Ticket Sales to Earn Almost $300 Million : NBA: Memo indicates the league has found financial stability. Laker average prices are more than $8 higher than the league average.

The National Basketball Assn., which a few years ago was struggling for financial stability, has more than found it. In fact, it can collectively expect to bring in almost $300 million in ticket sales during the next regular season.

And again, the leader in ticket-sales revenue will be the Lakers, who have a league-leading average of $27.25 a ticket, more than $4 higher than the closest team, the New York Knicks. The Lakers can expect to make more than $20 million in ticket revenue before the playoffs.

A Laker ticket is more than $8 higher than the league average of $18.98. The ticket information, obtained by The Times from a memo distributed by the league to team marketing directors, indicates that the average ticket in the NBA has increased by about $2 from last season. Last season’s average was $16.93. The average price of a Clipper ticket is $17.46, which is 20th in the 27-team league.

In making the computations, the NBA does not count ticket blocks of fewer than 200 seats. For example, the 128 celebrity courtside seats at Laker games, up from $250 to $350 a game, were not counted in determining the average. Neither were the two sets of 138 seats at Clipper games that sell for $125 and $100 a game.

The league memo listed an average ticket price of $19.21, but the figure was revised downward when errors were found in the ticket computations of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The memo showed several other interesting facets of ticket pricing. For example:

--The Orlando Magic, which has yet to play a game, has the sixth-highest ticket average at $21.42. Pat Williams, president of the Magic, said the team will freeze prices for three years, at which point the team’s average will be in the league’s lower half.

--Only the Lakers, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls make more money from tickets than the Charlotte Hornets, who are in their second season. The size of Charlotte Coliseum, built in 1988 with a capacity of 23,343, brings the team more than $415,000 for a sellout. Last season, the Hornets sold out 36 of 41 games and this season have stopped season sales at 21,000. Team officials say there are 4,500 people on a waiting list.

--The most exclusive seats in the NBA are in Richfield, Ohio, where the Cleveland Cavaliers play. There are six floor seats next to the benches that sell for $100. According to a Cavalier spokeswoman, the six people are not celebrities, just ticket holders who upgraded when the seats became available. Those six seats make up the smallest ticket group anywhere in the NBA.

--The Lakers, in addition to having the most expensive, also have the lowest-priced tickets in the NBA. They reserve 40 locations on the walkway between the loge and colonnade for fans in wheelchairs. Those tickets cost $2.

The NBA does not have a policy on ticket prices and there is no revenue sharing among teams as there is in the National Football League. A team gets to keep as much as it can collect.

“Basically, it’s all up to the individual teams,” said Seth Sylvan, an NBA spokesman. “We think the teams know their market better than we do. They can set the price at whatever they like.”

The NBA has been playing at 85% capacity, with the Lakers enjoying the greatest success. They have a season-ticket base of 15,000 and a capacity of 17,505. However, the Lakers can’t sell season packages for the remaining 2,505 seats because they couldn’t guarantee playoff tickets to those ticket holders. In the playoffs, those tickets go to league officials, media representatives and sponsors. During the regular season and sometimes in the early playoff rounds, those tickets are sold to the public.

The Lakers sell out, or come within a few seats of capacity, in all their games.

According to a Laker official, 7,000 seats in the Forum increased in price from last season. Most of those seats were located in the high-rent district, where people have been season-ticket holders for many years. In addition, the Senate seat program was expanded to 2,607 seats. A Senate seat is good for all events at the Forum, which include the Kings hockey team, boxing, concerts and specialty shows.

The Clippers, coming off their 13th consecutive season of missing the playoffs, increased prices for about 1,300 of their high-rent seats. Andy Roeser, executive vice president of business operations for the team, said that about 85% of last season’s 6,000 season-ticket holders renewed and it is expected that the team will get enough new season subscribers to keep the total about the same.

Roeser said the Clippers plan to keep tickets “reasonably priced” and that it’s unlikely prices will change drastically until the team gets better and moves to a new building in two years. The Clippers are currently working with MCA-Spectacor on building a new facility. Two years may be optimistic, however, because a site for the arena has not been chosen.

NBA TICKET PRICES

Team Range Capacity Sellout Gross Avg. Price* Lakers $2-$350 17,505 $518,388 $27.25 New York Knicks 12-35 17,195 397,488 23.12 Detroit Pistons 5-100 19,432 471,016 23.09 Chicago Bulls 12-175 17,339 415,978 23.04 Boston Celtics 11-32 14,996 342,696 22.85 Orlando Magic 8-125 14,748 324,280 21.42 Utah Jazz 7.50-120 11,538 269,715 20.42 Atlanta Hawks 8-100 16,371 337,310 20.25 Denver Nuggets 8-100 17,084 345,276 20.21 Portland Trail Blazers 7.50-60 12,848 261,762 19.97 Phoenix Suns 7-75 14,487 287,203 19.82 Seattle SuperSonics 5-29 13,927 269,361 19.34 Cleveland Cavaliers 8-100 19,311 383,317 19.18 Miami Heat 6-45 15,008 281,493 18.75 Dallas Mavericks 5-108 17,007 329,207 18.71 Philadelphia 76ers 8-95 17,035 325,316 18.33 Houston Rockets 7.50-125 15,979 304,402 18.19 Sacramento Kings 7.50-60 16,499 294,845 17.87 Charlotte Hornets 7-150 23,343 415,610 17.55 Clippers 9-125 15,348 300,940 17.46 San Antonio Spurs 5-50 15,883 284,609 17.41 Golden State Warriors 7.50-75 14,881 260,452 16.91 Washington Bullets 7.50-25 17,799 285,087 16.02 Milwaukee Bucks 6-35 18,594 295,795 15.83 Minnesota Timberwolves 3.50-50 25,810 395,144 15.31 New Jersey Nets 6-50 19,583 279,716 14.14 Indiana Pacers 6-50 17,446 246,334 13.74

* Ticket average does not include seating groups of fewer than 200 seats, such as the courtside seats at Laker games.

Source: National Basketball Assn.

LAKER TICKET PRICES

‘89-’90 Number Sellout Avg. Prices of Seats Gross Price* 350 128 $44,800 80 1,568 125,440 52.50 1,042 54,705 42.50 2,607 110,797 32.50 1,774 57,655 18.50 1,296 23,976 14.50 2,004 29,058 11.50 4,678 53,797 8.50 1,856 15,776 4.50 512 2,304 2 40 80 Total 17,505 518,388 Total* 17,337* 473,588* 27.25

* Does not include seating groups of fewer than 200 seats.

Source: National Basketball Assn.

CLIPPER TICKET PRICES

‘89-’90 Number Sellout Avg. Prices of Seats Gross Price* 125 138 $17,250 100 138 13,800 75 116 8,700 35 276 9,660 30 962 28,860 25 2,570 64,250 16 7,100 113,600 13 2,097 27,261 9 1,951 17,559 Total 15,348 300,940 Total* 14,956* 261,190* 17.46

* Does not include seating groups of fewer than 200 seats.

Source: National Basketball Assn.