The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly ‘dead last’ in the NBA when it comes to season ticket sales following a 30% drop in demand from last year.
For the 2022/23 season, which tipped off last week, the Nets had sold approximately just 5,500 season tickets for the 17,732-seater Barclays Center, according to the New York Post. The figure lands the Nets bottom among the NBA’s 30 teams in sales of the usually sought-after tickets.
While the number represents a fanbase potentially disillusioned following an offseason of drama, the Nets reportedly focus more on same-day tickets. As well as this, the Nets’ revenue from the new season still places them in the middle of the pack in terms of the wider league simply because Brooklyn charges more than other franchises.
The Nets have raised prices on some seats by more than 50% for the team’s 41 matches at home this campaign. Last season, the Nets enjoyed 14,919 fans per game - a 26% increase from the previous non-pandemic year - which generated $2.15million (£1.9m) in average net gate receipts - but the team still lost between $50m and $100m, which has led to the hiked prices.
Even with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons following his high-profile trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets scraped into the playoffs before they were dumped out in the first round by the Boston Celtics. Before the postseason began, owner Joe Tsai raised season ticket prices only to see Boston send the Nets - and their third-highest payroll in the NBA - home.
Following their humiliation, the Nets then lowered prices in the summer for a select number of long-term season ticket holders but it appeared to fall short. Overall, last season’s average ticket prices were 66% higher compared to the last non-pandemic year and it appears fans have had enough.
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Tsai acquired the Nets from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov in 2020. He paid $2.35billion (£2bn) to secure the deal for the team as well as another $1bn (£886,000) for the license to operate the arena.
The Nets’ payroll is also beyond the NBA’s salary cap figure, so Tsai is forking out $108m (£95.7m) in luxury tax. The team got off to a poor start as they were crushed 130-108 by the New Orleans Pelicans in front of a capacity crowd while they also sold out for their clash against the Toronto Raptors last Friday night thanks to late single-game ticket sales.
Irving and Durant combined for 57 points to lead the Nets to a 109-105 win over the Raptors to sit at 1-1 on the season. They will endure their first road test when they travel to Memphis to face Ja Morant and the Grizzlies on Monday night.
