“No one liked the lockout when it happened, but it didn’t go on beyond the inflection point,’’ said Joe Shaker, a Celtics season ticket-holder from Needham. “It didn’t drag on long enough to where people erupted. The Pats are still playing. The Bruins got on a run. So, the average sports fan was still engaged.’’ Shaker said he didn’t think twice about renewing his season tickets.
There is far more good will in the air than there was after the longer, 204 day lockout in 1998-99. A big reason for that difference is that this year players and owners reached an agreement in time to open on Christmas, which has become something of an “NBA holiday’’ featuring key matchups.
“If we had not started on Christmas, it would’ve been a heck of a lot worse,’’ said NBA commissioner David Stern. “Christmas was the allure for both sides to sit down and get the deal done with play on Christmas something to shoot for.’’
The 149-day lockout featured bickering by players and owners over billions in revenue. During negotiations, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said both sides were very aware a Christmas Day start “might minimize backlash.’’ Grousbeck added: “Part of my happiness about how it’s going in the first week is we hoped it would go this well and that’s one of the reasons we’re back playing this soon.’’
Also cause for the owners’ happiness: the 97 percent season ticket-holder renewal rate. Celtics president Rich Gotham said that the figure is as good as if not better than in years past, but that the Celtics take nothing for granted in the current environment.
After the first three weeks of individual game ticket sales, the Celtics are 40 percent ahead of where they were after three weeks of sales last year. Gotham called the increase a “good barometer that shows demand is still as strong [as] if not stronger than it’s ever been. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’’
