Which NBA Teams Are Screwing Fans on Ticket Prices Based on 2012 Play?

Despite being in a recession, sports franchises still raise the price of tickets.

The crazier thing? People are still buying them. In a time when penny-pinching has become a regular occurrence amongst the average American family, families still take time out of their day in order to pay a ridiculous amount of money to view their favorite sports team up close and personal.

Some teams are well worth the cost. The Memphis Grizzlies are near the top of the Southwest Division, yet the average cost of a ticket there is $22—the lowest in the NBA. Even a ticket to a game featuring the likes of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will only run you $47.15, more than a dollar below the NBA average of $48.48.

However, there are still teams out there that won't allow you to get the best bang for your buck. Some NBA teams have the audacity to charge an excessive amount of money for a team that isn't even close to being playoff bound. This happens to account for the team with the NBA's highest average ticket price, as they may not even make the playoffs this year.

Thanks in part to Team Marketing Research, we were able to find out a few key stats in the attendance and pricing of every NBA team. From there, we could distinguish the five teams that are drastically overcharging their fans based on ticket prices this season.

Phoenix Suns

I'm not particularly sure how this happened, but it's happening right now.

Without Amar'e Stoudemire, things in Phoenix have taken a turn for the worse. They're no longer NBA Finals contenders. In fact, that's the last thing they should be thinking about, since they're currently two full games out of the final spot in the Western Conference.

Even with Steve Nash running the show, the Suns can do no better than 19-21.

The cost for an average ticket at the U.S. Airways Center? $60.63, and that's with a 4.7 percent increase from the year before. Want to drink away the fact that you just paid nearly $61 for one ticket to a Suns game? That will set you back another $9.

The sad part of it is that they're actually exceeding expectations. Many, including myself, predicted that the Suns would finish at the bottom of the Pacific Division after reviewing their roster. A 38-year-old Nash and a 39-year-old Grant Hill were running the show, while guys like Marcin Gortat and Shannon Brown did what they could in support.

Somehow, the former Orlando Magic backup center is leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 16 and 10 per game, respectively. Nash, Hill and sharpshooter Jared Dudley are the only other players on the team to be averaging at least 10 points per.

One of the NBA's most dynamic and volatile offenses in the past, the Suns now rank tied or 16th in points per game with only 95. Nash is still leading the league in assists with 11 per game, but not having go-to scorers like Stoudemire or Shawn Marion has significantly decreased the stock of the team, as they now might miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Toronto Raptors

Want to hear two things that will make your day a whole lot worse?

No? Too bad.

Fact number one: The Toronto Raptors are currently charging $46.98 for an average ticket at the Air Canada Centre. That's right. Your favorite 13-28 team is charging more for an average ticket than the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and only a few cents less than the Western Conference's top team in the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fact number two: It was worse last year. Yes, the Raptors were charging more for the average cost of a ticket last season. Ticket prices actually took a 4.1 percent decrease from the year before.

We're going to guess that came as a result of Raptors fans no longer caring to spend more than 50 of their exotic Canadian dollars to watch Andrea Bargnani jack up four shots per game from behind the three-point line.

Alright, we'll give some credit to how exciting this team can be at times. Jose Calderon has been known to set up some nice plays, Amir Johnson can throw down with the best of them and DeMar DeRozan is probably the best dunking guard currently in the league.

However, when all of this boils down to a loss, how does it taste to pay nearly $200 for your family of four?

We understand that those north of the border do love their Raptors, as well as all of their professional sports teams, but it's beyond excessive that a cellar dweller of a team is charging nearly as much as a team that's probably going to make the NBA Finals this year.

It's disappointing to know that they're going to raise ticket prices once Jonas Valanciunas makes his arrival.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks simply are not a fun team to watch.

Seriously, Bucks fans, is it entertaining to watch your team 82 times per season? I've caught them a few times this season and haven't seen too many redeeming qualities to watching the team, save for the off chance that Brandon Jennings hits a few three-pointers and suddenly gets hot.

I need someone to convince me to pay $46 for the average cost of a ticket to a game that will most likely feature both teams scoring well below 90 points. I also need some convincing on why I should attend these games after the 8.7 percent increase in ticket prices from the last year.

Stephen Jackson doesn't mean that much to the team.

However, we won't ride too much on the Bucks because they've actually shown some great resilience this year. It was only a few weeks ago where they were a significant amount of games out of the Eastern Conference playoff race, but have since worked their way back into it after maintaining a .500 record over the past few weeks while the eighth-seeded New York Knicks have suffered five straight defeats.

As I write this, the Bucks are a game out and have a lead on the New Jersey Nets late in the fourth quarter, while the New York Knicks are leading the Chicago Bulls at the half. By the time this article is published, the Bucks could be tied for the final spot in the Eastern Conference.

