Sixers court hesitant fans with car giveaway

Philadelphia sports fans love their Phillies, their Eagles, even their currently idle Flyers.  But even with a decent record and new ownership, the city’s other sports team is struggling to get fans into the seats.

While the Sixers have their fans, lots of people are less than enthused about shelling out money for tickets this year.

Enrico Campitelli runs the Philadelphia sports site the700level.com.

“Fans — to go out and spend money every night — they want to go out and know that they’re going to get a quality product. And this Sixers team this season thus far, while they’ve shown a lot of growth in some areas, they’ve also been very very inconsistent,” Campitelli said.

“I think people had real high expectations for this team when they traded for Andrew Bynum,” he said. “If they have him playing, well, could fill the building every night? I don’t know.”

While improved play on the court could draw more fans, promotions including the chance to win a brand-new car couldn’t hurt. 

“One lucky fan that registers at the Kia stand on the concourse of the Wells Fargo Center is going to get picked randomly on 10 specific nights for the opportunity to shoot from half court to win a new Kia vehicle,” says Tom Ward, senior vice president of corporate partnerships and broadcasting with the Sixers. “So it’s exciting for the fans.”

That’s right, to be eligible, fans have to attend the game.

Ward admits there are some attendance challenges to overcome.

“November and December are usually the toughest times of year for any NBA team,” he says. “Once we turn the calendar into the next year, we usually see a nice spike in our attendance — which we are projecting and I think we’re going to see that in 2013 and make that stretch drive for the playoffs.”

Ward says “stay tuned” – there are big things to come from the Sixers.  Asked if one of those could be a new team mascot, he offered a “no comment.”