Quote:
Paltry Palace crowd rates as a shocker
AUBURN HILLS -- So what happens if the WNBA holds the Finals and nobody shows up?
There's no other way to describe the attendance at The Palace for Wednesday's Game 1 of the Finals, a 108-101 Shock victory over the Mercury: Nobody came.
The Palace, which holds 22,076, hedged its bets for a light crowd. The black curtains were down, covering the empty upper section of the arena.
There were many signs that it was the Finals -- banners, thunderstix, cute kids with signs supporting the Shock. Even season-ticket holder Chauncey Billups came out to support the team.
But if only about 5,000 showed and there were 4,000 free tickets available, what does that say about the WNBA? It should be noted the official attendance was reported as 10,513, which points to some creative counting.
Palace president Tom Wilson said he was stumped as to why his arena was only a fourth full.
"I wish I knew what exactly kept people away," Wilson said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe it was the short turnaround between games, or maybe the start of school, or people stuck at work -- who knows? We didn't have much time to really get the word out.
"But we're very confident that Saturday will bring out the large, enthusiastic Shock crowd that The Palace is known for."
The Palace has drawn good crowds -- around 10,000 without accounting creativity -- during this playoff run. There was even a WNBA-sized sellout, (the kind with the curtains down), of 11,425 during the Eastern Conference finals.
The Shock led the WNBA in attendance this season, averaging 9,749. And a one-day turnaround isn't enough time to get the word out, or even generate much marketing buzz, for a niche product such as women's basketball.
The Shock last played on Labor Day, beating the Fever to reach their second straight Finals.
For Saturday's Game 2, which is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., there still are 3,000 of the 4,000 free tickets available.
However, Michigan is playing Oregon on ABC at 3:30 p.m. I dare say, given what transpired last Saturday with the Wolverines, that a few people might be watching that game.
Things look even more uncertain for a championship-deciding Game 5, which would be played at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16. The scheduling geniuses put it against the Lions home opener, which kicks off at 4:05 p.m. against the Vikings.
There's always going to be something going on in the sports world, making scheduling nearly impossible. But picking and choosing better times, and giving The Palace time to sell some tickets might help boost the crowd and bottom line.
Still, WNBA president Donna Orender said she's not concerned about the poor turnout for Game 1 or what could happen in Game 2.
"I don't think this is a bad turnout, I really don't," she said. "We expect Saturday to be to be a packed house. The fans in Detroit are known for really supporting the Shock. We have built up a strong brand identity with the WNBA We're family driven entertainment, we still have athletes who are accessible, which is a rarity in this day and age."
And that's the thing that should give the WNBA and the Shock pause -- this is a town, and a state, that supports women's basketball.
Capacity Shock crowds have packed The Palace and Joe Louis Arena. The Michigan State women's team has nearly filled the Breslin Center on a regular basis. Marketing isn't fighting upstream here against bias directed toward female athletes.
But somehow, there was a major disconnect for Game 1 of the WNBA championship.
Which is a shame, because the game was pretty exciting.
The WNBA has a slogan asking, "Have you seen Her?"
Perhaps it should be changed to: "Will you come out for Game 2?"