Typical ****nn ****nnanagans.
"s_knight8" <s_knight8nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:d3q7sl$2hr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
http://s****ts.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-hornets-charitytickets&prov=ap&type
> =lgns
>
> NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The New Orleans Hornets, playing before the smallest
> crowds in the NBA, were able to inflate attendance figures by reselling
> tickets originally bought at huge discounts for the owner's charity
account.
>
> Do***ents obtained by The Associated Press show that hundreds of tickets
> were charged to owner George ****nn's charity account on March 9 for $5
> apiece, and those same tickets were resold at full price -- up to $41 --
for
> the sold-out April 2 home game against Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami
Heat.
>
> The Hornets' books did not reflect that those tickets were resold.
>
> Rather, the transactions were recorded as purchases of previously unsold
> tickets for different seats and for other games, thereby boosting paid
> attendance numbers for games at which many seats were empty.
>
> Hornets officials said reselling already purchased tickets for
high-demand
> games, then reflecting those purchases as something else to balance the
> books, is common practice in the NBA.
>
> ``If we have fans who want to buy tickets to a game, we want to take
care
of
> them,'' Tim McDougall, the Hornets chief marketing officer, said Friday.
> ``That was our interest during the Heat game and we're always going to
do
> that. The people who sup****t us, that's the reason we're in business. So
if
> that means we move the tickets from a charity account, then we're going
to
> do that.''
>
> Sam Russo, the Hornets' executive vice president of business, said teams
do
> similar bookkeeping when season ticket holders turn in tickets they
cannot
> use in exchange for tickets of equal value for a different game.
>
> In some cases, the practice may boost the announced attendance for other
> games, Russo said, ``But everything adds up and everything gets
> reconciled.''
>
> It was unclear whether the Hornets' resales violated any NBA policies.
The
> league issued a brief statement when questioned about the specifics of
the
> Hornets tickets that were resold for the Miami game.
>
> ``We do not publicly comment about the business affairs of one of our
> owners,'' NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.
>
>
>
>
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