1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 19-7
12/18/1983
You've heard of Watergate, Billygate and Quartergate, right? Well, make room for Gategate, also known as the Celtics' consecutive sellout streak at Boston Garden. The streak stands at 132, but suspicious types are beginning to question the authenticity of the Green Team's boast. More than a few empty seats showed up for Wednesday's match with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the announced crowd was 14,890 - the new sellout figure.
The Celtics claim that any empty seats are: (1) no-shows, or (2) obstructed-view seats that are either not part of the 14,890 or are sold but not used. "Those seats are never occupied because the people would rather stand," says Boston assistant general manager Jan Volk. However, Volk admits, "I don't know if two or 12 tickets might not have been sold, but 14,890 is our number and if two tickets are left over, I'm not going to tell you the streak is over."
Ex-owner Harry Mangurian adds, "There are a few obstructed-view seats, and whether they sell them or not, they throw them into the figure. That's been their practice for years and years." Mangurian says he never purchased any leftover seats to ensure a sellout, and Volk adds, "Why would we do that? It would cost us a lot of money." The Celtics must pay a percentage of the gate to the league office. "That's a dis-incentive," says NBA assistant general counsel Gary Bettman. "No team would want to owe us more than they rightfully have to pay us."
Maybe, but what if a franchise felt that an extra tax was worth the preservation of a formidable sellout string? Obviously, this is no big deal, but if the Celtics are willing to tell us that 14,888 or 14,878 is the same as 14,890, how will we know when they're presenting 13,000 as a sellout?
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