‘Jam Session’ is consolation prize

LOS ANGELES — For the average fan, it was almost impossible to score a ticket for the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game at the Staples Center here last Sunday.

First, the tickets were outrageously expensive. Nike Philippines’ sports communications manager Rely San Agustin was allocated a $200 ticket that took him close to the roof in the nosebleed section. Can you imagine how much Jack Nicholson paid for his courtside seat or Elliott Gould for his spot almost underneath the basket near the photographers’ row? The price tag had to be in four figures.

Second, only 4,000 of 19,000 seats were made available to fans and about 1,100 went to lucky lottery winners among Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers season-ticket holders.

The All-Star Weekend is an event organized by the NBA, not the host team, so the league has control of the distribution of tickets. It is NBA commissioner David Stern’s vehicle to treat corporate sponsors to a glitzy welcome. The shebang is a big public relations show where the NBA rolls out the red carpet for its business partners all over the world. About 75 percent of the All-Star Game tickets were distributed by the league to out-of-town guests, it was disclosed.

As expected, sports apparel and footwear companies took advantage of the media hype to parade their endorsers. Nike flew in journalists from Asia to witness the All-Star festivities and the launch of six shoe models, including two from the Michael Jordan line. There were 12 Nike athletes who played in the All-Star Game so the Beaverton drumbeaters had something to crow about. The cash registers in the popular Beverly Hills outlet Niketown wouldn’t stop ringing during the All-Star Weekend and Nike kept the fans coming by staging a series of in-store events. Adidas set up a giant tent a block away from the Staples Center and held its own version of a "Jam Session."

While city fans griped because of their lack of access to tickets, the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau was ecstatic. The estimate was the All-Star Weekend brought in $50 Million to Tinseltown. Last year, the same event had an economic impact of $27 Million on host Atlanta.

"An event like this does a lot for the city," said Carol Martinez of the Bureau, quoted by Joe Stevens of the Daily News. "Tourism is L.A.’s No. 2 industry, behind entertainment. And this puts L.A. on TV worldwide and it will show how beautiful the weather here is in February."

Owners of the Staples Center paid $500,000 to the NBA for the right to host the All-Star Weekend.

As a consolation prize for fans not able to watch the All-Star Game, the NBA thought of setting up an interactive theme park-like carnival to ride on the weekend fever. It was 10 years ago when Stern and his marketing geniuses conceptualized the "Jam Session." The idea was to lure disenfranchised fans to the "park" and get them to join the All-Star bandwagon.

Starting last Thursday afternoon, at least 125,000 fans paid $20 tickets to enter the huge 350,000-square foot layout at the Los Angeles Convention Center beside the Staples Center. The "Jam Session" was open, free to the public, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. last Monday before closing shop. The Convention Center is able to accommodate 15,000 fans at a time. Last year, the "Jam Session" drew 110,000 fans in Atlanta.

There were 42 booths or arcades, including a full-sized Center Court with bleachers that accommodated 4,000 fans, in this year’s "Jam Session." The rookies and sophomores practiced on Center Court. So did the All-Stars. In the rookies shootaround, LeBron James electrified the crowd by putting on a high-flying dunking exhibition. The Center Court was also where the Celebrity Game was played last Friday. NBA players Richard Jefferson and Mark Jackson saw action in the exhibition that featured Rodger Lodge, Frankie Muniz, Bill Bellamy, Morris Chestnut, Mark McGrath, Sean Paul, Nick Carter and Donald Faison.

A popular exhibit was the lifesize Lego replicas of Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, among others. A Hall of Fame section displayed Bob Lanier’s size 22 shoes, original jerseys from the early NBA years and memorabilia from the Olympics. Encased in glass were the Lakers’ last three championship trophies and rings of their title years. You could pose for your own playing card, wearing an NBA jersey of your choice, and get the souvenir for free.

There were 7, 8 and 9-foot baskets for dunking, 3-point shootouts, a bungee run, a race against the clock to score points, an NBA store, a blitz contest to score seven points in 24 seconds, an arcade where you play the latest basketball video games, over 25 vendors selling collectibles, a one-on-one game on a trampoline and many, many more.

The NBA made sure players and legends were available to interact with fans during the five-day "Jam Session." In the tent were Rick Barry and Spencer Haywood conducting a free throw clinic, Tiny Archibald and Micheal Ray Richardson talking about dribbling, and Dale Ellis and Connie Hawkins demonstrating how to shoot. In the "Read to Achieve" booth, Dennis Layton, Ron Behagen, Johnny Green, Tayshaun Prince, Derek Fisher, Flynn Robinson, Sam Lacey, Luke Walton, Kareem Rush, Olden Polynice and Chris Bosh were among the past and present players who interacted with children.

On the autograph stage–a popular stop in the "Jam Session," were the likes of Prince, Fisher, Dave Bing, Sue Bird, Rush, Howard Porter, former Philippine league import Glenn McDonald, Rebecca Lobo, the Laker Girls, Carlos Boozer, George Gervin, Jojo White and Lisa Leslie, among many others.

NBA vice president of events and attractions Gail Hunter said experiencing "Jam Session" is "like going to Disneyland only everything is basketball."

Two years ago when Philadelphia hosted the All-Star Game, 76ers chairman Ed Snider said the City of Brotherly Love would never host it again because too many fans were not able to score tickets. Not even the "Jam Session" could console the disgruntled majority.

In Lala Land, the "Jam Session" achieved its purpose. Fans who couldn’t get tickets for the All-Star Game were happy to participate in the festivities just the same because the $20 ticket to the Convention Center was a bargain. Besides, there were more than enough players, celebrities, side events and interactive games in the "Jam Session" to immerse the fan in the All-Star groove.