Industry News

NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers break season ticket record

NBA basketball franchise the Philadelphia 76ers has already broken its season ticket record with 14,000 passes sold four months ahead of the 2017-18 season.

According to ESPN, ticket sales saw a dramatic increase following the team’s announcement on Saturday that it had traded with the Boston Celtics to gain the No.1 pick in last night’s draft. The team has now signed up Markelle Fultz from Washington University.

With ticket sales continuing to creep higher, the Sixers are fully expecting to sell out every single home game during the 2017-18 season, which begins in October.

“Fortunately, we’re able to break the Sixers’ all-time record for season-ticket memberships,” Sixers chief sales and marketing officer Christopher Heck told CSNPhilly.com.

“That is a testament to the strong fandom that we believe not only is this a true sports town, but it’s a basketball town.”

StubHub is the 76ers’ official ticket partner, and the operator’s logo will appear on the team’s jerseys next season in a first for major sports in the US.

The Sixers have been slowly increasing sales, with 3,400 sold during the summer of 2013, almost 10,000 last season and now the record-breaking 14,000 mark.

“To see what’s going on right now is something we’ve experienced over the last, really, four years that started with the most loyal fans, with season-ticket holders,” Heck said.

StubHub last year launched its new dedicated site for the 76ers as it moved into the primary ticketing market for the first time. To mark the launch, The Ticketing Business spoke exclusively to both StubHub and the 76ers to understand what the new platform means for sports fans and the ticketing sector.

Image: Kevin Burkett