NBA to all-star event fans: Drop Dead

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/sports/basketball/nba-is-having-an-all-star-party-this-weekend-and-youre-not-invited.htm

The N.B.A. is doing just fine these days. The game is in the hands of immensely popular stars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. New contenders, like the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks, have added appealing story lines to the regular season. And the league’s owners will soon be reaping the benefits of a new television contract that will pay out $2.66 billion a year, nearly triple the amount of the current deal.

Now come the N.B.A.’s annual All-Star Game festivities, which are taking place in New York City this week and serve as a sustained advertisement of the league’s appeal. What used to be a single afternoon exhibition has increasingly expanded into what is now a five-day happening, flush with fan festivals, open practices, a celebrity game, caravans to local schools and Manhattan fashion parties for the American sport most closely identified with personal style.


   

Yet the best-known parts of the event are largely restricted. Tickets for the All-Star Game (on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden) and for the slam-dunk contest and other competitions (on Saturday evening at Barclays Center) were not made available for public sale for the fifth straight year. Only a small percentage of the seats were even offered for purchase by season-ticket holders of the two host teams, the Knicks and the Nets.
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Fans, of course, can still buy tickets for Saturday and Sunday night from secondary-sale sites like StubHub. However, those prices have soared, averaging close to $2,000 per ticket this week, a lot more than they would have cost if purchased at face value.

In effect, the N.B.A. has created something of a closed-access party. Two-thirds of the available seating (or more than 10,000 tickets) for the events Saturday night and Sunday were claimed by the league to distribute to its long list of broadcast and marketing partners, other affiliates, players, the players’ association and N.B.A. alumni. Those commitments encompassed a vast portion of the lower sections of both arenas.

In addition, close to 20 percent of the seats in both arenas were claimed to accommodate production and staging needs for the TV broadcasts and to accommodate a large news media contingent.

The rest of the tickets? They were divided among the 30 N.B.A. teams to be distributed to fans and others, with the Knicks and the Nets getting special dispensation. The overall formula meant that average fans around the league, the ones who actually voted on who should be the starters in the All-Star Game, had virtually no chance of attending.


Pretty well sums up why I have no interest in All-Star weekend

The fans who are excluded are the fortunate ones.

Sam

Sloop,

I took the liberty of deleting the thread that was identical to this one. There were no responses on that thread, so this can be the official one. I hope you don't mind.

Sam

Okay by me Sam. I have no idea why it posted twice.

And your other comment was spot on.

Sloop,

I've had the double thread trouble several times too. A number of people have experienced similar difficulties. So you're far from alone.

Sam

sam wrote:Sloop,

I've had the double thread trouble several times too.  A number of people have experienced similar difficulties.  So you're far from alone.

Sam

You and Sloop double-dribbled.

Get back on defense.

It seems like All-Star games in the major sports have all suffered a similar fate when it comes to repaying sponsors for marketing deals and driving fans out of the arena and back to their TV...to watch the ads.

I'll make my annual statement that all of us, myself included, have missed the whole point of the NBA All-Star Weekend (didn't it used to be just a game?).  I can't watch the game, it sure doesn't work for me on any level...but...

It's for building a fan base.  Well, a good part of it is.  It's for the kids and the newbie fans.  The slam dunk, 3-point, and skills contests hold kids' attention better than a game.  They're shorter, and show some of the more exciting or explosive facets of basketball.  So now, a kid that thought it was great that Blake Griffin could jump a car and dunk, might start watching him play in a game.  At first, he's looking for that monster dunk, then he takes the next step. He starts to pay attention to what's going on and talks with dad or mom or brothers or buddies about other things he sees happening, and other players.  The whole weekend may not be much for us, but for the NBA it's growing the fan base, and doing so globally.

My son and his buddies will catch a lot of it, they have for a few years now.  And every year, it draws them to watch more games and appreciate the game itself at a deeper level.

No, it's not for us, but it's far from useless.  It's about making new fans.

You know, I'll skip the game, but I think I'll have my son and his buddies call me when the 3-point contest comes on...

NYCelt wrote:It seems like All-Star games in the major sports have all suffered a similar fate when it comes to repaying sponsors for marketing deals and driving fans out of the arena and back to their TV...to watch the ads.

I'll make my annual statement that all of us, myself included, have missed the whole point of the NBA All-Star Weekend (didn't it used to be just a game?).  I can't watch the game, it sure doesn't work for me on any level...but...

It's for building a fan base.  Well, a good part of it is.  It's for the kids and the newbie fans.  The slam dunk, 3-point, and skills contests hold kids' attention better than a game.  They're shorter, and show some of the more exciting or explosive facets of basketball.  So now, a kid that thought it was great that Blake Griffin could jump a car and dunk, might start watching him play in a game.  At first, he's looking for that monster dunk, then he takes the next step. He starts to pay attention to what's going on and talks with dad or mom or brothers or buddies about other things he sees happening, and other players.  The whole weekend may not be much for us, but for the NBA it's growing the fan base, and doing so globally.

My son and his buddies will catch a lot of it, they have for a few years now.  And every year, it draws them to watch more games and appreciate the game itself at a deeper level.

No, it's not for us, but it's far from useless.  It's about making new fans.

You know, I'll skip the game, but I think I'll have my son and his buddies call me when the 3-point contest comes on...

Like you say NYCelt, its the Kids that eat up the allstar game. I couldn't wait for the allstar games when I was a kid. American league vs National league, the nfl pro bowl, The college all stars - pro game and of coarse the East- West Shriners game along with the Blue - Grey and the North- South all star games. I would hazard a guess that I haven't watched an all star game in over 40 years.

swish

I totally agree All Star weekend is for the kids. I know Brandon considers it the highlight of the year.

I have very little interest in the game itself, and had to turn the station just now as they had a fashion show...... But I will tune in now for the three point and dunk contest. The three point contest has the potential to be great, lots of excellent shooters.