Charlotte

[The 24th Letter]

Re: Charlotte

In my opinion, the reason the Bobcats don't draw well in Charlotte is a combination of things.

For one, the team stinks. That didn't matter back when the Hornets were selling out every game but this isn't 1989 anymore. There's a lot more to do in Charlotte and a bad basketball team just isn't going to draw the interest it did 15 years ago.

Secondly, you used to be able to get a good lower level seat to a Hornets game for $50. Now, $50 barely gets you in the door at Bobcats Arena. If you want lower level, you're not going to pay anything less $55.00, and that's for the crappy lower level seats.

The final season the Hornets were in Charlotte, an $80 ticket could get you as close as a $150 ticket does for a Bobcats game.

And finally, during the Hornets' peak, the Panthers weren't even a factor. They didn't start playing until 1995, 7 years after the Hornets debuted. Charlotte was a Hornets' town first (well actually ACC hoops first, Hornets second, but you get my point). Fast forward to 4 years ago when the Bobcats came to town, the Panthers were coming off of a trip to the Super Bowl and were firmly entrenched as the city's favorite pro sports team.

For people who would go to both, because of ticket prices they were forced to pick one or the other. Most have stuck with the Panthers.

Truth.
Charlotte loved the Hornets...I dont know if it will ever be the same.

Im going to the Boston game this weekend though

[bkfount]

Re: Charlotte

nice wikipedia article. also, like others have said, there's minor league baseball, nfl, ncaa basketball, and nascar around for people to spend money on.

Few are also going to care to pay to see a horrible expansion team slowly develop, even if they do turn it into a professional UNC team ran by michael jordan for marketing reasons.

[tehova]

Re: Charlotte

nice wikipedia article. also, like others have said, there's minor league baseball, nfl, ncaa basketball, and nascar around for people to spend money on.

Few are also going to care to pay to see a horrible expansion team slowly develop, even if they do turn it into a professional UNC team ran by michael jordan for marketing reasons.

And they haven't had a star player yet. The hornets had Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, the entertaining Mugsy Bogues.

The Hornets need a stud player (Chris Paul would have been the ideal player but the it didn't work out like that)

And they got Okafur instead of Dwight Howard in the other draft.....the lottery is a female dog sometimes.

[P2K]

Re: Charlotte

You can't have two favorite teams? Here in Philly, Eagles are king, but the Flyers sell out all the time and the Phillies get all kinds of fans.

Even last year when the Flyers were horrible, they sold plenty of tickets. And I think the Eagles could be 4-12 for three years straight and people would still fill up the place.

[TJdaSportsGuy]

Re: Charlotte

You can't have two favorite teams? Here in Philly, Eagles are king, but the Flyers sell out all the time and the Phillies get all kinds of fans.

Even last year when the Flyers were horrible, they sold plenty of tickets. And I think the Eagles could be 4-12 for three years straight and people would still fill up the place.

Yeah but you're talking about teams that have years and years of tradition in Philly. The Panthers are 13 years old, the Bobcats are 4. When the day comes that there are generations and generations of Bobcats fans, maybe we'll have a different story.

[P2K]

Re: Charlotte

Yeah but you're talking about teams that have years and years of tradition in Philly. The Panthers are 13 years old, the Bobcats are 4. When the day comes that there are generations and generations of Bobcats fans, maybe we'll have a different story.

I would buy that...but if you guys wanted basketball so badly, I would think the Bobcats would do better than they are now in terms of sales. You go no matter what because it's NBA basketball.

But now it matters if they are good or not?