Pacers Hope Winning Streak Will Boost Fan Attendance

Marketing Officials Launch New Ad Campaign

pacers-fans-30851496.jpg

Posted: 04/06/2012
Last Updated: 414 days ago

The Indiana Pacers are likely headed to the playoffs for the second year in a row, after a 103-98 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Pacers are third in the Eastern Conference with the sixth-best record in the NBA, and they’ve generated a lot of excitement with a recent four-game winning streak.

Fan Eric Harrison attended the game and said he could definitely feel the excitement, RTV6's Tanya Spencer reported.

"I definitely can tell a difference in the excitement,” Harrison said. “I see a lot more Pacers T-shirts and jerseys, and everybody's more excited during the game than they used to be.”

Despite the excitement, Pacers’ attendance is second to last in the NBA, ranked 29th out of 30 teams.

According to NBA statistics, the Pacers have been drawing an average of 13,932 fans per home game this season.

To help change that, Pacers marketing officials have launched a new ad campaign for the last month of the regular season.

"We have billboards that people are probably seeing up. It's player identification with a word that describes them. Things that we hear are that people don't know who our players are or know anything about them, so we're trying to educate the market,” said Todd Taylor, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

There's also a new television commercial featuring Larry Bird.

"We still have something to prove, and I kind of like it that way. See for yourself. Come out and watch these guys play,” Bird says in the commercial.

In addition to the ad campaigns, new dynamic pricing recently began for every remaining home game.

Seats in the center level of Banker's Life Fieldhouse will be priced as low as $39 for some weekday games.

Pacers' sales and marketing experts said the plan is already working.

"General attendance has increased and we've sold about 500 tickets more per game this year than last year,” Taylor said.

The Pacers are hoping to build on that momentum.

"We're hopefully on the front edge of something that's going to be great for many, many years, and this is just the beginning,” Taylor added.

"It's definitely getting busier since last year,” said longtime fan Joe Wager. "There are a lot more fans and the fans are a lot more dressed up."

"The crowds are definitely getting bigger,” Harrison said. "No doubt about it."

The Pacers have a great opportunity to draw fans to the Fieldhouse in April because the team plays nine of their last 12 games at home.

Copyright Copyright 2012 by TheIndyChannel.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Indianapolis , IN  
63° Cloudy

Stay Connected

Send us a News Tip Send us a News Tip
Mobile & iPhone/Android Apps Mobile & iPhone/Android Apps
Twitter Twitter
Facebook Facebook
ConnecTV ConnecTV
YouTube YouTube
Community Calendar Community Calendar
Call 6 Call 6