Nets Fans Among Least Supportive in League
If the two best measurements of fan support are attendance and local television ratings, the Nets are not well-liked. Final ratings for local cable coverage of NBA games show the Nets have by far the lowest average rating of .45 households on YES Network broadcasts, only the Clippers rank remotely close, a 40.8% drop from last season, the second biggest drop to the Miami Heat’s plunge. Miami finished with the worst record in the NBA in a season of dysfunction that included the Shaquille O’Neal trade and an injury to Dwayne Wade.
New Jersey posted 641,921 in paid attendance, 78% of capacity at Izod Center. The only teams with lower capacity this season: Indiana (off-court problems, management turmoil, missed playoffs), Memphis (gave away their best player), Philadelphia (the only surprise - expect this to change next year), Minnesota (no KG, no fans), Charlotte (yet to field a good game), and Seattle (small problem with ownership). And when you watched the Nets, especially in the second half of the season, it’s evident the paid attendance numbers are a major embellishment over the actual attendance - though they are probably not alone in that.
Newark anyone?
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Tags: attendance, Izod Center, New Jersey Nets, Newark, Prudential Center, ratings, YES Network
3 Responses
Anonymous April 27th at 12:03 pm
I’m not surprised. there aren’t many “die-hard nets fans” out there anymore, especially since Kidd is gone. I can’t wait till they move to Brooklyn.
Gavino May 2nd at 4:37 pm
OK, so you have:
1) And olde arena inaccessible to public transportation and hard to drive to
2) A team that has announced its intention to abandon its fan base
3) A team that underperformed the last season with a disgruntled star who got traded anyway in midseason.
It’s a miracle they sold as many tix as they did!
And I’m a season ticket holder.
Ultimately they will wind up in Newark. They will be treading water until they do, which at last count was at least two seasons.
Expect even worse attendance.
David May 5th at 1:44 pm
Well, I agree that the access to the arena might be an issue, but I would not consider it as the main one. You see, Giants also play at the Meadowlands but they’ve got a great crowd behind them. And why??? Because they play well and they don’t dissapoint…But the Nets had a really dissapointing season and no wonder that the attendanc was that low…although people should aware that bigger crowd could contribute to more successful season…so, low attendance surely contributed to worse season…and since I expect that the Nets will be better next season the attendance should also rise because the access isn’t that horrible that the fans can’t come and support the team…if the majority of the fans think so, then I consider it as disloyalty…and during my stay in NYC this March I went to NJN vs. PHX game and were really kinda surprised in negative way e.g. if I just emphasise the moment of adressing the starters…Suns got many chants from the crowd, and then the Nets barely heard a chant during the process of adressing the starting lineup…That’s a SHAME!!!
So, Nets Fans Do Not Blame Just The Team For The Season…It Is Also You Who, Responsible For The Bad Season…