Author Topic: Celtics in Financial Trouble?  (Read 4741 times)

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Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« on: February 20, 2009, 02:16:21 PM »

Offline cordobes

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NBA.com's David Aldridge published an interesting piece on the trade deadline and had this to say about the C's:

Quote
And I heard Thursday that the storied Celtics, they of the 17 championships and top-five in attendance, may nonetheless be one of the teams that partakes from the league's new $175 million line of credit, which SportsBusiness Journal reported this week would be used by half of the league's 30 teams to help pay existing and future bills.

NBA.com via http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/2/20/765671/celtics-in-financial-troub


Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2009, 02:24:52 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 


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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2009, 02:34:02 PM »

Offline guava_wrench

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 
Not if raising prices would mean less tickets sold, lower attendance, and less money spent at Garden.

Not raising prices is a reaction to demand and the economy, not necessarily a sign of their fiscal health.

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2009, 02:36:49 PM »

Offline Cman

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 
Not if raising prices would mean less tickets sold, lower attendance, and less money spent at Garden.

Not raising prices is a reaction to demand and the economy, not necessarily a sign of their fiscal health.
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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2009, 02:42:34 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 
Not if raising prices would mean less tickets sold, lower attendance, and less money spent at Garden.

Not raising prices is a reaction to demand and the economy, not necessarily a sign of their fiscal health.

If the owners were hurting that bad for additional revenue, they would've upped the ticket prices.  They have a waiting list for season ticket holders so another $3 raise (as was mine prior to this season) would've probably led to a few dropouts but they would've had replacements in wait.  The waiting list illustrates the demand for seasons (not speaking of individual game tickets)

I agree that the freeze was dictated by the economy but, from a business standpoint, if there was a question of financial health they would've upped it.



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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2009, 02:50:20 PM »

Offline MMacOH

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 
Not if raising prices would mean less tickets sold, lower attendance, and less money spent at Garden.

Not raising prices is a reaction to demand and the economy, not necessarily a sign of their fiscal health.

If the owners were hurting that bad for additional revenue, they would've upped the ticket prices.  They have a waiting list for season ticket holders so another $3 raise (as was mine prior to this season) would've probably led to a few dropouts but they would've had replacements in wait.  The waiting list illustrates the demand for seasons (not speaking of individual game tickets)

I agree that the freeze was dictated by the economy but, from a business standpoint, if there was a question of financial health they would've upped it.



Bigger issue is going to be corporate sponsorship.  Specualtion is that a lot of corps could dump the sponsors/suite season tickets next year

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2009, 02:54:24 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I think if they were truly in financial trouble, they would've raised season ticket prices for next year (which they didn't). 
Not if raising prices would mean less tickets sold, lower attendance, and less money spent at Garden.

Not raising prices is a reaction to demand and the economy, not necessarily a sign of their fiscal health.

If the owners were hurting that bad for additional revenue, they would've upped the ticket prices.  They have a waiting list for season ticket holders so another $3 raise (as was mine prior to this season) would've probably led to a few dropouts but they would've had replacements in wait.  The waiting list illustrates the demand for seasons (not speaking of individual game tickets)

I agree that the freeze was dictated by the economy but, from a business standpoint, if there was a question of financial health they would've upped it.



Bigger issue is going to be corporate sponsorship.  Specualtion is that a lot of corps could dump the sponsors/suite season tickets next year

I can definitely see that be a major issue.  The one possible saving grace could be the fact that the Celtics are at the class of the league and not mired in medocrity or at the bottom of the barrel.  Much more exposure and interest in the Celtics these days than back in the dog days.  Could help retention but that's probably even far-fetched considering the dire straits that a lot of companies are facing these days.


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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2009, 03:01:53 PM »

Offline Brickowski

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They can start cutting costs by getting rid of the cheerleaders.

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2009, 03:08:51 PM »

Offline xmuscularghandix

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They can start cutting costs by getting rid of the cheerleaders.

Amen to that.

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2009, 03:10:20 PM »

Offline celtsrp33

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Lucky's salary is off the books now... that should help  :) 
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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2009, 03:12:13 PM »

Offline the_Bird

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A lot of companies are drawing on their lines of credit even if they don't immediately need the cash.  In this market, take cash when you can get it, because you can't count on it being available when you DO need it.  Even moreso than usual, better to have an excess of cash sitting on the balance sheet even if there's a bit of interest associated with it. 

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2009, 03:17:57 PM »

Offline JSD

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Wouldn't the state of our economy make it a good time to borrow? Even for those unaffected?
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Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2009, 03:30:33 PM »

Offline the_Bird

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As to the ticket-price question, those decisions were likely made long before it was clear the economy was going to be as bad as it is.  I mean, the fact that we're in recession should surprise no one; fifteen months ago, there were lots of people calling for one in '08.  But, I don't think ANYONE expected things to become as horrid as they are.

It's far from certain they would have raised prices even if they HAD known.

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2009, 03:42:39 PM »

Offline jdpapa3

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I'm in a tough spot and don't know if I'll renew my seasons for next year. Worried about my job stability and that decent sized bill every month could be awful. I don't see a bright side to this economic situation. No light at the end of the tunnel for a few years at least. I've done some studying around and I think Dow could go to lower than 3k in this year. Can't commit a lot of money to entertainment when food could be an issue.

Re: Celtics in Financial Trouble?
« Reply #14 on: February 20, 2009, 03:55:23 PM »

Offline section320row9

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