Now that Miami has Wade, Bosh, and James, will their fans actually fill the seats and stay there for all 41 games?

SCOTT JACOBS

Miami’s Tri-nasty has been dissected, over-analyzed ad nauseam and won’t be going away anytime soon.  So this article wants to talk about another element that has flown more gently under the radar: Heat fans.

With Miami’s new Tri-nasty sure to be the focus of the NBA and sports world this fall into spring, a huge magnifying glass will be placed on the Heat House, American Airlines Arena, where other fans and writers will constantly have a watchdog eye to see if Heat fans truly appreciate the gift that fell out of the sky for them.

South Florida fans are already notorious for being fickle, fair weather fans.  They love you when you win.  They move on to something new when you lose.  Or in the case of the Marlins, they abandon you completely because your tighwad of an owner never opens up his wallet to bring in big name attractive players.

But this isn’t about the Marlins.  Or the Dolphins.  Or the Panth… sorry I got sidetracked for a second and thought the Panthers were a real team (They’re not.  Just a figment of the NHL’s silly imagination).

This is about the Heat.  This is about a franchise that does things the right way, has consistently won since Pat Riley left the Knicks to coach them, and has– one could argue– been one of the NBA’s model franchises over the last 10-15 years or so (with the exception of a few clunkers).

But the Heat haven’t always drawn fans, and taking a nod to the recent past, last year their mediocre collection of players had trouble drawing butts to the seats.  The stats say the Heat had 17,730 per game, but that number hardly reflected how many people actually went to the games.  There were plenty of empty seats, and Miami even began tarping parts of the upper deck because fan interest just wasn’t there.  At 15th in the league in average attendance, Miami was smack dab in the middle, fitting considering South Florida fans are glass half empty one minute, and half full the next.

The season before that (2008-2009) Miami had an average of 18,229 tickets sold per game, once again good for a middling 15th.

All of this is going somewhere.  The point is, Miami has a relatively mediocre fan-base (yes i know the diehards are crazy).  But with the Tri-Nasty ariving in South Beach Miami can’t sell tickets fast enough.  Those tarps that covered the upper deck have probably been burnt or maybe traded to Quicken Loans Arena as part of the LeBron James sign and trade deal netted Cleveland like 4 picks.

So on paper the Heat are flying.  Theyre the talk of the hoops world and their “fans” can’t buy tickets fast enough.  Of course ironically the same loyal fans who sat through mediocrity surrounded by an arena that was half empty, now have been over-priced, many unable to afford tickets, in spite of their loyalty (Gotta love sports!)

So on paper the Heat look like they’re set.  But today’s first exhibition game offers a cautious glimpse into the kind of support Miami could potentially get. Keep in mind it didn’t count, but it was the first look we had.

While packed to start the game, and rocking throughout the first quarter and half, the AAA looked more like Heat home games of old in the second half with plenty of empty red seats.  And keep this in mind: LeBron and Bosh were still playing (even though Wade was hurt).

It’s just one game, but NBA fans everywhere are jealous of what Miami has landed, and if this trend of leaving early to beat the rush and get to the club continues (as if it’s some kind of Hollywood event) then Heat fans are going to get a really bad rap.

Miami sold out almost every game when Shaq played for them, so there is a history of bringing the Heat when the big players come to town.  But fans in New York, Chicago, and Dallas, who pack their team’s houses each and every day, and tried to be players in the LeBron sweepstakes, are watching.

Heat fans better not take this for granted.

It’s going to look really, really bad on South Florida if there’s empty seats at home games when the NBA’s newest version of the three ring circus makes it’s annual 41 stops at home a year.

Especially when every arena in the league is treating Miami’s pit stop in their home town as the second coming off The Beatles.

Photo: Getty

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