Don’t Bring Attendance Back Up, Bulls Fans
Twice over the past week, paid attendance at the United Center set lows for the season at 15,017 and 14,775, respectively. The Bulls hadn’t seen that small a crowd at the United Center since 2004, and accounts reported the seating bowl as being half full in reality. The team is on pace to reach attendance lows not seen since its final season in the smaller Chicago Stadium.
Ahead of Wednesday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks, attendance was expected be an issue again. After all, the Bulls have been one of the NBA’s biggest disappointments in a season they were expected to return to the playoffs. And despite having an attractive star in Trae Young and a retiring legend in Vince Carter, the Hawks are equally terrible and as such, can’t even draw in their own building. Sure enough, photos taken from the stands early in the game confirmed suspicions.
The energy for Bulls games typically isn’t that much unless it’s the playoffs or a regular-season game that could make a big statement. To be fair, corporate types are ones buying the best seats. But big crowds often make up for it with giddiness and excitement. Now, the lack of bodies in the seats means even less energy.
Attendance has dropped steadily since the Bulls’ rebuild began, but the issue hasn’t been noticeable enough to merit discussion until now. Through Wednesday, the Bulls are averaging 18,485 fans a game, placing them 12th in the NBA. That’s a far cry for a franchise used to finishing first or second in that category. At around 88 percent capacity, they rank in the bottom third in the league.
If Bulls fans know what’s good for themselves and the future of the franchise, they’ll stay away from the United Center and keep those attendance numbers falling. Despite Wednesday’s season-high scoring effort in a 136–102 win that featured lights-out shooting from Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, it was but an anomaly during what’s been a disappointing season. The Hawks are one of the few teams these Bulls can successfully handle, and they’ve otherwise shown little proof that they’re better than their 9–17 record. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but here we are, and they deserve to play in front of empty seats on the West Side.
The long-held belief is once Bulls fans stop supporting the product, Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf will have no choice but to make drastic, sweeping changes to their organization, including and especially the dismissals of Gar Forman, John Paxson and Jim Boylen. None of the above are popular in Chicago right now, and it’s because they’re been resistant to change and adopting basketball strategies that have led to championships in the modern NBA. It doesn’t matter to them because as long as that bottom line isn’t affected, they can continue singing Kumbaya and doing trust falls together because they all love each other so much. But they may not be able to keep doing this much longer.
You can only fool a fan base for so long before it realizes it’s being duped. Nothing is going to get better under the status quo, which will continue because the paying customers keeping ponying up. Why it’s taken Bulls fans this long to realize this is anyone’s guess, but better late than never. Bulls Nation finally is becoming woke, and by not buying tickets or merchandise, it’s speaking louder than any “Fire GarPax” billboard ever could.
It’s sad that I’m advocating no-shows to Bulls games on the anniversary of my first time seeing them in person, but like the rest of Bulls Nation, I’ve been living off the glories of the past for too long. The 90s are only three weeks away from being one decade further in time, and the more time goes on, the less anyone not in Chicago or a Michael Jordan fan cares that they happened. The Bulls need to be taken seriously again, which can only take place after an organization overhaul, which only will occur when fans have burned a whole deep enough in the organization’s wallet.
