The Washington Wizards continue to limp through the start of the 2012-13 season. Entering Wednesday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Wizards are 0-12, the only winless team in the NBA and just one of 12 teams all-time to open the season with 12 consecutive losses.
But if you scrounge up enough pocket change, you could get a seat to the game.
Posting pictures of how cheap Wizards tickets are going for on the resale market has become as fashionable among D.C. sports fans as wearing paper bags to Verizon Center. Yet, according to Stubhub Head of Communication Glenn Lehrman, the Wizards' incredibly cheap ticket prices are not an anomaly.
"I wish I could say it was," Lerhmann said in a phone interview Wednesday. "Last year, for instance, I think you could get a ticket to every [New Jersey] Net game with the exception of the [Miami] Heat game for under $3."
According to Lehrman, low resale prices are seen more in the NBA in any other professional sport.
"It's very driven by who the visiting team is," he said. "For example, tonight, you can get into the [Wizards/Blazers] game for $1.69, but to get into the Heat game on Dec. 4 is $26, so it's definitely matchup driven. When you have teams that are poor -- and I am certain that the Wizards qualify -- you see the bottom drop out."
Yet, while the WIzards' thrifty prices may not be uncommon, how fast they became so thrifty is.
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"What's rare about this instance that it's happening 12 games into the season," Lehrman said. "Normally, you see this level of apathy take place in the middle of the season when you're 40 games in and there's not gonna be a playoff chase. You don't normally see the fans quit on their team so quickly.
"I also think it's a product of the players on the floor right now," he continued. "John Wall's not playing, so there isn't that marquee guy that people are going to see on the Wizards."
Lehrman said Wednesday that Stubhub keeps rankings on how teams do on the resale market. Surprisingly, the Wizards are "anywhere from dead middle to bottom third," outranking teams like the Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Bobcats. They could rebound, according to Lehrman, but that would have more to do with the transient nature of Washington and less about the Wizards themselves.
"It's been so many years since they've been good," Lehrman said. "I don't think we have statistics back to the Jordan years."
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