Oklahoma City, Thursday, May 6, 2009 -- The Oklahoma City Thunder concluded its 2009-10 season on Friday, April 30, in front of another sellout crowd. Below is a quantitative sample of highlights from the Thunder’s second season in Oklahoma City.31 sellouts through April 30, including a streak for the final 14 games. Thunder ranked 7th in the NBA in attendance with 98.9 percentage of capacity93 percent of the Thunder’s Season Ticket Members have renewed their seats for the 2010-11 season.793,175 fans passed through the Ford Center doors for Thunder games. It included the Thunder’s 1 millionth fan. There were 65,000 group tickets sold.2,200 fans won tickets during the Thunder’s last-minute ticket opportunity at each home game, Fill Up the Ford.
Nearly 5 million viewers watched the Thunder vs. Lakers Game Six playoff matchup on Fox Sports Oklahoma and ESPN. It was ESPN’s most-viewed first-round NBA Playoff game ever. Ratings for the Thunder’s regional TV broadcasts increased nearly 2 times over last season.93,000 feet of fiber-optic TV cable was used in the Ford Center during Thunder games
Rumble, Thunder Girls and the Storm Chasers distributed 70,500 free T-shirts to fans by placing them on their seats, dropping by Oklahoman parachutes and shooting from the Balon Blaster.
The Thunder Shop sold 10,000 Thunder T-shirts, 3,200 basketballs and 3,000 caps.25,000 Thunder car flags were distributed, courtesy of Homeland.1,248 boys and girls joined the Thunder Kids Club, each receiving a Rumble bobblehead.1,046 fans signed up in three weeks for the Thunder’s new online fan community, THUNDERALLY
Thunder won 50 regular-season games, a 27-win improvement over previous season; 9th best turnaround in NBA history.
Thunder finished 1st in the NBA in blocked shots (5.86 per game), 2nd in free throw percentage (80.5%), 3rd in rebounds (43.5 per game)
Thunder players headed into the community for more than 200 appearances.
Rumble made more than 450 appearances during the season, traveling 15,000 miles across Oklahoma, using 950 tubes of streamers and 450 cans of silly string.
Thunder Girls made 87 appearances in the community. Thunder Girl Naoko traveled 6,300 miles from Tokyo to make the team.
The Rolling Thunder Book Bus visited 243 schools, distributing more than 18,000 books.
Approximately 9,000 elementary school students in 100 area schools registered for the first Thunder Reading Challenge. They read more than 1 million minutes. Second-grader Catch Davidson of Edmond alone read more than 39,000 minutes.
The Thunder honored 41 local teachers with the American Fidelity Teacher of the Game award and 6 Devon Community Heroes.175 pairs of sneakers were given to students at Dunbar Elementary, courtesy of SandRidge Energy, during a holiday event.
The Thunder donated more than 11,000 tickets to nonprofit and community groups, more than 2 times the amount from last season
The Thunder won 2 major community awards in 2010. The March of Dimes Community Spirit Award and the Boys and Girls Club Champions of Youth Award.125 boys and girls attended the Thunder Youth Basketball Spring Break Camp. 6 more camps are scheduled for the summer. More than 800 kids participated in the City of OKC Thunder Youth Basketball League.
Thunder fans and the Thunder Community Foundation donated $15,000 during an in-game auction to benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti.