Only 3,000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow night's game in BR. Funny thing, on HornetsReport, they're calling this a victory, after saying we were losing support due to the 17,000 in attendance at the last game in OKC.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2260562

http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1134716603205240.xml

Shinn will be stupid if he returns to NOLA.

yap.

The economics just aint there no more. 3000 tix. ...

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... Funny thing, on HornetsReport, they're calling this a victory, after saying we were losing support due to the 17,000 in attendance at the last game in OKC...
This is funny, because as I pointed out in the other thread, I'm not sure if a lot of people actually realizes that the Clippers are not the same Clipper teams from the past couple of decades...

Hmmm...even Shinn is saying that playing those games in BR might have been a mistake.

What does this mean for the future of the OKC Hornets?




Hornets go 'home' to a smaller crowd than they’re used to

By Andrew Gilman
The Oklahoman

When the NBA announced the Hornets would play six of their home games in Baton Rouge, La., many thought the move a fair idea and a chance to re-establish with fans.

http://newsok.com/images/icon_smarrow_white.gifThe Professional
(http://newsok.com/article/1706623/?template=sports/main)http://newsok.com/images/icon_smarrow_white.gifThankful Hornets deserve holiday cheers
(http://newsok.com/article/1706624/?template=sports/main)http://newsok.com/images/icon_smarrow_white.gifNotebook (http://newsok.com/article/1706626/?template=sports/main)

Seems things have changed now. Even Hornets owner George Shinn thinks so.

“Obviously, we’re concerned about it,” Shinn said Wednesday at the Ford Center before the Hornets beat the Los Angeles Clippers. “It’s unfortunate. Baton Rouge is not a familiar place for us. To me, it’s a nice arena and they are good people and whatever, but it’s not an NBA-type arena. That affects your players and your attitude”

Back in October, the games were considered a gesture of good will.

Instead of playing at the New Orleans Arena, the Hornets’ home court that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets would do the next best thing for their fans - play in Baton Rouge.

But all that happened before the Hornets became one of the NBA’s surprise stories, on and off the court. They are 10-12 this season and have been an exceptional draw at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center.

The Hornets rank seventh out of 30 NBA teams in home attendance, averaging 18,599.

Now, with a game against Western Conference power Phoenix at 7 tonight at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the campus of Louisiana State University, the Hornets might be giving back to the state, but they also might be giving away a home-court advantage.

The Hornets’ director of corporate communication, Michael Thompson, said there have been “3,000-plus tickets sold” so far for tonight.

“But we’re not discouraged,” he said. “It’s smaller than what we anticipated. ...

“It’s important to remember that people in Louisiana have so many more important things to do right now than come to an NBA game, but we are proud to provide our fans, family and friends with that entertainment and positive diversion.”

Thompson also maintained that although the Hornets were on the road officially, tonight’s game was really a home game.

“We don’t lose a home-court advantage,” Thompson said. “There won’t be 19,000, but our crowd will be loud.”

The Hornets played the Miami Heat at the Maravich Assembly Center on Oct. 25 in a preseason game, and the announced crowd was 7,015, filling less than half the capacity of 14,164. The Hornets won the game against the Heat, 111-91, in what was their first appearance back in Louisiana since Katrina.

At the Ford Center, the Hornets have played in front of four sellouts in nine home games.

Going back home, though, is different than playing at home. And especially with tonight’s game. Unlike the preseason game against the Heat, this one counts.

“Home is New Orleans,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “We’ll be back on Louisiana soil, which is great, but I don’t think it’s going to be a sellout, and I don’t think a lot of our Louisiana fans will be there.

“It’s almost like a preseason game where both teams are playing at a different site. I know for a fact that the crowd will be in our favor. When I said it was going to be a road game, I’m saying we still have to travel, we’re staying in a hotel, and we’re not in the comfort of staying in our beds.”

And while there may be concern about ticket sales and crowd support, the comfort of returning to Louisiana was soothing for Louisiana native PJ Brown. “It’s going to be a good thing going back to Louisiana,” Brown said. “Whatever crowd shows up, however good or bad it is, we don’t know. If they don’t show up, I’ll know why. There are people who are just trying to survive. We just have to go out there and play.”

I bet if the games were being played in the NO Arena, the results wouldn't be much different.

It's interesting because I think a lot of the community is communiting into NO right now. So the time may not work for them to get out of NO and to BR for the game. A Saturday or Sunday would be a better test of overall interest and feasibility. I bet they have a lot of walk up sales tonight.

It does make one thing clear, their decision to only play 6 games there this year was a good one for sure.

Game attendance was 7,302. The Maravich center seats just over 14,000.

Okay, I posted this attendance number on HornetsReport and they immediately removed it and banned my account. What's up with that? I even said I was from New Orleans!

Okay, I posted this attendance number on HornetsReport and they immediately removed it and banned my account. What's up with that? I even said I was from New Orleans!

Welcome to the elite club ... I'm not a member of this fine club since I refuse to register there, which is now required at HR.com. Facts don't cut it at HR.com. And, apparenly, they not only don't cut it, they are not even tolerated there!

Fortunately, HR.com's influence, and its ability to spin history as it develops, is limited to the insular bubble of like-small-minded people that represents the owners/mods of that website.

