Lakers vs. Kings in Sacramento

Talk about a fan-friendly environment! I went to the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings game on March 14 at Arco Arena, and it was a lot of fun (despite my Lakers losing). Other teams, not just in the NBA, should take a page out of the Kings' book. I see completely why they have sold out an NBA-record 301 consecutive games (yes, they are the only thing in town, which helps, but still!).

Tickets were being scalped at a markup similar to that of playoff games. For example, I heard of two lower-level seats going for $800! Even the top tier was more than $100. Here's why:

Before the game, there are promotions galore. SuperCuts is a sponsor, and it offers FREE haircuts before the game. Plus, if you get a haircut, you enter your entire section to win a free haircut.

All fans get a free program. It's not comprehensive, but it's still a quality publication that gives you just what you need to know about the game.

There also is plenty to watch on the videoboards once you sit down. The night I was there, they interviewed one of the members of the dance team.

One neat thing for the fans: just before tipoff, they announce who on each team did not dress. This seems trivial (and I haven't heard of any other arena doing this), but it's great if you're a fan of the game and want to know who made the 12-man dress list.

The in-game promotions are entertaining, too. One had a contestant shoot free throws, and the more they made, the more bins they could open for a chance to win $5,000 (I can't remember the exact amount). The non-grand prize bins had nice prizes like jerseys, autographed balls, etc.

There were plenty of other contests during the timeouts, including the fan of the game and a pizza giveaway. In other timeouts, the dance team performed, and they were spectacular.

By the way, Arco Arena is designed well. It has two tiers with luxury boxes in between. There is really no bad seat as far as I could tell. The second tier has club seats in the first few rows of each section. Every seat, except those on courtside, has a cup-holder.

Fans really get into the game, as much as some college arenas. It's really neat to see a pro team get that much fan support. No cow bells this time, fortunately.

Random info: Former UNLV/Fresno State coach Jerry Tarnkanian was in attendance.

Other info: Arco is in a new neighborhood (new houses and new restaurants). There are no bars and other great hangouts in the area.

The arena is surrounded by a giant surface lot ($10 to park). After the game, the police direct traffic and do a good job of it, because I didn't notice any congestion. You do want to drive--I took public transportation and it was a pain; there are no taxis, either.

If you don't want to try a scalper, the ticket office sometimes gets returned/unused tickets that they open to the general public. Unfortunately, some fans wait as early as 10 a.m. to try to get these last-minute tickets.

I didn't eat in the arena, but supposedly has a nice restaurant on the top floor. There were plenty of concession stands throughout the arena, and vendors came by every now and then, although not as frequently as they should have.