The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers have been duking it out for ticket sale numbers as well as Pacific Division standings. Now, it appears that the Clippers are catching up when it comes to selling tickets.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers’ streak of selling out home games, which has been in the running since Dec. 6, 2006, ended Tuesday night. The team’s crowd was 571 people short of capacity. Since the Dec. 6 game seven years ago, the Lakers had sold out 320 straight games.
The Clippers, on the other hand, continue to work on their streak for sell-out home games – they are at 97 consecutive home games since Feb. 2, 2011.
Forbes reports that these streaks may have something to do with ticket prices. Lakers tickets are the third-most expensive tickets in the league this year, behind the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. On average, Lakers tickets are $70 more than Clippers tickets.
While Clippers sales are increasing, Lakers sales are decreasing – the price for tickets has also decreased from last year for the Lakers, and is down 27%. This could mean the Clippers are taking over Staples Center, a venue that used to be first and foremost home of the Lakers.
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