2008 Woodie Awards
Indiana: Is it still a basketball state?
Maurice M. McKiernan
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports
The Indiana Pacers are a hard ticket to sell these days, but it did not used to be that way.
The turning point was the infamous Brawl.
Every since the Nov. 19, 2004 game with the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the image and play of the Pacers has consistently gone downhill.
Coming into the contest the Pacers were leading their conference in wins. The ugly events that happened in the final seconds of that game had such an effect on the whole Pacers organization that they are still trying to recuperate from the consequences of events commonly referred to as "the Malice in the Palace."
But this piece is not about the events of the brawl - it is about the effects it had on the Pacers organization in the three years since the damaging incident.
After the suspensions and loss of team-captain Reggie Miller to retirement, came the numerous off-court problems. Pacer players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels, Jimmie Hunter, Shawne Williams, and David Harrison were all involved in separate public relations nightmares.
These character issues proved to harm the fan-base more than anything else.
With the start of the 2007-08 NBA season, the Pacers changed their advertising focus from players to Coach Jim O'Brien and Team President Larry Bird, two people who the organization felt would not get into legal troubles and alienate the fans.
Still, this tactic was not enough to bring back the fans. According to The Sports Network, the 2006-07 average attendance was 15,359 people - the lowest since the 1993-94 season. This year does not seem any more promising - the average attendance for this season is 12,068 people per game, and it has nothing to do with Indiana being a "small market" city. The Colts sell out games with more than 50,000 fans.
In fact, the Colts have seemingly performed the impossible: With the 1998 first-round selection of Peyton Manning - and a little more luck - they have transformed this basketball hot-bed that is Indiana into a "football state."
The turning point was the infamous Brawl.
Every since the Nov. 19, 2004 game with the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the image and play of the Pacers has consistently gone downhill.
Coming into the contest the Pacers were leading their conference in wins. The ugly events that happened in the final seconds of that game had such an effect on the whole Pacers organization that they are still trying to recuperate from the consequences of events commonly referred to as "the Malice in the Palace."
But this piece is not about the events of the brawl - it is about the effects it had on the Pacers organization in the three years since the damaging incident.
After the suspensions and loss of team-captain Reggie Miller to retirement, came the numerous off-court problems. Pacer players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels, Jimmie Hunter, Shawne Williams, and David Harrison were all involved in separate public relations nightmares.
These character issues proved to harm the fan-base more than anything else.
With the start of the 2007-08 NBA season, the Pacers changed their advertising focus from players to Coach Jim O'Brien and Team President Larry Bird, two people who the organization felt would not get into legal troubles and alienate the fans.
Still, this tactic was not enough to bring back the fans. According to The Sports Network, the 2006-07 average attendance was 15,359 people - the lowest since the 1993-94 season. This year does not seem any more promising - the average attendance for this season is 12,068 people per game, and it has nothing to do with Indiana being a "small market" city. The Colts sell out games with more than 50,000 fans.
In fact, the Colts have seemingly performed the impossible: With the 1998 first-round selection of Peyton Manning - and a little more luck - they have transformed this basketball hot-bed that is Indiana into a "football state."
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