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(I have written a lot of blog posts that end up living as unpublished drafts, I won't let this be one of them)

We're not the biggest Pacers fans in the world, but we have enjoyed our share of games. Nicole even shed a tear when Reggie Miller stepped off the court for the last time in 2005 (though she won't admit that, and kudos to Larry Brown for taking that extra time out to give Reggie his moment). One thing I was looking forward to in coming back to Indiana is catching more of the Pacers games.

To give a bit of background for those of you who don't follow, the Pacers were playing some of the best ball and were set for a good playoff run in the 2005 season. There was a brawl during a game in Detroit that should have been avoided but led to a bunch of suspensions and subsequently a loss of momentum with the team. They lost in the playoffs, and have been trying to get back on their feet ever since. Understandably between the souring reputation and the poor standings, the Pacers fan base has dwindled. (shame on you fair weather fans!)

Fast forward to today, there is a fresh new team with a lot of potential for the coming years. They are focusing a lot on rebuilding the pride and passion that the team once held. This is a good thing. Start with a clean slate and build up.

I went to the home opener against the Celtics this season with my old college roommate Greg. The mood in the stands was totally different than the way it was when I had last seen them in 2005 before we left Indiana. Fans weren't wearing team shirts, did not seem excited, and there were too many empty seats. We won that game (a pleasant surprise) but it was obvious there is work to do moving forward.

I also went to the game against the Spurs on Friday night. It seemed there was a louder Spurs crowd than Pacers crowd. This trend has got to be reversed. We lost that game (as I expected) but we did see a pretty good comeback rally in the 4th quarter that had me on my feet quite a bit. For such a young team this was a promising sign.

To help things along, here are some of my unsolicited, opinionated thoughts for the pacers:

Viewership

I was excited to be back in Indiana to catch the Pacers on the air from WTTV (channel 4). Come to find out, they have not aired games in a couple of years. I can understand a loss of revenue here between the declining fan base and what I would assume is fewer commercial offers from Conseco. I can accept this. The Pacers had also signed an exclusive agreement with Fox Sports Midwest to carry the games. I am not in the position to get cable or satellite to catch the games. I did, however, look into the NBA League Pass online. I seriously considered the $80 subscription for the season. I signed up for the free trial only to find that all of the Pacers games were blacked out for me. What? Why pay for a service from the NBA directly when you can't see the games you want? I still get promotional emails from them, to which I always reply that I will happily sign up when I can watch the games I want.

However, my point goes beyond this.. People are ditching cable and satellite left and right in this economy and fewer people will have FSM anyway. If you want to rebuild your fan base, make it EASY for them to watch the team. Get back on the air with WTTV4 and blanket the central Indiana market with the games.

Tickets

In the past few weeks, tickets for the Pacers have been dirt cheap, and in some cases literally given away. I have found awesome deals in travelzoo discount tickets, twitter giveaways, and a donatos giveaway deal where I got 2 tickets in the LOWER LEVEL for the cost of ticketmaster fees ($5) for this Wednesday's game against the Raptors. There have been club level seat deals for $20 each, and I grabbed balcony tickets for the whole family at $5/ea (plus fees). Nicole and Trevor missed the game with Trevor getting sick at the last minute, but Tristen had an absolute blast! We have a future fan there, and I would have had a hard time justifying tickets for the kids at the original cost of balcony seats.

These deals are great.. Now, it is the end of the season, ticket sales are doing about as poorly as the team is, and I'm sure there is a bit of politics involved in trying to bring people downtown while the Pacers and Colts argue for funding from the Capitol Improvement Board. When next season comes around these deals need to continue. Drop the ticket prices to bring more people in. These are hard times for wallets and hard times for the team. Make it possible for fans to attend.

Team

I haven't followed many games (see the first point above) but from what I have seen, everything looks good for the coming years. We've gotten rid of the bad apples. We have a number of players with very promising talents. This is all being done right. The team looks to be in repair, but the fan base needs the same kind of fixing. If you don't fix the two points above there won't be much point to fixing the team.

So?

Sadly, the Pacers fan base is in dire straits. I've passed links for ticket deals (and free tickets) around the office, and it turns in to a joke. I'm sure the sentiment would be different if we had the top team in the league, but we don't. As I have pointed out, to be a fan of this team is an expensive thing, between TV subscriptions and tickets. Make it cheap for the fans, and you'll get more of them through the thick and thin.