Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
If there was ever a case that would debunk the age-old truth that winning is the only thing that sells tickets, Allen Iverson returning to Philadelphia would be it.
But after two games, it appears we might need to score another one for the “winning sells” theory. As The Sporting Blog writes, the bump in attendance really hasn’t happened.
The Sixers lost Wednesday night to another one of Iverson’s former teams, the Detroit Pistons, in front of … wait for it … 12,136 fans. And that was the announced attendance, so who knows how many fans were actually in the building. There were fewer fans in the Wachovia Center for Iverson’s second game than the team is averaging at home this season. Now, fuzzy math there, as Iverson’s return skewed the numbers so much that the Sixers home-attendance average raised nearly 1,000 fans after one sellout. So, in game two of Iverson’s return the Sixers actually did fill more seats than they were averaging before he came back to town – 171 more seats. Not exactly the bump the Sixers were hoping for.
When will sports teams learn that sports fans don’t care for sentimentality? When we want sentimentality, we watch Hoosiers and bask in the glory of cheezy music and Gene Hackman. In real life, we want our sports teams to win, because our lives aren’t exciting and winning is exciting.
(But do feel free to give us free food if our team scores over 100 points. We like free food).
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