the event. it is a perk for doing buisness with us.

The comps, that 2,300 number...is written into the lease. There is nobody "behind" it, the Hornets put it there themselves.

I don't know what else you want me to say. The organization wants to be there, and the giveaways and promotions are just one way to show that. Now you can go off on completely unfounded conspiracy theory rants, but I'll just stick with the facts.

ok, please show me that provision in the lease. i am sure you have it right there in front of you. you have made over ten thousand posts, you must have followed the nba for some time, please tell me you dont buy any of their goodwill b.s. as sonics fans we have every reason to be just a little suspicious of stern and his machine. when you have specific bencmarks that need to be met in any contract and then you give away freebies that may help you to meet those benchmarks, that is a little fishy.

http://hornetsreport.com/HRForums/showt ... hp?t=44620

edit: and http://blog.nola.com/hornetsbeat/2008/0 ... ime_t.html

VII. Early Termination Rights

The Hornets can terminate the lease at the end of the 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons if

Why not? Consumers can name a price on their products. It seems to be a marketing tool to get customers to actually want to BUY their product. If nobody is willing to pay for games, how can they get fans to sample the product and see if they like it? Nobody seems to take the gamble on Hornets games - I say let them do it.

As a credible source (and administrator/owner) for that site since its creation, yeah it is good enough for me.

more info: http://blog.nola.com/hornetsbeat/2008/0 ... ime_t.html

" basketball fans respond, if New Orleans' NBA team averages a shade more than 14,700 in paid attendance for home games during the rest of this season and throughout the following season (roughly 3,000 more than this season's average), the Hornets' lease will be extended until 2014."

so they need about 3000 more attendees than this years average. and they are comping 2300 tickets. to how many games? all of them? anyone know what the average is for an nba team to comp?

btw: we hear from "credible sources" all the time about upcoming arena news. so far though................

"comps" aren't something that is particularly tracked, and it varies from team to team. The only reason we actually have a number to point to is because it obviously played a factor in the new lease due to the attendance benchmarks being set. It needed to be established.

But really, you see it every day, you just might not realize it. Especially in markets with struggling teams, more and more you'll see grocery chains/department stores/etc running promotions like "buy our crap and we'll give you a pair of tickets to X game."

http://www.dougloudenback.com/hornets/NBAattendance.htm

That page sort of digs into the "padding" of attendance stats.

i am not saying that comps dont exist in every sport. i realize that. as i said, i comp tickets and other stuff all the time to clients. but the numbers give me pause. the hornets need to average about 3000 more attendees then they currantly are right now and the team is comping over 2000 tickets. like i said, is it just for those two games? or is it for every game? 2300 seems like a lot of tickets to comp for every game. i will have to research this some more. but if it is for every game, that seems a little fishy.

"comps" don't always mean giveaways; to the sponsors, sure. But what the sponsors often do is promote the tickets in such a way that they the sponsors are benefiting from it. Profiting on the Hornets name you might say, a perk of being a corporate sponsor to the team.

This is just one particular game in which WWL (a major TV affiliate), is running a free ticket promotion. They don't have these every game. Judging from the reactions of locals I know who are much closer to the situation than I am, this is a long time coming and almost a peace offering by WWL, a station that has had extremely poor Hornets coverage up until recent weeks (when the lease was extended). Coverage the Hornets need in order to thrive.

when i saw that number i thought it was a little on the high end. look, i dont want any city to loose a pro team. this is the third time that seattle has been through this in the last 12 or 13 years. it sucks. my whole point was that the nba and stern are not exactly above suspicion in certain matters. generally stern is on the side of the owners, unless the owners have plans that conflict with his.