Despite defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first game back after the All Star break (that’s seven of their last ten if you’re counting at home), the Wiz seem to be making a lot of noise off the court as well.
Today is the NBA’s trading deadline, and even though the names Jared Jeffries and Etan Thomas have come up in a few rumors (one had Thomas going to Chicago for Mike Sweetney), the Wiz appear unlikely to do anything. Winning will do that. Thomas is also in the news because of his clash with Brendan Haywood at yesterday’s practice.
But the big, if unsurprising, news is the recent increase in ticket prices for next year. I’ve been hearing rumors about this on various messageboards for the last few weeks, but today the Post outlines the increases. Basically, nearly 1,000 choice lower level seats in MCI Center will see a 59 percent price increase. Seats costing $110 and $114 per seat this year will cost you a whopping $175 next year. But just to prove to everyone what nice guys they really are, the Wiz will lower prices for over 4,000 seats in the corners of the lower level and behind the baskets by $4 to $6. Thanks guys! VIP seat prices will also be going up, but anyone paying $750 a seat can probably absord the new $50 increase.
“We have evaluated our ticket prices and the ticket prices throughout the NBA and determined that the ticket prices in the center three sections, as well as our VIP ticket prices, need to increase to allow us to remain competitive in the league,” Matt Williams, a spokesman for Washington Sports & Entertainment, told the Post. “At the same time, we have made a conscious effort to keep the majority of our lower level tickets at an affordable rate, including seats at $48 per game.” We sat in one of those “affordable” $48 seats earlier in the season. It was in the upper level; the last row in the entire arena. Some bargain. Williams went on to tell the Post that 23 teams are charging more for their premier seats than the Wizards are. I always love that kind of “everyone else is doing it so why can’t we” logic that permeates the NBA. This is the same logic that has made rich men out of luminaries like Brian Cardinal, Adonal Foyle, Raef LaFrentz and the entire Knicks roster.
If anything, this tells us two things: 1) making the playoffs is expensive (for the fans), and 2) this is all Michael Jordan’s fault.
