The Hawks know just when you walk through the door at Philips Arena.
A scan of a ticket can tell a lot.
The Hawks have chosen to start weekday home games at 8 p.m. this season, a half hour later than last year. It was a decision that was made with information collected over the course of a season.
“We try to make every decision data based,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said Wednesday after the release of the 2015-16 NBA schedule. “When the season ended we looked at all (our information). We had an 8 o’clock start against Boston in the regular season. We had multiple 8 p.m. and later starts against playoff opponents. Every time you come into the building, we scan your ticket. We know when every ticket got in and we can look for patterns and trends. When our games stated at 7:30 p.m. we would be a little more than half full. When our games started at 8 p.m., we’d be almost 80 percent full. … All of the data said an 8 o’clock start would help reduce traffic issues and more fans would be in the game for more of the game.”
But weren’t the playoffs different? Didn’t a typically late arriving Atlanta crowd make sure they were at Philips Arena on time?
“Nothing absolute in life,” Koonin said. “We looked at the 8 o’clock start for national games that we had last year. The same phenomenon occurred. More people were in the building the later that we started. Atlanta is a city that has a lot of construction and a lot of significant traffic issues and we think this is very fan first. We tested it. We talked to fans. We researched fans. We got overwhelming support for an 8 o’clock tip. … From the fans standpoint, it’s a great thing.”
There was one concern raised by the basketball operations staff of head coach Mike Budenholzer and general manager Wes Wilcox. They questioned the later start when the Hawks had back-to-back games with the second being on the road. The Hawks will arrive later, which can often be in the early morning hours. The Hawks have 19 back-to-back games this season but only three are home-road.
“We are partners with Bud and Wes,” Koonin said. “We don’t do anything without consulting them. We had a lot of conversations but at the end of the day, they felt like it was a good thing.”
In other news:
• Koonin admitted it was “disappointing” that LeBron James and the Cavaliers will make only one trip to Philips Arena this season. He noted that it will be several years before that schedule quirk will happen again.
• The team placed tickets on sale for the first two home games, Oct. 27 vs. the Pistons and Oct. 30 vs. the Hornets, on sale Wednesday on its website immediately after the schedule was released.
• Koonin said the team is planning some “fun” events for the opening week of games and will make “major” announcements soon.
• Koonin said their have been better season ticket sales than any other year in the history of the franchise after coming off their 60-win season. He said the Hawks lead the NBA in new season ticket holders, a figure he estimated to be nearly 4,000.
• A new court will be unveiled with red and blue no longer being a part of the team’s color scheme.
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