Despite all the struggles that the Bulls are experiencing this season, they still rank as the second highest attendance in the NBA, trailing only the Cleveland Cavaliers by 12 tickets per game. This doesnt come as too big a surprise for several reasons.
1) The Bulls have had the 2nd highest attendance every year going back to 2004. Including the top attendance in the league during the 2007 season.
2) Like many teams, the Bulls give away many, many tickets for reduced prices to local businesses in hopes of getting people through the door and make up the difference in concession sales. Shucks, I've gone to games paying $20 for seats that normally cost $100 due to being a university student in the city.
3) Chicago is a large, corporate city with people that have deep pockets capable of buying up season tickets in the expensive sections. The United Center is one of the top 3 biggest stadiums in the NBA allowing for large attendance numbers.
The NBA is expected to announce just how much the salary cap is expected to drop for next season, due to a drastic drop in overall ticket sales this year due to the recession. Teams are estimating the cap to drop from 58 million this season to 52-54 million next year. Obviously this can have a drastic effect on who can afford the great free agents of 2010. The Lakers are going to be between 85-90 million next season, completely disregarding the luxury tax. Most other teams are not as fortunate. The Bulls seem to be in decent shape going forward. Definitely have the money for one top free agent. It remains to be seen just how high Jerry Reinsdorf is willing to with the cap to make the Bulls a real championship contender.
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