NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Despite a first-round exit from the playoffs, the Hornets have had 80 percent of their season-ticket holders renew for next season, team officials said.
The team’s encouraging numbers are despite a recession that has caused some NBA teams to experience a decline in renewals and trim staff. The team said it has no plans to lay off workers, as the Miami Heat did recently.
“Our fan support has been outstanding,” said Bill Bailey, the Hornets’ vice president of ticket sales and services. “They see that especially ownership, Mr. (George) Shinn, is putting a successful product on the court.”
The Hornets rank among the top five teams in the league in renewals, Bailey said, and it comes after prices were raised for three seating sections in the lower bowl of the New Orleans Arena. The biggest jump goes from $25 to $33 per game in the lower-bowl section behind the basket.
Bailey said the price increase in two other lower-bowl sections will be no more than $1 or $2 a seat. Prices will remain as they were last season in the upper bowl. A 41-game season ticket will range from $559 in the upper bowl to $27,950 for a floor seat.
“Our lowest-priced lower bowl seat is still only $33 (a game),” Bailey said. “That price is still less than what it was when we arrived from Charlotte.”
With expectations soaring this season after winning a franchise-record 56 games during the 2007-08 season, the Hornets had 22 sellouts at the Arena and ranked 19th in the league with a 16,968 average.
The Hornets finished this season at 49-33 before losing in five games to the Nuggets, who have advanced to the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Hornets began their renewal push in February, and Bailey said they are encouraged about achieving more than 10,000 season-tickets holders for the second consecutive season. Later this summer, they plan to announce various half-season and mini-plan packages.
Bailey said they have 10 suites at the Arena that will be up for renewal next month, but he said all signs indicate they will be renewed.—-Contact The Daily Reveille sports staff at [email protected]