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Robin Lopez takes the stage after being selected as the 15th overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2008 NBA Draft at Madison Square Garden in New York, June 26, 2008. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The National Basketball Association, launching its 63rd regular season this month, has seen a small drop in season-ticket sales because of the weak U.S. economy, a top executive with the U.S. sports league said.

But Adam Silver, the NBA's deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, said teams could make up any shortfall in season-ticket sales with single-game and package sales, and the league still expects another year of record revenue.

"There is some softness in our season ticket sales, and so the teams are getting creative and focusing on partial plans, group sales, day-of-game tickets to compensate," he said in a telephone interview on Friday.

"In this economy, asking corporations and individuals to make a season-long commitment at a significant price isn't the easiest thing to do," Silver added.

Last year's attendance fell 2 percent from the all-time high set during the 2006-2007 season. The ticket-buying public has been hit by high gasoline and food prices, and battered by the roller-coaster ride on stock markets in the last month.

Teams using creative methods to keep fans buying tickets, including a "buy now, pay later" plan introduced by the New Jersey Nets and a discount by the Indiana Pacers offering season-ticket holders all preseason games at no cost, Silver said.

BELT TIGHTENING

The NBA has begun tightening its belt in league operations as budgets set in August are already being revisited to find any potential savings, he said.

The first NBA preseason game will be played Sunday, with the tip-off for the regular season scheduled for October 28.

Coming off a season marked by the third-highest attendance ever at 21.4 million, a finals featuring the popular Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers teams, and higher television ratings, Silver expects league revenue to rise from the almost $4 billion all-time high recorded last season.

"We have our fingers crossed that we will get through the worst of it without seeing any significant impact on our business," Silver said. "We think we may be able to slide through this one."

He pointed to the NBA's new TV broadcast rights deals, beginning this season with Walt Disney Co's ABC and ESPN networks and Time Warner Inc's TNT network.

Those deals, the league's largest revenue source, will generate an estimated $7.5 billion over eight years, significantly more than the prior deals.

The credit crunch and wider financial crisis brought on by the U.S. housing market's decline will not hurt the NBA unless it lasts a long time, Silver said.

"If we begin to see a turnaround in the next six months, I believe we'll be OK," he said.

(Editing by Brad Dorfman)