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If A Tree Falls At A Philadelphia 76ers Game, Does It Make A Sound?

By Mark Vandeusen

Apr 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Wizards center DeJuan Blair (45) shoots the ball as Philadelphia 76ers guard JaKarr Sampson (9) defends during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Wizards won 119-90. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Wizards center DeJuan Blair (45) shoots the ball as Philadelphia 76ers guard JaKarr Sampson (9) defends during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Wizards won 119-90. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Along those lines, if the Philadelphia 76ers play an NBA game and nobody watches, does it really happen?

According to plan, the Sixers have been a horrendous basketball team the past two seasons.  The club intentionally put a terrible product on the floor in the hopes that it will lead to greatness one day.  I don’t want to discuss the merits of tanking, however, but rather what happens to a team’s fan base in the process.

Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie writes:

"“According to a recent Inquirer report, the Sixers averaged only 23,000 viewers during their miserable 18-win season in 2014-15. Keep in mind Philadelphia is the nation’s fourth-largest market with roughly 2.96 million homes featuring TV sets. …As 76ers blog Liberty Ballers noted, the team could barely fill Wells Fargo Stadium’s 21,600-seat capacity with its TV viewership, which would explain why Philadelphia ranked dead last in NBA attendance with an average of 13,940 tickets sold per game.”"

When the television and attendance numbers are added together, roughly 37,000 people watched each 76ers’ game this past year.

For comparison, the University of Michigan Wolverines routinely sell out their 107,500 seat football stadium.  In May, Business Insider reported that the average attendance for an NFL game in 2014 was nearly 69,000.  The Los Angeles Dodgers are drawing over 46,000 people to their home contests this season — nevermind the TV audiences.

The 23,000 television viewers the Sixers got per game last year represents less than one percent (.0078) of the possible 2.96 million.

The fans will come back if the team ever starts winning again; that’s just the nature of sports. But until it does, it’s a sad state of affairs for the sport of basketball in Philadelphia.

Next: LeBron's Contract About Power, Not Money

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