24 Days Till Sixers: Where the Wild Fans Are

It's hard to argue against the notion that the Sixers organization have been alienating a portion of Sixers fans. If the leagues 2nd worst record wasn't enough last year, the historic losing streak was the proverbial 'straw that broke the camels back' in terms of embarrassment. Whether by pundits or just your average fan, the Sixers' strategy became synonymous with institutional "tanking".

During the Sloan Sports Analytic Conference in February, former Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy threw out an opinion that is probably shared by most critics.

"Not what Philadelphia is doing right now, which is embarrassing," said Van Gundy. "I don't care, Adam Silver can say there's no tanking or what's going on... If you're putting that roster on the floor, you're doing everything you can possibly do to try to lose"

Hard to disagree. Even with the context, and accepting that Coach Brett Brown and the team were actually trying to win, a roster filled with 10-day contracts, cast-aways, and lack of NBA experience or talent was not designed to "win". And when you're not winning, the fan experience will suffer.

Can you blame people for being angry at the poor product? No. Can you blame people for not supporting or going to games? Of course not.

However, how much of this outrage is due to public perception, as opposed to the actual product? In other words, did people care enough to come to games when they were competitive? Philadelphia has been historically apathetic to their pro-basketball team compared to it's sister sports teams and even the college basketball scene.

In 2012, Mark Perner of the Daily News described one particular low light in Sixers fandom. To summarize, on April 19, 1981, the Sixers played a Game 7 in the Eastern Semi-Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks that went down to the wire. Despite featuring a roster with the likes of Julius Erving and the potential to move on to the Conference finals against the Celtics, the draw to the game was on 6,704(!!!).

While they eventually won, coach Billy Cunningham didn't let up in his assessment. "It's a shame that people don't support us in Philadelphia. I'd just like to thank the people who did come out today."

Obviously, an event like that, 30 years ago, shouldn't generalize a whole Sixers fan base, especially the current one. However, there's been a popular refrain to recall the brighter and rich Sixers history by those who were lucky to be alive during their heyday. In that instance, what's the excuse for not supporting the team at that juncture?

In recent years, the Sixers have been through a predictable up and down in their attendance relative to their record/success. Below, I put together a simple table outlining their attendance starting from their championship-run year to now.

*Lockout shortened year (33 Games)

**Allen Iverson traded on December 19, 2006

It's easy to see the trends based on that sample size. The early 2000s featured not only competitive, successful basketball but they also had a bona-fide super star in Allen Iverson. His departure predictably resulted in a lot of fans deciding to stay home. However, even before then, attendance numbers began to drop as they began missing the playoffs.

After middling in the the bottom half for years, the Doug Collins era and their modest success brought fans back in before dropping back down to the bottom once more last year. What does this all mean?

The popular notion has been that the Sixers strategy last year is what has been alienating fans. The big decrease in fan attendance has been one flawed way to quantify fan dissatisfaction. Success is a relative term that depends on the person. If competitive play and playoff appearance are a barometer of success then the Sixers shouldn't be in the bottom half of attendance during some of their playoff appearance years.

If star power is what generates the most increase in fan attendance, then the Sixers bottoming out to draft at a higher spot to find that star should generate less outrage among Sixers fans.

However, one conclusion (right or wrong) can be that many Sixers fans don't care either way. Those that enjoy basketball or the Sixers will come, regardless. If they are winning or a star appears then some more will come. But ultimately, national perception, whether it be good or bad, is what drives the vocal opinion/outrage more among Philadelphia sports fans (not the actual product). That pride is the same one that either revels in or refutes the perception of Philadelphia fans around the country.

Whether the trend continues this year in dipping attendance remains to be seen. However, if the Sixers manage to replicate last season's results, the national media and regional responses won't be pulling any punches. 24 more days to go!