That's too bad, since there is a wealth of info about the Hornets there, aside from what's going on TODAY. Step outside that bubble and the real world will smack them right in the kisser, e.g., the official NBA Box scores ... for this game, http://www.nba.com/games/20051216/PHXNOK/boxscore.html ...

Attendance: 7,302
... and at less official places, e.g., ESPN, http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=251216003 and SI, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/boxscores/2005/12/16/19286_boxscore.html

But, uh, Patrick, if you were tyring for "stealth" (saying you were from NO), you might want to consider working on your technique since your IP address may have been a tipoff! :LolLolLol

True, I suppose the COX OKC address gives it away. lol!

LOL Patrick .. the CIA is hiring!

Deleting your post doesn't change the truth and they should know that. I always find it strange when people avoid discussing the truth in an effort to fix their problems. I think OKC does this sometimes, and cetainly used to do it a lot more, and nothing good has ever come of it.

I'm not even sure 7400 is a bad number for them. Maybe it's not good from a major league perspective, but for a community that was all but destroyed a few months ago, I think it can be seen as good. I understand the fans perspective there, but the community does have bigger goals than simply bringing back their sports teams and this shows that at least part of the community is doing ok.... right?

Sorry, but I don't like Louisiana, and I never will. If they want to be childish about how everything has been handled with the Hornets, that is their problem.

I also was banned. Some poster there was talking about BR being as big as OKC. I replied with something like "Really, I didnt know that BR had over a million people." What do ya know? The message was erased immediately and I cant log in any more. LOL... they are the type to think the Holocaust was a hoax.

"Well, we've got the old appliances out of the yard. I suppose we'll scrape the mold off the walls next. What do you want to do tonight?"

"I thought we'd drive all the way to Baton Rouge and watch the Hornets."

Under these conditions, even 7300 should be considered a moral victory.

Seems like they want the government to bail them out of their crisis. For once, why don't they help themselves. One thing I'll give Rudolph Guiliani (sp??). .....after 9-11 he was in complete control of what was going on in his city, and didn't cry out in distress. Same thing with Frank Keating after April 19th, 1995. In fact, Connie Chung mentioned on the news that she didn't know how a city our size and status would be able to respond to this. Needless to say, she was wrong.

I think its hilarious the joke of a thread they are running on that board. Kind of riminiscent of a totalitarian dictatorship fostering a ban on freedom of expression. Speak your mind, your dead.

Baton Rouge the same size as Oklahoma City? Yeah, like forty years ago.

Okay, I posted this attendance number on HornetsReport and they immediately removed it and banned my account. What's up with that? I even said I was from New Orleans!

Hey, Patrick. Humm. Sounds like a certain guy we know. Right?

How significant was the "home town crowd" in the Baton Rouge the 4th quarter meltdown to Phoenix? Well, we'll never know. But here's an excerpt from this morning's San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA121805.12C.COL.BKNmonroe.2a691f3.html

Mike Monroe: Oklahoma City emerges a gallant host

The Ford Center has become a tough place for visitors to play, and Oklahomans filled it, even when it snowed. The Hornets' Ford Center attendance average of 18,559 ranks seventh in the league.

The first of six games the Hornets are scheduled to play in Baton Rouge took place Friday night. Only 7,300 showed up at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus to see it.

The Suns outscored the Hornets 37-10 in the fourth quarter in Baton Rouge to score a 101-88 victory, and you have to wonder if they would have been able to accomplish the same kind of comeback had the game been played before the howling assemblage typical of Ford Center.

I like that phrase! Maybe better than "Loud City", The Howling Assemblage! That's us, isn't it. Not a factor in the 4th quarter? As I said, we'll never know.

Though not as much "on-topic", the same is perhaps implied in an article in the Arizona Republic today, http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/1218nbainsider1218.html


Hornets torn by success of new home, ties to old
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic

With a shaky track record of trustworthiness, Hornets owner George Shinn stood within a trailer camp of hundreds of Lower Ninth Ward evacuees and swore with conviction that the Hornets would return to New Orleans.

How can he deny the lure of Oklahoma City fans, who have catapulted the Hornets from last in the league in attendance to seventh with 18,599 fans per game? How can he ignore the fans' passion giving the Hornets a home-court advantage to make them competitive again? How can he ignore the surprising number of Sooner State corporate sponsorships while New Orleans remains torn asunder? How can he ignore the overwhelming economic advantage of moving to Oklahoma City?

Seems like they want the government to bail them out of their crisis. For once, why don't they help themselves. One thing I'll give Rudolph Guiliani (sp??). .....after 9-11 he was in complete control of what was going on in his city, and didn't cry out in distress. Same thing with Frank Keating after April 19th, 1995. In fact, Connie Chung mentioned on the news that she didn't know how a city our size and status would be able to respond to this. Needless to say, she was wrong.

Giuliani and Keating deserve their recognition for their performance in times of tragedy. however, neither of those events destroyed 275,000 living dwellings as Katrina did. It's just a different scale. I think it's unfortunate that much of America has decided to just shrug it off and say "why can't they help themselves". IMO, it's still America and using our government to assist in times of great tragedy makes good sense and is a good use of our resources. IMO, it makes a lot more sense than spending a couple of hundred billion to build a nation thousands of miles away. Truth is, if 275000 homes were destroyed in Oklahoma, we wouldn't even begin to have the resources to "help ourselves". And when we have had tragedies, it's not like we refused government aide and neither did NYC.