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Tuesday, November 7, 2000
UC was sold out for 610 straight
Associated Press
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CHICAGO (AP) -- It lasted through six championships, three
presidents, two arenas and even Dennis Rodman.
|  | | Empty seats in the United Center meant the Bulls' sellout streak ended at 610 games. |
But the Chicago Bulls' sellout streak couldn't outlast the
team's growing pains.
The NBA's longest active sellout streak ended at 610 games
Tuesday night when tickets went unsold for the Bulls' 88-83 loss to
the Washington Wizards. It was the first time since Nov. 20, 1987,
that Chicago didn't have a sellout.
"The fans have been remarkable," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said.
"I know that there's going to be nights when maybe they're not
here. They've watched a lot of great basketball. We're not a great
basketball team right now.
"We're trying to grow and get better. I think they've been
absolutely remarkable in terms of their patience and their
persistence as we continue to try and fight through this."
The Bulls' streak was the third-longest in NBA history. Only the
Portland Trail Blazers (814) and Boston Celtics (662) had longer
runs.
During the almost 13-year span, the Bulls hosted 12.4 million
fans.
"We anticipated a sellout tonight, but I'm afraid the election
and other factors worked against us," said Steve Schanwald, the
Bulls executive vice president of business operations.
"It's been a great 13-year run, and we can't say enough about
the great and loyal support we have received and continue to
receive from our fans."
A crowd of 21,312 was announced, 399 short of a sellout.
Washington -- then called the Bullets -- was the visiting team for
the last non-sellout, too. That was on Nov. 17, 1987.
Chicago Stadium and its successor, the United Center, were
packed during the Michael Jordan years, and Bulls tickets were the
city's hottest commodity. It could take more than a decade to get
season tickets, and the waiting list had thousands and thousands of
people.
Even after Jordan retired in 1998 and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf
and general manager Jerry Krause split up the championship team,
the Bulls continued to sell out.
At least officially.
"It's phenomenal, especially with what we've been through the
past few years, for these people to still come out and support the
team like they have," Bulls guard Fred Hoiberg said.
The United Center has 216 suites, each of which has room for 12
to 14 people. Add those numbers to the 16,000 season-ticket
holders, and the Bulls only needed to sell about 2,000 tickets for
each game to make it a sellout.
The Bulls average ticket price is $52.84, 12th-highest in the
NBA. But the team also has 5,500 tickets that cost $28 or less,
including 500 for $10.
Despite the official sellouts, there have been plenty of empty
seats the last two seasons, including large gaps in the lower level
for the most expensive and most coveted seats.
"I understand," Elton Brand said. "We've had a bad year two
years in a row and we're 0-4. I guess some of the fans thought,
`They're not playing well right now.' Hopefully we'll play well and
the fans will come back."
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