Miami: The Lame American Sports Town

Really, is there a worse sports town in American than Miami? At least among the top 25 or so markets?


LeBron and the Heat are back in the NBA Finals for the second straight year, taking on Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder beginning Tuesday night. National attention abounds, which should yield excellent network ratings. But locals aren’t breaking the bank to get into American Airlines Arena.


Prices floating around the secondary market show an average cost of $838 for Heat home games, according to tiqiq.com, a website that compiles online prices among StubHub and other ticket sellers. That’s a pretty penny and all, but these things aren’t typically measured by the price an average Joe is willing to play. Demand for top seats at big events like the NBA Finals usually pushes prices higher. The average price at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Center is over $1,300, about 55% more than in Miami. And this in the nation’s 43rd largest metro area, one that’s about a quarter of Miami’s size. The spread is even greater than last year’s Heat-Mavericks final, when secondary market prices averaged $725 in Miami and $980 in Dallas.


f you’re in sports, a quirky market with overlapping demographics and lots of warm weather entertainment choices is just a difficult place to do business. The Marlins played to a less-than-stellar 80% capacity this past weekend for an intrastate series against the Tampa Bay Rays. And we’re not talking 80% of a 50,000 seat stadium. The Marlins’ splashy new ballpark, unveiled this season alongside splashy new players and uniforms, holds only 37,400. The club is averaging just over 28,000 fans per game this year, ranking in the middle of the league.


Meantime, the NFL Dolphins and NHL Panthers both ranked in the bottom third of their respective leagues in attendance this year.


One thing that does work in South Beach is star power. The Heat, 15th in the NBA in attendance in 2009-10, has shot into the top five during the past two seasons since James and Chris Bosh signed on to form a superteam with Dwayne Wade. It’s an “in” ballclub right now. Just not enough to rival the passions in real basketball towns.