It wasn't the steadily ringing phone that surprised Dennis O'Connor when he returned to work this week.
It was the requests of some of those callers that caught the Grizzlies' vice president of ticket sales and service off guard. More than two months into the season, O'Connor's staff found itself filling season tickets requests, at a prorated cost, for the remainder of the season.
That's the kind of excitement a red-hot Grizzlies team, which returns to FedExForum at 7 p.m. today to face Utah after a 3-1 road trip, has generated.
"We have sold more season tickets (so far) in January than we did all of December," O'Connor said. "Historically, we don't sell a lot of season tickets in-season. The last time we had a January like this was January 2004."
The Grizzlies hope those similarities continue, both on the court and at the box office.
That 2003-04 team was coming off a 28-win season and went into a Jan. 9, 2004, game against Seattle with a 17-17 record.
The Grizzlies entered this season on the heels of a 24-win campaign, and after a 1-8 start, head into tonight's contest at 17-17.
The 2003-04 team used an eight-game winning streak in January as its catalyst for a surprising 50-win season that led to the franchise's first playoff appearance.
Since their horrible start this year, the Grizzlies have put themselves in position to make another surprising run at the playoffs. That, in turn, has led to more bustle at the box office.
The team ranks last among the NBA's 30 teams, averaging 12,686 fans for its first 15 home games. The Grizzlies recognize that they still have work to do before that number increases dramatically. With win totals of 22, 22 and 24 following their string of three consecutive playoff appearances, the team's season-ticket base has eroded from a high of more than 11,000 when the FedExForum opened in 2004-05, to a figure the team admits is well below that, but refuses to reveal the actual number.
"When you had a season-ticket base of 11,000, you needed to sell 5,000-6,000 tickets to sell out," O'Connor said. "Now we're not close to 11,000 so we need to sell a lot more groups and a lot more walkups.
"You never want to rely on walkups, but unfortunately, the last couple of years we've had to. I think that trend is going to slowly diminish."
With the team posting a 9-4 mark in December, its attendance rose 20 percent from November, Grizzlies' president of business operations Greg Campbell said.
In their last home game, Dec. 28 against Washington, which was played on a Monday night after the University of Memphis played an afternoon game at FedExForum, the Grizzlies had their third-largest crowd of the season, 14,571.
"The crowds are really turning around," Campbell said. "I think as the team started to excel on the court, the fans started to realize it. ... I think the excitement they've created inside the arena has started to resonate out there in the public."
The Grizzlies are in the midst of planning single-game promotions, as well as a plan where fans can create their own ticket packages ranging from four to 20 games at a discounted price.
"We're looking now at exposing people to the product," O'Connor said. "I would love to think that everyone is going to come and buy season tickets now, which for us is the next 26 games. But people have other time commitments. We want them to come and sample our product.
"I think if you put a good, entertaining product on the floor, people are going to find a way to come. The knock on us has never been it's too expensive because we have $5 (per game) season tickets. The team hasn't been doing well and they haven't been enjoying coming to the games. Now it's changing."
With the Grizzlies returning home for five of their next six games, the players hope the fans help them continue their winning ways.
"Our home right here at 191 Beale, the crowd is really getting into it and showing us a lot of support," guard O.J. Mayo said. "People don't know that it helps a lot when you come home, you're tired from so many games, and the crowd a lot of times gets you through it with their energy. It gives us energy and gives us a big surge."
"We really appreciate it and look forward to coming back home."
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