Who is attending our games?

Quake Griffin · Post #1 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:01 am

I figured this thread is warranted since DeAndre started bitching about the last game being a road game.
If every team with a strong fan base packs out our arena and makes it a road game, who in the hell is selling us out every night?

Easy answer for me is Laker fans.

anybody have any thoughts and theories?

Forte IV · Post #2 » by **Forte IV** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:02 am

Well I would go to every game if I could afford to go to every game. So that's my guess. A lot of the true fans can't afford to go to every game. The truth is, a lot of the people there aren't true fans and just go for dunks/because the Lakers are losing.

mttwlsn16 · Post #3 » by **mttwlsn16** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:31 pm

I go to 1 game per season, because the Clippers only come to Charlotte 1 time

MrHill · Post #4 » by **MrHill** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:42 pm

Forte IV wrote:Well I would go to every game if I could afford to go to every game. So that's my guess. A lot of the true fans can't afford to go to every game. The truth is, a lot of the people there aren't true fans and just go for dunks/because the Lakers are losing.

I'm kinda in the same position as well...I've only attended one game since we acquired Chris Paul three-plus years ago, when I took my wife and stepson to the November 9th game against Portland. In the bad ol' days (and before I got married), I used to go at least 5-6 games a year, and even then it was more of the same when it came to other teams' fans invading Staples.

However, as much as it can be fun being there in person, I've become really disinchanted going to games. Call it some social anxiety, or perhaps a little frugalness, or both, but especially since every Clipper game is on television, I have zero problem being in the comfort of my own home cheering my team on. I'm not really a big fan of crowds (I can tolerate them at sporting events, only because the seating is spread-out enough that you're not really shoulder-to-shoulder with other people), and I don't spend $25 or more dollars (just for myself) on overpriced food and drinks. Although I haven't experienced this directly on my own, I hear all the time of the horror stories of unruly fan behavior at games. Hell, I almost got into a fight with a guy sitting behind my wife and I, because he threw something at her...it's at a point where I hate going to the movies.

I know I kinda got off-tanigent here, but my basic point is that many people have a lot of reasons for not going to games, or in the Clippers' case, letting the other team's fans fill-up the rest of the arena. This is something that's being going on since this team moved to L.A.; the team just needs to find more ways to engage the fans, as far as game-night experience, ticket deals, and other ways where the Clippers can truly establish a distinct home-court advantage (and not just talking about covering-up the Laker banners with Clipper selfies).

Post #5 » by **mkwest** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:18 pm

LA more so than most any other city has more transplants from other locations. Like Matt, they (opposing fans) may only be seeing their team 1 time a season. These opposing fans are more likely to hit up the Clipper game than the Laker game, because the tickets are cheaper. Bulls, Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, etc. are going to have a lot of support when they come to town. This is also a bandwagon town. A hot team comes, they're going to have support. Laker fans also attend Clipper games quite regularly (wearing their Laker jerseys :lol:

) I'm not saying all of them, but I'm sure there are those that "root" for the opponent (i.e. against the Clippers).

Clipper crowds have their moments, but they're not as rowdy as other fanbases. Places like Memphis, OKC, Oakland, may have "accoustics" in their favor with the way that the seats are situated in relation to the court, but they are still loud regardless.

Another thing, STH's have been known to sell tickets to some of the marquee games to save a few bucks. When the big match-ups take place, it could be an opposing fan sitting in that STH's seat. The Clippers' stated maximum occupancy is 19,060, but there's been plenty of games where there were far more than that. So if you have a game where 700-800 more than that are present, a good deal of those additional fans could be outsiders.

In my personal opinion, a team's play can be affected by the crowd. When the crowd is amped, that can fuel the team. It can also work the other way when you are on the road. Look at Reggie and tell me he didn't love being booed by opposing fans. He ate it up. Different people are going to see it different ways. What came first, the Chicken or the egg? "We'll cheer when you give us something to cheer about" "We'll give you more to cheer about when you cheer us on" HCA isn't just sleeping in your own bed, being used to the court/sight lines/sweet spots, but it is also having the support of your fans.

Quake Griffin · Post #6 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:53 pm

Sure do wish we had all those bandwagon fans people used to swear we had.

We could use them whenever GSW, Chi, NY and LAL (and I'm guessing Toronto and Miami now) play on our home floor.

