The Nuggets struggled to fill the stands at Pepsi Center in 2014-15. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
The NBA announced on Thursday it set an all-time regular-season attendance record for 204-15, with 21,926,548 fans, surpassing the previous record of 21,841,480 in 2006-07.
The league’s average attendance (17,826) increased 2.4 percent over last season’s (17.757), the highest year-over-year jump since 1995-96, while 700 games sold out, surpassing the 676 sellouts 20 years ago.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, their attendance figures for 2014-15 went in the opposite direction.
Finishing the season 30-52 and missing the playoffs for the second straight season seems to have taken a toll on the Nuggets’ fan base in Denver, where the team posted its lowest attendance figures since before the 1999-2000 season.
An average of 14,700 fans attended games, filling Pepsi Center to 76.7 percent capacity. The Nuggets’ ranked 28th out of the 30 NBA teams in home attendance, dropping nine spots from their No. 19 ranking (16,899) last season.
The Nuggets’ average of 14,700 fans per game is the club’s lowest figure since it moved into Pepsi Center before the 1999-2000 season.
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp)
Below are the league averages for 2014-15, followed by the Nuggets’ year attendance figures:
2014-15 NBA Home AttendanceRankTeamGamesTotalAvg.% Cap.1Bulls41875,09121,343102.02Cavaliers41843,04220,562100.03Mavericks41827,70220,187105.14Knicks41812,29219,812100.05Raptors41809,82419,75199.86Heat41808,22319,712100.67Warriors41803,43619,596100.08Trail Blazers41801,73319,55494.09Clippers41785,89219,168100.610Jazz41772,05918,83094.611Lakers41768,24418,73798.312Spurs41762,85518,606100.113Wizards41747,79618,23889.914Rockets41747,41218,229101.015Thunder41746,32318,203100.016Celtics41721,35017,59394.517Hawks41713,90917,41293.018Grizzlies41710,50217,32995.619Hornets41704,88617,19290.120Nets41698,52917,03794.121Suns41693,86216,92391.922Pacers41691,43416,86492.823Magic41688,19416,78589.124Pelicans41683,75716,67797.025Kings41680,04916,58695.826Pistons41625,91715,26669.227Bucks41611,22614,90779.628Nuggets41602,70714,70076.729Timberwolves41595,65214,52875.13076ers41571,57213,94068.6
Denver Nuggets Yearly Home AttendanceYearNBA RankGamesTotalAvg.% Cap.20152841602,70714,70076.720141941692,89816,89988.220131441730,61617,81993.020121641561,96617,02988.920111641692,96816,90188.220101341737,81217,99593.920091741706,16517,22389.920081741711,96217,364–20071741706,43717,230–20061641702,64517,137–20051241723,94917,657–20041241721,47617,596–20032541607,81314,824–20022041633,84615,459–20012041619,30015,104–
