Robert Sarver's Greed Driving Threat To Leave Phoenix

#3 Build It and They Will Come only Works in the movies

Whether that’s a new stadium somewhere else in Phoenix or another city it won’t necessarily help the Suns franchise or Sarver

Going back to the quote by Robert Sarver, if square footage is his major concern it's not clear what Phoenix City Council can do for him. The Arena, Talking Stick Resort, sits on a parcel of land that is only so big.

So Sarver’s public relations cry for renovations appears bogus. The only way to fix square footage, if more is required, is to build on a bigger piece of land.

Whether that’s a new stadium somewhere else in Phoenix or another city it won’t necessarily help the Suns franchise or Sarver.

A check of ESPN.com's attendance stats will show the Phoenix Suns average this season 14, 905 fans per home game.

This is the fourth worst home attendance in the NBA. Last season the Suns averaged 16, 866 per home date. In the 2017-18 season, they were 12th worst.

So is the attendance declining because the arena the Suns play in is outdated? The Talking Stick Resort Arena capacity is 18.422 fans.

This season the Suns have nine wins, they had 21 wins last season and 24 the season before. Is attendance falling because of the quality of on-court talent?

Essentially a brand new state of the art stadium either at Robert Sarver’s expense or the City of Phoenix or a $230 million upgrade to the existing facility does not solve the attendance issue.

The team won’t suddenly play better and win more games and fans won’t necessarily start showing up. In a new city maybe fans turn out just for the nuance of the experience but that’s not guaranteed.

Sarver should be concerned about the on-court talent improving which would most likely bring fans back to the stadium. This would result in more ticket (higher ticket prices) and merchandise sales.

It would even lead to playoff dates that would bring in even more revenue. It's the Suns' inability to grow their fan base that is preventing Sarver from financing his desire for a stadium upgrade or relocation.

He is also asking the City of Phoenix to raise taxes and fees on the local citizenry because they will need to recoup the money spent on the renovations somehow.

Sarver is being greedy by ignoring the declining attendance which suggests the citizens or fans of the Phoenix Suns want to see a better product not get gouged by taxes and higher ticket prices for a substandard product.