Roscoe Sheed · Post #7 » by **Roscoe Sheed** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:10 pm

I've gone to 3 games this season. I usually go to 6-7 games a year including the playoffs. I'd go to more but it is expensive and difficult to go during the week. I feel what DJ is complaining about though. It is so obnoxious to go to games in which the opposing team has so many fans- Warriors fans in particular are very annoying.

clip set · Post #8 » by **clip set** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:58 pm

It's not really a function of Clippers fans to some degree. We can't help it that there are a lot of fans with long running ties to other teams that are inclined to buy tickets when those teams show up. It's natural that that group gets loud when the opposing team goes on a run like what happened vs Miami. Season ticket holders obviously don't show up every night and a lot of tickets are held by corporate clients too - I think basically all the premier seats at Staples are because they're for all events. The funniest thing when we play the Warriors though is there's a Clippers fan that goes to all those games and heckles Maurice Speights so hard for the entire game.

Quake Griffin · Post #9 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:54 pm

clip set wrote:It's not really a function of Clippers fans to some degree. We can't help it that there are a lot of fans with long running ties to other teams that are inclined to buy tickets when those teams show up. It's natural that that group gets loud when the opposing team goes on a run like what happened vs Miami. Season ticket holders obviously don't show up every night and a lot of tickets are held by corporate clients too - I think basically all the premier seats at Staples are because they're for all events. The funniest thing when we play the Warriors though is there's a Clippers fan that goes to all those games and heckles Maurice Speights so hard for the entire game.

I'm pretty sure I sit near that guy because he was annoying as hell on Christmas….even for Clipper fans.

Post #10 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:00 pm

I now live in Pennsylvania so my chances to see the Clippers are limited. I might try to see them in Philly but it will depend on a couple things though.

Just to add on to what MK said. LA and Southern California consists of people from all over the country. There are plenty of people from the colder east coast and mid west cities that choose to settle down in LA. One example is my family, my dad was tired of the cold in New York so he moved us out to Southern California. And since the Clipper tickets are more affordable than Laker tickets the opposing fans will go to our games.

clip set · Post #11 » by **clip set** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:36 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:
clip set wrote:It's not really a function of Clippers fans to some degree. We can't help it that there are a lot of fans with long running ties to other teams that are inclined to buy tickets when those teams show up. It's natural that that group gets loud when the opposing team goes on a run like what happened vs Miami. Season ticket holders obviously don't show up every night and a lot of tickets are held by corporate clients too - I think basically all the premier seats at Staples are because they're for all events. The funniest thing when we play the Warriors though is there's a Clippers fan that goes to all those games and heckles Maurice Speights so hard for the entire game.

I'm pretty sure I sit near that guy because he was annoying as hell on Christmas….even for Clipper fans.

I get where you're coming from. The funniest thing is just the idea that he's that committed to heckling Speights of all players.

Clemenza · Post #12 » by **Clemenza** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:02 am

(I wrote this in another thread in the general board on the same subject:)

No what it is is there's about 50% fans at Clippers games who are "LA everything" and roll with whoever is hot in the city at the moment. Of course LA is a Laker town no doubt about it but the huge metro area here makes the Clipper fanbase pretty big as well. I go to about ten Clipp games a year and the fans are definitely into the game. But on the flipside the Clipps have never really had a moment where the city as a whole can take notice and feel proud. Of course a championship would do the trick but even a deep playoff run with a few gritty victories where the city of LA can say "yeah, I can f*ck with this team". Like a "Kobe to Shaq allyoop" to knock off that really good Trailblazer team back in the day. A last second Robert Horry three at the buzzer like he did against Sacramento in the WCF. A Derek Fisher .04 buzzer beater against the Spurs, etc.

We've been on the cusp here and there. I thought if we got past the Thunder last year and reached the WCF that would've been really really huge for the franchise especially in the heat of the Sterling incident. Taking the Suns to game 7 years ago. Hopefully it'll come. We were on that path with 'Lob City'- the combination of exciting high flying play and wins but now Doc has guttted the team with his horrible GM moves and everything is rather lackluster. Lob City is damn near dead, no bench, bad drafting, no athletes outside of Blake and DJ, etc. But we'll see what happens in the post season.

Akklaim1 · Post #13 » by **Akklaim1** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:11 am

It's not just Clipper games. Go to a Kings or Dodger game and the presence of opposing fans is always huge. It's annoying as a diehard LA fan and it kinda damages your pride. But it's LA, the land of transplants. I think only Laker fans during a Laker game can drown out the opposing fans because it is still the Laker fan base, the largest NBA fan base in the world.