With ticket sales down, city barely breaks even on NBA game in Jacksonville

[thelakelander]

Former NBA players (from left to right) Sam Jones, Charles Barkley, Artis Gilmore, Robert Parish and WNBA player Tamika Catchings attend a reception at the Ritz Theatre in advance of Wednesday's preseason game.. Image courtesy of Jacksonville Business Journal.

An NBA exhibition game whose proceeds were slated to go to the city's military trust fund netted $1,462, according to city documents, with sponsorship dollars from Jacksonville's independent authorities stopping the event from losing money.

The Oct. 8 exhibition game at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena between the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans cost $345,519.

Ticket sales generated $167,289, and sponsorships brought in $138,000, including $25,000 each from the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, Jacksonville Transportation Authority and JEA, the city-owned utility.

Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/10/29/with-ticket-sales-down-city-barely-breaks-even-on.html

[Tacachale]

What a shocker.

[FSBA]

Really the game lost money if it wasn't for $75,000 of taxpayer money from other agencies.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I didn't even know there was one.

Did they do any advertising at all??



I know google is finicky, but something should have popped up, no?

[urbanlibertarian]

I went.  Got to see Patric Young play the 4th quarter.

[KenFSU]

The city should have seen this coming from a mile away. I'm as big of an NBA fan as you're going to find and I'd love to see more basketball in Jacksonville, but if the best you can offer is a Wizards/Pelicans preseason game -- essential a scrimmage between two of the five least popular/interesting teams in the league (based on Google traffic), with no starter playing more than two quarters -- why even bother?

Any number of alternate teams would have sold the place out. Chicago. Cleveland. San Antonio. The Lakers or Clippers. Probably New York. Possibly Houston, Dallas, Golden State. Particularly against a team like Miami or Orlando that is actually relevant to Northeast Florida.

But Wizards/Pelicans, with an average ticket price of $30 per head? Jacksonville knows it deserves better than such table scraps.

Game was doomed from the start, and the mayor/city should have known better than to settle for such a lousy matchup just because it had the NBA name attached.

[KenFSU]

P.S. One of the line items for the game was:

NBA Legends Player Appearance Expenses - $22,910.30

Bob McAdoo, Robert Parish, Sam Jones and Artis Gilmore were the four legends who spoke around Jacksonville preceding the game and appeared during halftime at the arena.

Be curious to know whether the city paid Gilmore for the appearance, on top of the already questionable salary (I believe close to 100k annually for a part-time job) he receives as the city's "Sports Ambassador."

[Tacachale]

Really the game lost money if it wasn't for $75,000 of taxpayer money from other agencies.

Not to mention that it seems unlikely all those other agencies would have chosen to "sponsor" this event with such generous packages if it wasn't being pushed by the mayor.

[exnewsman]

I went and it was an ok experience. I thought a better idea would have been to have at least one "local" team - Miami, Orlando or Atlanta. But as another poster said - the Wizards/Pelicans really didn't offer any luster. But this was my first NBA game if you can call it that.

Although I don't know why, I was astonished at the final cost of the tickets. Bought two $14 tickets ($28 total) but with the fees it came to $51 total. That's criminal. This "fees" thing is getting way out of hand for these tickets. They all do it. Ticketmaster, Stub Hub, etc. I thought a preseason NBA game in the upper deck for $14 each was a decent price. Not so much for those same tickets at $25 each. The fees need to be more reasonable. But I know that's not going to happen.

[acme54321]

Be curious to know whether the city paid Gilmore for the appearance, on top of the already questionable salary (I believe close to 100k annually for a part-time job) he receives as the city's "Sports Ambassador."

What??  Are you serious?  I've never even heard of the guy.

[pierre]

I don't understand why Orlando does not do more to target our market. The way the Jaguars have reached out to markets just outside of Jacksonville. I think they are missing big time on it. They should play a preseason game here every year.

[spuwho]

The game was on a weeknight with 2 marginal teams. Move it to a weekend night with some more interesting teams and the turnout will improve.

This game fell subject to tough scheduling as Garth Brooks had the Arena booked solid.

Sponsor revenue was extremely encouraging.

At least it wasnt a debacle like the game on a carrier was at Mayport.

They should get this on the calendar sooner for next year. Along with NCAA playoffs in March, they would make great bookends.

[edjax]

Be curious to know whether the city paid Gilmore for the appearance, on top of the already questionable salary (I believe close to 100k annually for a part-time job) he receives as the city's "Sports Ambassador."

What??  Are you serious?  I've never even heard of the guy.

I could just as easily say What? Are you serious you have never heard of him?  Just really says you are not a basketball fan or been around Jax for very long or a young one as his name is out there quite a bit.  Or perhaps you just forget the sarcasm font.

[acme54321]

Yeah totally serious.  Your are right on both fronts though.

Either way, what are we paying him $100k for?  That was my real issue. 

[Tacachale]

^Artis Gilmore is a basketball legend. He led JU to the NCAA championship game in 1970. He played 15 seasons in the ABA and NBA and is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Definitely one of the greats.

However, no one knows what he does as the "sports ambassador", or why Mayor Brown pays him $112,000 for this part time position.