Hot on the court, Hawks lukewarm at the gate

They have a seven-game winning streak to their credit, a blossoming homegrown star and are turning heads nationally.

In the all-important category of tickets sold, however, the Hawks are not making the progress they would like.

Through their first seven games, the Hawks are drawing an average of 17,119, a figure that counts tickets sold and complimentary tickets given away. While attendance is up five percent compared to the team's first seven home games of last season, the team still ranks in the bottom half of the NBA.

The Hawks will have a barometer on fan interest Thanksgiving evening, when Southeast Division-rival Orlando visits Philips Arena. A big turnout is expected, though tickets were still available Wednesday.

"We're happy that we're up, particularly in today's economic climate," said Tracy White, the team's senior vice president for sales and marketing. "But, honestly, the way the team has performed, as good as the product is as we have on the court and as exciting the brand of basketball is that our guys play, I would like to see us be substantially up more than we are now."

A number of factors likely are holding down attendance, the economy chief among them. The Braves, for instance, went from 72 wins in 2008 to 86 in 2009, and saw their attendance dip about 6 percent. The Thrashers also are slightly down despite a promising start.

"To be honest, yeah, I was expecting a bigger turnout, but I understand with the way the economy is and everything," said center Al Horford. "I don't really know what's going on, but I just hope that our fans start coming out more and really supporting us more."

The team offers a variety of value packages, such as $15 for upper-deck tickets on Wednesdays and a number of Friday and Saturday night games where four tickets and four Chick-fil-A meals start at $89.

Still, tickets aren't cheap. According to Team Marketing Report, a Chicago-based sports-marketing publication, the Hawks' average price for a general-seating ticket is $51.78, up 1.3 percent from last season. It ranks 12th in the league, just above the NBA average of $48.90, which was down 2.8 percent from last season. The Hawks, in fact, were just one of three teams in the league that increased their average ticket price. Their cheapest ticket is $10.

Attendance also typically picks up after the end of the college football season. Last season, Hawks' attendance after Jan. 1 was 4.8 higher than it was in November and December. According to Razorgator.com, a California-based ticket brokerage with offices in Atlanta, its average ticket prices for Hawks tickets goes up 15 to 25 percent after the first of the year, a sign of an increased demand.

As White pointed out, there has been an uptick. Season-ticket sales are up 35 percent from last season. The Hawks’ attendance increase comes at a time when attendance league-wide is down about 1 percent. Razorgator executive vice president Sam Soni said that he has seen a reflective trend with both the Hawks and the NBA in ticket prices.

It's just not the bump that the team would like. In fact, single-game ticket sales -- typically a barometer of fan emotion -- are actually down.

When Horford visited TNT's NBA studio last week, Charles Barkley told him it was a "travesty" that fans are not supporting the team more.

A year after reaching the second round of the playoffs, the Hawks have started 11-3, which at the start of Wednesday was tied for the best in the NBA. Forward Josh Smith, who attended McEachern High in Cobb County, is beginning to harness his considerable athletic ability to make a bid for his first All-Star Game.

ESPN.com and NBA.com have had the Hawks first in their power rankings. Earlier this week, ESPN picked up the Hawks' Dec. 9 game against Chicago to broadcast nationally.

"I'm asking people every time I hit the TV stations or the radio air to come out and support us," coach Mike Woodson said while acknowledging many fans' hardships. "Because I think our team is playing wonderful, and it is a nice product to watch us play, and they'll have a great time."

The sentiment about metro Atlanta's transient fan base taking time to warm to a team seems to have application. Braves executive vice president of sales and marketing Derek Schiller said that pro sports teams in some cities "are filling their stadiums and arenas a lot easier, at times" than those in Atlanta because of fan bases that have grown up rooting for teams in those cities. (Many of those teams, it bears mention, also have a greater record of success than Atlanta's franchises.)