I said it before: Don't sleep on this team. They have a strong defensive philosophy implemented by Scott Skiles and guys like Ersan Ilyasova and Drew Gooden are making up for the loss of Andrew Bogut with some impressive play.

Is it worth $46? I'd rather wait for the Green Bay Packers preseason.

Sacramento Kings

Last year, the Sacramento Kings faithful were nearly breaking down in what was possibly the final game to ever be played at the Arco Arena, now known as the more appealing Power Balance Pavilion.

Kings fans weren't showing up to the games anymore. What gave them reason to? They had Tyreke Evans, sure, but he was a shell of the rookie that had entered the distinguished company of LeBron James, Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan after averaging 20 points, five boards and five assists per.

The Kings hadn't made the playoffs since 2006, had not won a playoff series since 2004, had no visits to the conference finals since 2002 and last made it to the NBA Finals in 1951 when they were still located in Rochester.

To put that in perspective, that means the Kings last won a championship before Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were in the NBA and the United States was at war with North Korea.

Fortunately for the Kings, they had mayor Kevin Johnson, the former Phoenix Suns guard that dunked on Hakeem Olajuwon, on their side. He helped to keep basketball in Sacramento and we can now look forward to the Kings getting a new stadium and a new lease on life.

It would have been unfair to see a team that was just as exciting to watch in the early portion of the 2000's as the Miami Heat today just get up and leave for either Anaheim or Kansas City. Sacramento has fallen on hard times as a franchise, but it doesn't mean they deserve to be moved.

The Kings franchise responded by implementing a 1.6 percent decrease in ticket prices from the year before.

It still doesn't mean they should be charging $48.17 for an average ticket—that's just insanity. The Kings may be back in Sacramento, but the players appear to be on Mars by the way they've been playing. They're 14-27, 14th in the entire Western Conference and nearly eight games out of the final playoff spot in the West.

The most exciting part of a Kings fan's night is watching DeMarcus Cousins attempt to be a point guard and thinking about what could have been in 2002.

New York Knicks

An energetic father runs into his three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on East Long Island. He runs in to find his wife and two kids staring into the television with a look of disappointment on their face as a result of the New York Jets giving Rex Ryan a five-year extension. He can hardly wait to break the good news.

"Hey kids and wife! Guess who has four tickets to the New York Knicks game tonight against the New Jersey Nets?"

"Don't say you," the wife says.

"Me! Start packing and take out that second mortgage we were planning to save the house with because we are going to the Mecca!"

"How much did you pay for four tickets?"

"Since we are an average family in the state of New York, I paid the average ticket price at Madison Square Garden of $117.47. In total, I just paid $469.88 for four tickets to view a team that's currently below the .500 threshold and I'm not even counting the tax."

The wife chimes in: "It's a good thing they threw it that 20.4 percent increase of ticket prices or I thought we'd never be able to afford something so special and memorable!"

Father, wife and two kids jump into minivan at 3:30pm for a 7:30pm game in order to prepare for traffic and parking. The father wears a Chris Childs jersey, the mother dons an Allan Houston jersey and the kids wear David Lee and Danilo Gallinari jerseys.

The family arrives to their average seats at 7:25pm. They pay $30 for parking. They will soon find out that their minivan will become a target of archery after two angered drunks substitute beer bottles and condom wrappers for arrows.

Mom and dad shell out a combined $19 for two beers. The kids are bewildered as to what they eat. Their parents give them straws to chew on, after telling them that college is no longer an option due to their financial situation.

"Syracuse sucks, anyway," child number one says.

"Do you think Pittsburgh has a medical program?" asks child number two.

"I think disowning you sounds better," states the father.

The kids stop talking. By this point, the Nets are up 45-33 and Deron Williams has 15 points.

Silence ensues for the next two hours as the Knicks lose 109-90 to a team that's 10 games behind them in the Atlantic Division. Williams finishes with 35, while Kris Humphries goes for 25 points and 12 rebounds amidst the constant booing of the Knicks faithful.

For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony scores 23 points on 30 shots, Amar'e Stoudemire has 12 points on 10 shots and Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis combine for more turnovers than the entire Nets team.

"Maybe we should just go see the Rangers next," states a disappointed child number one.

"Kid, you're going to be lucky to see the Islanders after what I had to shell out for that massacre."

Counting ticket prices, parking and two beers, this average family just paid $518.88 and that doesn't involve taxes or the gas that they'll need to fuel up for the ride there and back. Essentially, they just paid $600 to watch Carmelo Anthony take too many shots, Amar'e Stoudemire take too few and "Linsanity" come to a crippling end.

They all cry themselves to sleep.

Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury don't sound too bad by this point.