Editing Portland Trail Blazers (section)

== Fan support and "Blazermania" ==
The relationship between the team and its fans, commonly known as "Blazermania", has been well-chronicled. The Trail Blazers have long been one of the NBA's top draws, with the exception of two periods in the team's history. The team drew poorly during its first four seasons of existence, failing to average more than 10,000&nbsp;spectators per game. Attendance increased during the 1974–75 season, when the team drafted [[Bill Walton]].<ref name="hard">{{Cite news |last=Jaynes |first=Dwight |date=June 12, 2007 |title=When we fell hard |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?page=redhotjaynes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911212848/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=redhotjaynes |archive-date=September 11, 2007 |access-date=November 7, 2007 |publisher=[[ESPN]]}}</ref>

The phenomenon known as Blazermania started during the 1976–77 season, when the team posted its first winning record, made its first playoff appearance, and captured its only NBA title, defeating the heavily favored [[Philadelphia 76ers]] in the NBA Finals; the team has been popular in Portland since that time.<ref name="redhot" /><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Blazermania |encyclopedia=NBA Encyclopedia: Playoff edition |publisher=National Basketball Association |url=http://www.nba.com/encyclopedia/blazermania.html |access-date=November 7, 2007 |last=Higdon |first=David |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009180835/http://www.nba.com/encyclopedia/blazermania.html |archive-date=October 9, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> That season, the team started a sellout streak which continued until the team moved into the Rose Garden in 1995.<ref name="funding" /> The team continued to average over 19,000&nbsp;spectators per game until the 2003–04 season, when attendance declined after the team continued to suffer image problems due to the "Jail Blazer" reputation it had gained, and was no longer as competitive on the court.<ref name="grip">{{Cite magazine |last=Wertheim |first=L. Jon |date=December 24, 2001 |title=Losing their grip |url=http://images.cnnsi.com/si_online/news/2002/01/18/flash122401/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212032959/http://images.cnnsi.com/si_online/news/2002/01/18/flash122401/ |archive-date=December 12, 2007 |access-date=November 7, 2007 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref> After drafting eventual Rookie of the Year and three-time All Star [[Brandon Roy]] in 2006, attendance climbed in the 2006–07 season and continued to rebound in the 2007–08 season. The final 27 home games of the 2007–2008 season were consecutive sell-outs, a streak that continued through the entire 2008–2009 season and into the start of the 2011–2012 season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tokito |first=Mike |date=November 12, 2012 |title=Trail Blazers' home sellout streak ends at 195 games &#124; OregonLive.com |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/11/blazers_home_sellout_streak_will_end_tonight_at_19.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831172550/http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/11/blazers_home_sellout_streak_will_end_tonight_at_19.html |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |access-date=August 30, 2017 |website=OregonLive.com |quote=The streak started on Dec. 21, 2007, when the Blazers were in the midst of a 13-game winning streak – the second-longest winning streak in franchise history – and continued as the team made the playoffs three consecutive seasons starting in 2008–09. It kept going last season, even as the Blazers went through a poor campaign in which they went 28–38 and coach Nate McMillan was fired.}}</ref>

The team's rallying cry, "Rip City", was coined by broadcaster [[Bill Schonely]] during the team's [[1970–71 Portland Trail Blazers season|first season]] and remains an integral part of the team's and fanbase's identity.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gunderson |first=Joel |date=October 26, 2015 |title=Rip City: How the Portland Trail blazers got their calling card |url=https://www.si.com/the-cauldron/2015/10/26/how-nbas-portland-trail-blazers-became-known-rip-city |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816184347/https://www.si.com/the-cauldron/2015/10/26/how-nbas-portland-trail-blazers-became-known-rip-city |archive-date=August 16, 2022 |access-date=August 16, 2022 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref>

In the 2023–24 season, the Blazers began testing "OneCourt Haptic Displays", a [[Haptic technology|haptic]] device that allows fans with low vision or blindness to be able to "watch" live games.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tm8Vo9LnT0|title= New tech helps Portland Trail Blazers fans with low vision, blindness 'feel' the game |publisher=[[KGW|KGW News]]|via=[[YouTube]]|date=April 13, 2024|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}</ref> The device was made more accessible the following season. It uses generative audio and haptics to "translate live gameplay into trackable vibrations".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/blazers/news/portland-trail-blazers-become-first-professional-sports-team-to-feature-onecourts-haptic-display-at-all-home-games-powered-by-ticketmaster?srsltid=AfmBOorJyyBxbIu8sZwp7GvVKFmVduENxLSERo3GOSALp5zKbdIziNQo|title=Portland Trail Blazers Become First Professional Sports Team to Feature OneCourt's Haptic Display at All Home Games, Powered by Ticketmaster|website=[[NBA.com]]|date=January 8, 2025|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Joyce|first=Ethan|url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Tech/2025/01/08/|title=SBJ Tech: Trail Blazers deploy OneCourt accessibility tech|work=[[Sports Business Journal]]|date=January 8, 2025|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}</ref>