Getty Images LeBron James during his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Were the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers entertained on Tuesday night? Has the LeBron James arrival been everything that everybody in L.A. has ever wanted? The King of the NBA made his not-so-quiet preseason debut this past week, and the city of Los Angeles is finally able to feel LeBron’s presence as everybody was out to see him in the purple and gold at the Staples Center for the first time.
Last season, the Lakers weren’t what you would call an NBA powerhouse. A 26-56 record had them sitting towards the bottom of the Western Conference, clearly missing the playoffs once again. The young core that they had just didn’t have the talent or experience to really make a run, especially in their tough conference. Selling tickets was never an issue for L.A. as they are the Lakers after all. But the significant increase in sales this season is too crazy to not highlight.
With LeBron James in town, things are different. Many NBA fans accused LeBron’s move to Los Angeles being more of a business move, rather than a basketball decision, but the Lakers couldn’t be more satisfied with it because business is booming in the box office! According to CBS Sports, StubHub has reported that the demand for Lakers tickets is up 427-percent!
King of the Sales
“When Lebron announced he was moving to LA in July, our site traffic spiked over 7,000 percent compared to the same time last year, so we expected the increased ticket demand that comes with a star player moving to one of the league’s marquee franchises,”
StubHub couldn’t be more thrilled with James’ new location. As they told NBC Sports, not only are the Lakers going to feel the LeBron effect but so are opposing franchises. Sales went up for other teams when LeBron would visit in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. Now, they go up even higher with LeBron James in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. It’s crazy, but the LeBron effect is genuinely authentic around the NBA, and the Lakers couldn’t be more thrilled about it.