Enough with the talk about how the NBA has become a star-driven league. Let's just call it what it really is: home of the biggest bandwagon fans in all of sports.
For the love of LeBron, the Cleveland Cavaliers, sitting fifth in their conference with a mediocre record just above .500, are leading the league in the highest road game average attendance this season. The Miami Heat led this category the past four seasons during King James’ reign there.
At its worst during the LeBron-less years, the Cavs’ home,
Kudos to James for having such an impact. It is easy to see why he is the NBA's Highest Paid Player. There is no begrudging him or denying his talent as the best in the league.
Shame on you though if you’re from Cleveland and you turned your back on the Cavs between tip-off of the 2010-11 NBA season and decision day July 2014 when James inked his contract to return home (for two years anyway…until the NBA's new $2.5 billion a year TV deal kicks in, sending the salary cap soaring and giving the L-train options to leave the station).
And shame on you if you only showed up to see your hometown team when LeBron was in town. Or Kobe. Or Kevin Durrant. Or Chris Paul.
Of course not every one of you is a bandwagon fan. Casual fans who say they appreciate good ball and just want to go out and see the league’s best play, or who collect MVP-winner jerseys and just root for a good game because they lack any allegiance to a city (and probably have a bunch of 5th place intramural trophies on display at home), make up a decent chunk of you.
The problem is, how do you distinguish between the two? It’s akin to deciphering between the taste of a tomato and a tahmato.
Care to argue if you are one of these people? Allow me to introduce you to your antithesis, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a Philadelphia 76ers season ticket holder for the past 5 years.
Lamont Hill, a 36-year old Philadelphia-born and raised author, journalist and Morehouse College professor with a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania, paid $75,000 ahead of this season for his two floor seats next to the Sixers’ south basket. Without protest, he actually ponied up 8% more than what he paid last season, notable most for the team tying the NBA’s 26-game losing streak held also by none other than the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers.
For some perspective, the year after the Cavs’ skid, Cleveland natives bolted. The team went from 12th in attendance and 97.8% full at home, to 27th in attendance and 77.5% full. That’s mind-boggling to Dr. Hill who never considered dropping his season tickets.
“This is just the ugly part. It’s like any relationship. It needs work. But I keep coming home every day,” as he described why he is sticking by the tanking Sixers. “I’m all in with the team’s slogan ‘Together We Build’.
“This is a lifelong and long-term investment. It’s like it used to be buying in Brooklyn. Some time this is going to be good. I am willing to pay now in order to be there.”
Then there is Rachel McRae, a 26-year old make-up artist and doctoral student studying business administration who also happens to be a Sixers season ticket holder. She paid a $15 per ticket increase to renew her 2 seats in the Risers this, her second season. For comparison, there are plenty of seats available to Sixers home games on Stub Hub for under $10.
“I was born into a family of Sixers fans during the Allen Iverson era” the South Jersey native said. “That love of the game and the team stays with you.”
What do you have to say for yourself now, Front-Runner?
Don't worry. You are still a fan, and you are good for something -- business. Just ask these billionaire NBA team owners.
In fact, because it is hard to find many more gluttons for punishment like Dr. Hill and McRae, and because we are team-oriented (something you should try), you may still rank among our list of The NBA's Best Fans.
As we did for the best NFL fans and best NHL fans, we used five measurable fan engagement criteria to find the NBA's best: hometown crowd reach (defined by market researchers Nielsen Scarborough as a percentage of the local population that watched, attended, and/or listened to a game in the last year), 3 years worth of television ratings, 3 years of arena attendance based on capacity reached, 3 years worth of merchandise sales, and social media reach (a combination of Facebook likes and Twitter followers).
We made no differentiation among teams who reported attendance figures beyond capacity — every team over it was given the same consideration as if they reported 100%. To account for trends in behavior (i.e. reward the most loyal), changes in them and television ratings were also considered. Social media reach was calculated as a percentage of the local population. (To account for the dual team markets, we divided New York and Los Angeles’ population by two.) Within each metric, all 30 teams were scored and the sum or their scores determined their final ranking.
The Miami Heat fans took the top spot to little surprise, although with a tad bit of initial disgust. But then we looked at the team's numbers pre-LeBron and realized there was no need to jump on the Heat-hater bandwagon. Fact is the team has ranked in the top 5 in the league in attendance and/or filled their arena to capacity since the 2004-05 season. Thanks to Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade and LeBron's 4-year train stop, the team has had a player among those with the best selling jersey and/or the team's merchandise has ranked among the league's best-selling since 2004. The team ranks 3rd in the league in terms of its social media sheer volume of fans and its following as a percent of its population, a number that shows its reach extends beyond Miami-Dade County. To boot, LeBron's exit didn't lead to a mass exodus of fans. The Heat are still playing to a full capacity crowd and its merchandise remains among the top-selling in the league. There is enough momentum that the team signed an extension with Fox's Sun Sports this past November that pays triple the current rights fee and keeps them on the network through the 2024/25 season.
1. Miami Heat
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. San Antonio Spurs
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Los Angeles Lakers
6. Boston Celtics
7. (tie) Dallas Mavericks
7. (tie) Indiana Pacers
9. Portland Trail Blazers
10. Los Angeles Clippers
Special Report: The Business Of The NBA
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