Fans hop on Magic bandwagon

What a wild ride.

Orlando residents have  been surfing a wave of emotions, from the initial shock of the finals to hometown pride to eventually, disappointment.

The city may still be  mourning its series loss to L.A. after the Lakers beat the Magic 4-1 on Sunday night.

But on a Thursday evening at local bars around UCF, there was still a little Magic in the air.

On game nights throughout the playoffs, roads going downtown were backed up, and sports bars and restaurants were packed with people watching, waiting and hoping that the

Magic could bring home a victory.

"Obviously this season is special because we are back in the finals since 1995," said Zach Burns, an interpersonal communication major and new Magic fan. "We won our first finals game this year with the best shooting percentage ever. Last time they got swept; this time that won't happen."

Burns started getting into the Magic this season when he noticed most of his friends were fans. He said he was always interested in football, but after seeing his hometown basketball team doing so well, he decided to give the sport a chance.

"I love to watch a good home team," Burns said. "I just get excited to be with friends and follow something and have that freaking crazy camaraderie with my buds."

After the Magic made it to the playoffs and did well, Burns decided he would stay a fan and stick it out with the team for their upcoming seasons.

"I really got into the team and it gets in you," he said. "It is a culture to support them."

At the start of the playoff games, Stephanie Bell, 22, only tuned in for the final 10 minutes to see who would win. After the Magic moved into the finals, she began to care more about the game and now considers herself to be a real fan.

"I feel very proud of them right now," Bell said. "It is nice to see the underdog pull through. And finally, might I add, the Magic have come back around."

With the new fans came some of the old and devoted ones.

These old fans had been waiting for the Magic's entrance into the finals for a long time,  and some of them say it was a little bittersweet to see so many people all of a sudden begin to support the Magic.

"Most of these bandwagon fans are here only when the team is winning, and seeing those bandwagon fans hop on whichever team that is can be disappointing to a diehard fan," said Anthony Showalter, 21-year-old Orlando Magic fan since 1998. "But if they find that the Magic are their team and they grow into diehard fans, then it is great!"

Whether it is the talented players or the fact that the team made it to the finals and won a game, it seems the Orlando Magic are doing something right to attract many new fans.

Ticket sales and team interest has gone up substantially over the season.

"We sold 1,700 new season tickets in the month of May alone and our season ticket base has grown to 11,500," Joel Glass, vice president of communications for the Orlando Magic,  said.

Glass said that retail sales have gone up 75 percent and the team's Web site traffic has tripled since the beginning of the season. The Web site is  now receiving more than 1.5 million hits per week since the playoff games began, compared with the 532,027 hits per week they received during the last week of the season.

Although sales have gone up, the Orlando Magic made the decision not to raise ticket prices.

"It is good that everyone is supportive and taking pride in this team," Showalter said. "And if it continues after the finals, it will make each season just as memorable and special."