Grizz crowds decline for fourth straight year
Average attendance at Memphis Grizzlies home games is guaranteed to reach its lowest level since the 2010-11 season, the year “grit and grind” took off at Fedexforum.
Entering Saturday night’s home game against the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies are averaging an announced attendance of 15,385, which is 26th of the NBA’S 30 teams.
Even if the team sells out its last five
home games (17,794), the season will end with the Grizzlies averaging 15,679 fans. That would be the lowest mark since the Grizzlies announced an average of 14,650 at home games in 2010-11.
It will be the fourth straight season attendance has declined at Fedexforum as the Grizzlies have fallen from a perennial Western Conference contender to fringe playoff team and now a team that will finish with a losing record for a second straight season.
Still, this season’s final attendance mark will finish well above the marks the franchise posted during a threeseason span that coincided with the national economic downturn and the team's struggle to develop an identity roughly a decade ago.
The Grizzlies averaged 13,000 fans from the beginning of the 2007-08 season until the end of the 2009-10 season.
At the zenith of the “grit and grind” era, the Grizzlies averaged 17,024 fans from the beginning of the 2013-14 season until the end of the 2014-15 campaign.
Lebron James the biggest draw
With the back-to-back NBA champion Golden State Warriors making two trips to Memphis in the season's final two weeks, the Grizzlies could still add to their list of four sellouts this season.
Through the first 36 home games, Lebron James' two visits with the Lakers have accounted for half the sellouts. Here are the top-five attended Grizzlies home games so far this season: 5. 17,019 Oct. 19: Grizzlies 131, Hawks 117 (home opener) 4. 17,794 Dec. 8: Lakers 111, Grizzlies 88 3. 17,794 Dec. 29: Celtics 112, Grizzlies 103 2. 17,794 Jan. 21: Pelicans 105, Grizzlies 85 (MLK Jr. Day Celebration Game) 1. 17,794 Feb. 25: Grizzlies 110, Lakers 105
BRAD VEST/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
January weeknights slow
A pair of weeknight January games have registered as the Grizzlies' lowestattended home games of the season so far. Here are the five least-attended home games of the season to date: 5. 13,711 Feb. 27: Bulls 109, Grizzlies 107 4. 13,477 Nov. 12: Jazz 96, Grizzlies 88 3. 13,454 Feb. 5: Grizzlies 108, Timberwolves 106 2. 12,917 Jan. 28: Nuggets 95, Grizzlies 92 1. 12,863 Jan. 23: Hornets 118, Grizzlies 107
Grizzlies attendance trends
It's not the first time Grizzlies attendance has declined four straight seasons. The same trend appeared between 2004 and 2009 in the team's first five seasons at Fedexforum. The arena 2004-05 | 16,862 (19th) | 45-37 opened for the 2004-05 season with an average attendance of 16,862 for the last season in a string of three straight playoff appearances.
As the team entered a four-year playoff drought, attendance declined each year. Then, as the team improved, attendance improved for six straight years.
Reach Grizzlies beat writer David Cobb at david.cobb@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @Davidwcobb.
2006-07 | 14,654 (30th) | 22-60 2005-06 | 15,793 (26th) | 49-33 *five home games remain in the 201819 season