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December 24, 2008
Looking at the NBA's (and Nets') history of inflated attendance figures
Atlantic Yards Report
After guestimating a 25% fudge-factor for attendance-vs.-turnstile numbers at Nets games, Norman Oder did some more research and found that he wasn't that far off:
For instance, after the hoopla of the NJ Nets 2005 "sold out" home opener:
On 11/5/05, Neil Best of Newsday got some figures from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, reporting:
According to a turnstile count supplied to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, 15,504 people attended Wednesday's opener against the Bucks at Continental Airlines Arena.
The Nets made a point that night of announcing they had distributed 20,098 tickets, making it technically a sellout. But many tickets apparently went to corporate sponsors and were unused.
During a heated interview on WFAN on Thursday, CEO Brett Yormark estimated that 17,000 people attended the game and host Mike Francesa insisted there were no more than 15,000 there.
[WFAN's Mike] Francesa's "charitable" estimate was more accurate, according to the numbers, which represent a 23 percent reduction in attendance.
NoLandGrab: Putting the aside the difference between "attendance" and actual number of spectators who attended a game, it's Orwellian that a game can be "technically a sellout" when many NJ Nets tickets are being given away for free.
Posted by lumi at December 24, 2008 5:40 AM