First off big kudos to Chris Wright, President of the Timberwolves for taking my email and responding. Didn't know that the NBA Front Office was like that.

He decided to go with the current uniforms that the Timberwolves have over my recommended version. see below


But in talking with him briefly I came across the greatest single challenge I think the NBA and the Timberwolves have to face. At my house I have an HD projector, a large and comfortable couch, Tivo and inexpensive food at every turn. I have been to the target center. They have a dark and rather uninviting atmosphere alongside expensive food.

You can see the problem. Why go to a game when I have it at home and under way more favorable condition. The NBA wants you to believe that the atmosphere of proffessional basketball is something that you have to be there to appreciate. I would argue that with HD you are more there than if you were at a game. You get up close and personal with the players, watching their expressions and frustrations and you get instant replay at a whim.

So I tried to think of what it would take to make people my age want to go to a professional basketball game.

The first and most obvious step is to have an explosive player. If you aren't sure if this works please see Allen Iverson and the 76ers. People want to see a dynamic player with a dynamic character. The wolves have some potentially dynamic players but no dynamic character.

Next is changing the Atmosphere of the Stadium. For some reason when you go into an NBA stadium they want there to be nothing else to even look at outside of the basketball game. But pursing that ideal the stadiums often feel a little like a prison. They are dark places where the upper level seats are under a shroud.

The NBA needs to look toward other sports to see why their stadiums are successful. The answer is of course that they let you see the city around them, or the sky. They are more open to their surroundings. Now I am not suggesting a retractable dome basketball stadium but why couldn't it have a glass top. Why could you be sitting at a Timberwolves game and be able to look up and see the city around you. Imagine that with snow falling and you have an atmosphere that I can't get at home.

Also cheap food. You need to run the NBA games like a happy hour. Cheap beer and hot appetizers. That is how you put butts in the seats. A bar + happy hour = crowded.

The NBA faces a real challenge in bringing fans in. The other line of conversation in my emails was the Timberwolves getting more involved in the park leagues. But that conversation is for another day.