Imagine going to NBA games for $1 a game. No way, right? Way. Michael Rand's Randball picked off this great nugget.
Apparently, the Kevin Garnett-less Minnesota Timberwolves are so desperate from their horrific season--in which they drew the second worst attendance in franchise history (14,402 fans per game)--that they are doing a "Pay the Pick" deal.
Here's how it works. You put down a $43 non-refundable deposit. If the Wolves get the first pick in the draft, you're all set. Pay no more. You pay $43 for the entire season.
If the team gets the second pick, you pay $2 per game, third pick ($3), fourth pick ($4) and fifth pick ($5). So essentially, the worst you can do is 43 games for $215. For what it's worth, the lowest ticket package we could find for the Minnesota Lynx was $340.
Here's the best of Rand:
"Now, we’re assuming these seats went largely unoccupied this season and that something is better than nothing (especially when concessions and merchandise are factored in), but it’s just hard to fathom a team selling its product for so little. Seriously, and not to get all Superbad on this thing, but, no offense, this isn’t some [redacted] fly by night league. Sorry for cursing. This is the National Basketball Association. This isn’t home ec."
For those who are interested in how it apparently works, I just went to the Ticketmaster site. If you go to "Pay the Pick," it apparently charges your credit card $215 (as if the Timberwolves got the fifth pick). I assume then it will deduct the amount if they do better than the fifth pick. If people really want to see the Timberwolves up close, the $9,460 seats are still available!
UPDATE: The Timberwolves have confirmed that this promotion is definitely very real and that the promotion is limited to the first 500 to place the $43 deposit. There is a limit of 10 tickets per person.
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