NBA Attendance Figures

Sports fans can be a fickle bunch. For every hardcore fan there are just as many fair-weather fans ensuring that attendance statistics are constantly changing both for individual teams and leagues as a whole. There are various factors that can influence this: the team's record, ticket prices and the opposition on the night are but a few. It is interesting to see that occasionally a certain player or scenario can vastly sway the trend for a team’s attendance figures.

In any major professional (and amateur for that matter) sporting league, certain teams will always be at the top of the table when it comes to filling stadiums. The NBA is no different. Teams from major markets (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) and with cult followings (Detroit, Boston) will, year after year, pull in near capacity crowds at home games as well as drawing in fans all over the USA when on the road. If the team is underperforming then the sheer amount of fans will still fill up the seats, taking the opportunity of better availability due to the poor results.

Conversely, some teams will hover near the bottom of the attendance figures season after season. These teams are usually from smaller markets with smaller fan bases (Portland, Seattle, Memphis) or they may have a long history of struggling to draw in crowds (Atlanta). Attendance figures for the last five NBA seasons appear to indicate that these trends will continue to occur unless certain teams make personnel moves or are the beneficiary of an exceptional circumstance, some examples of which are presented below.

Interesting Fluctuations

Attendance figures for several teams are very interesting when placed under the proverbial microscope. The Cleveland Cavaliers were dwelling at the bottom of the league in attendance for the 2002/03 season. The team failed to make the playoffs, lucked out in the Draft Lottery by securing the number 1 pick and turned the franchise around by selecting Ohio native and possibly the most hyped player to enter the league since Michael Jordan, LeBron James. Fast forward to the end of the 2003/04 season and the Cavs, although not improved enough to make a playoff appearance, saw an increase in attendance of 34% overall including a staggering 59% increase for home games.

Over the same two-season stretch, the Washington Wizards crowd-pulling abilities went in the polar opposite direction to that of the Cavs. The 2002/03 season happened to be the last fling for an ageing Michael Jordan and the attendance at Wizards home and road games combined fell almost 20% in 2003/04. This dramatic fall knocked them from league leaders in attendance for 2002/03, as basketball fans flocked to see Michael for one last time, to dwelling perilously close to the bottom in the space of 12 months.

Another notable fluctuation, which can be directly attributed to a distinct personnel situation, is the attendance figures for Miami Heat games increasing over 20% from 2002/03 to 2004/05. This coincided with the arrivals of Dwyane Wade (draft) and Shaquille O’Neal (trade). This duo proceeded to lead the team to the championship in 2005/06, justifying the new found interest of fans.

Overall

According to its official website, the NBA as a whole has seen attendance figures rise for four straight seasons. It has set new records for average attendance (17,757) and sell-outs (600 – the highest figure in a decade) for the third straight season. This bodes well for the future. The league is becoming more and more international and TV and the internet have ensured that teams have much wider appeal than the cities they are based in or the USA as a whole. As demonstrated above, while one player or a quick turnaround in a franchise’s fortunes may affect individual team attendance, at the end of the day the overall numbers reflect the fact that basketball’s appeal is truly back on the rise.

Attendance figures were obtained from ESPN Sports and the offical website of the NBA

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