The Kings have shown improved play. How much will it cost you to see it in person?
The Kings are playing their best basketball in more than a decade. However, attendance numbers suggest their fans aren’t seeing it live.
Heading into Monday night’s game against the Orlando Magic, only 12 of the Kings’ 20 home games have been announced as sellouts, including the most recent four.
A spike in admission prices for their latest game didn’t seem to be a concern to fans.
According to websites that specialize in ticket sales, Saturday night’s game against Golden State – an entertaining 127-123 loss to the Warriors that saw the teams combine to make an NBA-record 41 3-pointers – cost fans a bit more than most contests. The cheapest price through Tick Pick was at $102 on Friday morning. The Kings’ next two home games – against Orlando on Monday and the Detroit Pistons on Thursday – have a get-in price of $17 for each game as of Sunday night. The site’s price has no additional fees.
On StubHub, tickets on Friday started from $90 for Golden State. The site’s lowest price Sunday night was $12 for Orlando and $15 for Detroit. Another site, Vivid Seats, breaks down tickets by section and row. For Section 222, which is in one of the top corners of the arena, tickets in Row Q were $89 for the Warriors on Friday. On Sunday night, that same area was $29 for the Magic and Pistons games.
One reason for Saturday’s sellout was opposing fans. In two home games against the Los Angeles Lakers and two against the Warriors, a loud rooting base was evident in the low 100 sections of Golden 1 Center, erupting in cheers during big plays by the road team.
One visiting player took notice.
“It’s great to have fans that are loyal,” Lakers forward LeBron James said after his team’s 101-86 victory Nov. 10. “Laker nation definitely came out tonight.”
An increase in ticket prices for games against two of the Kings’ California rivals isn’t uncommon in Sacramento. In one example earlier this season, the average price for the Nov. 10 Lakers game was $549 on TickPick, with the cheapest ticket on the day of the game available for $129. When the Kings hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves the previous day, the lowest price that afternoon ranged between $35 and $46.
Saturday’s capacity crowd made four consecutive sellouts, the longest streak at Golden 1 Center this season. According to NBA attendance numbers posted by ESPN, that’s quite a change from 2017-18, despite the Kings finishing tied for the sixth-worst record in the league at 27-55 and missing the playoffs for a 12th consecutive year, the longest active streak in the NBA.
The average crowd in Sacramento last season was at 100.3 percent of capacity, second behind the Dallas Mavericks, another team in the most recent draft lottery. This season, despite packages such as the “Kings Pass” (up to seven games a month for $49), the Kings are 15th in average at 16,793 fans per contest, 96 percent of the maximum crowd. Attendance in the 12 sellouts was listed at 17,583.
The Kings aren’t proving to be a big draw on the road. According to the ESPN report, Sacramento ranks third to last in attendance percentage at 89.8, just ahead of the Charlotte Hornets (89.6 percent) and Cleveland Cavaliers (89.2). Last season, the Cavs were second at 99.5 percent, but the loss of James is likely the key reason for the steep decline – that and their NBA-worst 8-32 record.
The Kings are well ahead of expectations this season. They entered the new year with a winning record for the first time since the 2004-05 season. They’re currently on a season-high four-game slide, but at 19-20 they have a win total some national analysts thought the team would struggle to reach for the season. That tune seems to have changed as the season has progressed.
“Definitely, I think a lot of people are starting to take notice,” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said after a Dec. 23 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. “National media are going to cover who they cover. If we keep winning games, that’s all that matters.”
With 21 home games left and a current string of sellouts, maybe the fans are starting to take notice, too.
This story was originally published January 6, 2019 at 6:02 PM.