Trail Blazers Need To Put an Arm Around Season-Ticket Holders

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JUDAH NEWBY | 750 The Game

The Blazers are tanking. Again.

They’ll end up with around the fifth or sixth-worst record in the league, and the ping pong balls to show for it. But is the hope of another NBA Draft lottery pick enough to appease season-ticket holders? Enough to earn renewals for next year?

“I was left thinking about this as I heard from several Blazers fans who are upset at the organization obviously tanking,” John Canzano said Tuesday on 750 The Game. “I’m left thinking about the season-ticket holders who paid full price for tickets.”

Canzano notes the organization plans to raise season-ticket prices for next season, especially courtside seats, and those cost increases will outpace inflation rates.

“It’s business, I get it,” Canzano said. “But if I were over there, though, I think good business would be turning to your most loyal customers right now, amid a season of disappointment, amid increases in ticket prices for next season, amid uncertainty with (Damian) Lillard and uncertainty with the draft lottery. I’d be turning to my ticket holders, my most loyal customers right now, and I’d be saying, ‘Hey, thanks for staying with me. Here’s what we’re going to do. Because we realize the end of this season, and this season in general, didn’t go where we wanted it to go.'”

Would the franchise actually give ticket discounts to their most loyal fans? Unlikely. But Canzano says he is interested to see how many renewals and new season-ticket holders sign up for next season amid the uncertainty.

“The market won’t lie. Let’s see how many tickets end up out there.”

Catch the segment from Tuesday’s open to the show below, and listen to John Canzano deliver the Bald Faced Truth weekdays 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game.