Sixers tickets suddenly a hot commodity again

Rumors alone that Allen Iverson, the “King of City Avenue,” might return to the area bolstered ticket sales by some 4,000 for last Friday’s home game against Atlanta. The man can obviously sell tickets.

For a team that has floundered in the popularity department — even among its hometown fan base — since Iverson left in 2006, the buzz was palpable across town yesterday, from the ticket salesmen who answered the phone with an intro, “Sixers Central!” to the usually quiet Wachovia Center, where some officials expect a sellout for Iverson’s debut Monday.

Sixers VP of business operations Lara Price declined to say exactly how many tickets were purchased for his debut, but told the AP: “We have seen a big jump in ticket sales as a result of today’s announcement.”

“He sells tickets, that’s the bottom line. We just didn’t have the star-caliber player [before],” said Billy Adams, general manager of Wanamaker Ticket Office in Center City. “It’s just what Philly needed.”

For the first month, Sixers ticket sales were stagnant, with two-for-one offers rampant among vendors. Adams said his office ordered an additional 100 tickets yesterday morning and had sold about 80 by early afternoon.