SB Breakers vs. Chico Force

[TheSportsLogoPundit]

Hi all, I've been reading these boards for quite some time but never got around to signing up and commenting and posting. But on Saturday I went to the Santa Barbara Breakers vs. Chico Force game in SB and wanted to share my thoughts.

I really wanted to have good time and enjoy the game, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Between what I perceive as some shady ticketing practices and boring game play on the court, I felt a little bit ripped off and I would be willing to bet that a lot of the 500 or so people in the stands (725 announced) felt the same way. Except the kids, they had a great time.

If you would like to read more about my impressions and see some pictures of the game, please visit my blog, The Sports Logo Pundit (http://sportslogopundit.blogspot.com/2007/04/santa-barbara-breakers-vs-chico-force.html) for the full writeup.

[BreakersFan]

Hey Logo -

Thanks for the interesting write-up. As far as the tickets go, a couple of things: 1) From your picture, how can they say the cheap seats were sold out? 2) From the picture, the venue is so small that having various tickets prices is almost ridiculous. 3) The extra fee may have been a facility fee which ia part of the agreement with the college. Is it not unusual for minor league teams, especially in hockey and basketball, to have a facility fee which is not part of the ticket price.

Having said all that 400-500 is not bad for an IBL team. And if people were there having fun, that is all that counts - they will come back.

[AConcernedCitizen]

Thanks for taking the time out to see the Breakers, I am very keen to go see them and still hope to in May. I have family there and believe Santa Barabara a perfect market for minor league basketball, or any sport really.

Unfortunately, your blog seemed to focus far more on everything apart from the game than the game itself. The rules of the IBL are DESIGNED to make the game fast and scoring high, but how a high scoring game is not exciting, well, that IS a concern.

The IBL business model seems to be applied in full force with the Breakers; no website of their own, and what sounds like pay per game deals means some guys will play on one night and not the other as they aren't paid to.

Their crowds seemed to have fallen by 50% already, but I also feel that the games are packed far too closely together, leaving too little time to market each one.

The ticketing issue is fairly standard though; anyone who has been to a concert knows that 'handling fees' now cost a significant portion of the ticket price. The percentage here is also high, but not unheard of. $12.50 a ticket, to me, is perfectly fine. The cheapest seats were probably very few in number and the people who bought them quickly 'upgraded' themselves. Again, nothing new there.

Starting a pro-team isn't easy and I am watching the IBL very closely. If it doesn't work in Santa Barbara, then I would believe the league is the issue, not the concept.

[TheSportsLogoPundit]

I have been to quite a few minor league events over the years and this might be the first time that I was ever charged a facility fee that wasn't already included in the published price of the ticket. I understand the facility fee, and these are definitely a standard thing, but I think that the Breakers purposely misrepresent the cost of their tickets by not including it into the published price. It's a smart move to get people to the game, once you get there you aren't going to leave because of it, but it's still a little shady if you ask me.

I would also agree that $12.50 wouldn't be a bad price for a ticket to a Breakers game, if it was one of the more expensive seating options. However, it is the second cheapest ticket in the gymnasium and from the looks of the seating chart that I saw when I bought my ticket, their aren't very many of these seats available. The majority of the tickets appeared to be of the $20.50 variety, which I think we all can agree is a ridiculous price to pay for IBL basketball.

I think that the Breakers are shooting themselves in the foot by pricing tickets like this. Santa Barbara is rich, no doubt about it, and the Breakers think that they can take advantage. But Santa Barbara is also a place that suffers from a lack of affordable family entertainment for middle class families that, because of the high cost of living, have very little discretionary income to spend. Attract these fans with good value and I'd be willing to bet they will come back quite often while the rich in town will be hit and miss because there is so much in the city for them to do.

As far as the game play is concerned, the NBA All-Star game or the McDonald's All-American game are fast paced, high scoring affairs too but those basketball games couldn't be more boring. Imagine a game that is much like those games in pace and style but take away the high quality of the All-Stars or the promise of the All-Americans and you can understand why the game was extremely dull.

[jwalters]

The ticket has the ticketmaster logoon it. I am willing to bet it is not a facility fee but a Ticketmaster fee. If the college uses the service for its games then they also have a fee. Take a look at some venues websites around the country they will show you if they use ticketmaster or not. If they do there is a fee charged per ticket. The Great Fall Explorers have to deal with this. They do at least explain on their site that purchases at the door will be assesed a fee. So you are right that it is dishonest, but it is not a facility fee and it is not unique.

[brucker]

great writeup...completely agree w/ you that a game needs to be played with some semblance of defense in order to be entertaining.

Bailey played with the Beijing team of the ABA and avg something like 20pts....whereas he seems to be routinely putting up 30+ a game in the IBL. Leads me to believe there is zero defense being played. Who needs to watch that?

[AConcernedCitizen]

I must have misread it, but you are totally right: a game of hoops with no D is boring and must be given the axe. :eek:

[CentralOregonFan]

there is plenty of defense in the league....when Phoenix (suns) scores 100 points per game, does that mean no one plays defense?...no. The style of play and different rules adds 28% more possessions per team...do the math.

If they didn't play D, an average rec-player could go in and score 10-12 points...I promise that would never happen. Toby Bailey is scoring 28 ppg....if he averaged 20 in another league, that is only four more buckets per game and I guarantee he has the ball in his hands AT LEAST 12-14 more possessions per game.

Watching more than one game or one team will help neutralize your perspective. I've seen Central Oregon, Salem, Eugene, Portland, Vancouver, and Chico...and I can easily say that any game that Chico is involved in is going to appear very amateurish...they only brought 8 guys to Central Oregon. IBL policy is 10 player minimum.