A new season in limbo is leaving some basketball fans in Northeast Ohio feeling a little deflated. If there was ever a time to get behind our Cavs, this is it. The fallout from LeBron joining the Lakers, along with an arena currently under construction, is creating the perfect storm.
News 5 caught up with some Cavs season ticket holders that say they're taking a financial hit.
They braced themselves for things to go south with No. 23's departure, but they were not prepared to watch ticket prices tumble this far.
At the last home game, you could get in to see the game for just $2.50.
"I think the transaction cost was actually more than the ticket cost," said Charlene Coughlin.
Coughlin has been a Cavs season ticket holder since LeBron's return in 2014.
"That's what made me buy my season tickets to start with," said Coughlin.
She and many other Cavs fans are coming to terms with a new reality.
The tickets they could once easily sell at a decent price, offsetting the cost of their game packages are now a struggle to even give away.
"I love our Cleveland sports teams, but at the same time it's an investment that I made in the team," said Coughlin.
That investment she said has taken a nose dive more than anticipated.
"Just didn't feel like there were as many people there as we used to have and then on top of it all tickets going for $2," said Couhglin.
This, as the Cavs try to re-build in a post-LeBron world.
"Hopefully the team starts to gel a little bit. It seems as if we're all not on the same page as of right now," said Coughlin.
Andrew Zelman's been a season ticket holder for a decade and expects this to be a rough year.
"A lot of people who have season tickets they bank on selling some or giving some away and that's becoming a lot harder now," said Zelman.
Zelman said seats he paid more than $200 for are now selling on secondary sites for $40 to 50.
"To see them get blown out by bad teams, that's rough. I don't know if people are going to see that on a nightly basis," said Zelman.
For Zelman and other fans adding insult to injury is the current condition of the Q.
"We noticed the floor was ripped up in the concourse, they removed a lot of the TVs," said Zelman.
On-going renovations at the arena are another blow to a season already in limbo.
"It's cold in the concourse area and this was cold when it was 40 or 45 degrees on opening night," said Zelman.
The future right now for many Cavs fans remains uncertain.
"Everyone is going to be making decisions, do we renew our tickets do we not? When you're watching a team that's really struggling in an arena that's not done yet," said Zelman.
While he and others brace for a bumpy ride, Zelman believes one banner hanging high above the court will help ease the sting of losing LeBron.
"While it'll be tough to go to the games, you have that in the background and it's not like last time when he left and there was never a championship to celebrate," said Zelman.
For now, Charlene Coughlin remains optimistic.
"We're only like 4 or 5 games in, so there's still some time for them to turn things around," said Coughlin.
