New Jersey Nets are one-upping the global credit lockup. The National Basketball Association team is giving some ticket buyers until January to pay for season tickets.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers, another NBA team, isn't charging season-ticket buyers for four preseason games, citing a 20 percent drop in attendance last season and the economy.
The Nets, who play across the Hudson River from the epicenter of the credit crisis, are taking a cue from furniture and electronics stores. The team is selling its cheapest tickets -- $10 each -- to 41 regular-season games and three preseason contests for $440 and not charging fans until January. The team is trying to sell tickets before customers spend their money on holiday gifts.
``Everyone else in the world is losing credit, we are giving it,'' said Fred Mangione, 37, the team's senior vice president of sales and marketing. ``Buy now, pay later.''
About 1,000 of the $10 seats are in the upper deck, while the remaining 300 are behind the basketball nets.
``It's really about seizing the moment, getting ahead of the curve,'' team spokesman Barry Baum said. ``You see what's out there and come up with an interesting idea that creates a buzz.''
Mangione said the team has sold about 100 tickets from the promotion; the team would consider 1,000 sales an unqualified success, he said.
Broadway Offer
This isn't the first time the Nets used current events to sell tickets. When Broadway theaters experienced a 19-day stagehand strike a year ago, the team sold two, half-priced Nets tickets in exchange for an unused Broadway ticket.
The offer generated about 1,000 ticket sales.
When gas prices reached $4 a gallon in June, the team gave away gas cards to customers buying season tickets. The team spent about $125,000 on the cards and sold 1,200 season passes, though only 300 were to new customers, Mangione said.
The Nets averaged 16,926 for each of their games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, last season, about 1 percent less than the previous season.
In Indiana, the Pacers said they will give up about $2 million in revenue by not charging season ticket holders for their four preseason games.
The team says fans will save between $40 and $2,400 depending on where they sit in the arena. The team is also promoting reduced-price tickets for family nights and for military personnel and college students.
Economic Triggers
Rick Fusion, the team's chief operating officer, said a combination of falling ticket sales and an awareness of the region's economic problems led the team to develop the ticket promotion in August.
``We're trying to rebuild our pride and passion for the Pacers, and with all that's going on we thought it was a good idea to let our fans know we appreciated them,'' Fusion said. ``This didn't come as the result of the meltdown in the financial markets or the recent drop in the stock market.
``People have been telling us for the past 18 months that their decision to buy tickets is affected by how busy their lives are, and how their pocketbooks are affected by food prices, gas, school books.''
(source Bloomberg News)
