(the above photograph was taken at halftime on Wednesday)
Consider the Mystery of the Missing Nets Fans partially solved.
According to a turnstile count supplied to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, 15,504 people attended Wednesday’s opener against the Bucks at Continental Airlines Arena.
The Nets made a point that night of announcing they had distributed 20,098 tickets, making it technically a sellout. But many tickets apparently went to corporate sponsors and were unused.
During a heated interview on WFAN on Thursday, CEO Brett Yormark estimated that 17,000 people attended the game and host Mike Francesa insisted there were no more than 15,000 there.