Chron: Rockets Recognize Need To Fuel Fans' Fervor

They have the l-boxes up high, but I agree. I wish the real fans could be closer to the action.

Man I wish I could sit close to the game. Nose Bleed seats for me.

 

Personally, I don't like seat-jumping, but I agree with the rest of this post. I see the crowd issue as being a combination of three things:

1. Nothing in the past few years to draw on. We haven't been defending champs for nearly a decade, and haven't made it past the regular season since Barkley was around. Arco wasn't loud until after the Kings were a playoff team, but has built on it since.

2. Corporate or disinterested rich "filling" the lower bowl sides. They're either too busy socializing or didn't come to begin with. It's tough to be excited when you're so far removed from the action as the upper bowl is.

3. What are we supposed to be excited about? I've been to about 5 games so far, with 5 more to go (through beginning of March). Some games have been so ugly, it honestly didn't matter to me anymore if the Rockets won in the end. There are defensive battles, and then there are offensive woes. Bricking wide-open lay-ups and mid-range jumpers are woes. Dribbling the ball of legs is woes. It's simply been bad offensive basketball.

I've got zero interest in seeing any games beyond what I've got tickets for this season, and I doubt I'll see many at all next season. This after going to the games since '93.

The early-90s Cavs weren't this hard to watch.

Evan

 

When we had the old Rockets starting lineup intro (the countdown), IMO I thought that was the best one in the league. Very very exciting. But coming from a drummer, I don't like the current intro at all.

Rocket personnel, please bring the old starting lineups back.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't mind having the 1993-94 starting lineup back again...at their current ages! Hell, I'm sure a 40 year old Dream, a 38 year old Kenny Smith, a 38 year old Vernon Maxwell, a 41 year old Thorpe, and a 33 year old Horry could whoop our current team by 20 or so...

 

The drummers actually didnt do the intro this past sat. It was different.

 

I'd suggest creating an unused ticket mechanism: anyone who knows they aren't going to be using their tickets could call in, free up their seats, and get a discount toward future ticket purchases. Their freed-up seats could go on sale at the box office two hours or so before gametime. Do student discounts. Let's get some warm bodies in the TC!

 

T-Gray is a great PA announcer, I don't see why he gets so much criticism. The new introductions are alot better than the drums. You have to give the Rockets props they defintely listened to the fans here.

But if the Rockets ever want to get a true home court they're going to have to play exciting basketball. I been to the last 4 games and its impossible to get behind the team when they struggle to hit 80 points.

And why do people say the lower bowl is full of rich snobs at Rocket games but not the same at Texan games. Im just guessing but I think those would cost a heck of a lot more.

 

Actually, that place has been one of the loudest arenas in the league since the day the team moved from Kansas City. But it is the exception, not the rule.

I agree with mateo. The NBA has gone corporate, even more so than the other 2 major sports. They market the league to a certain demographic (young and/or the everyday fan) and then price them right out of the arena. If Rocket tickets were as cheap as Astro tickets, I could afford to go to more than 3 or 4 games a year.

It seems like the Rockets care more about seats sold than seats filled. So what if the arena is half empty and totally silent? At least the seats are paid for...

 

Yeah, but everyone knows the South...Texas especially... is more geared toward football in general than b-ball. So more real fans are willing to shell out for good tix. And yes, its true the lower bowl seats in Reliant for Texans games are more $$$, but theres not many to buy each season...less than 10 compared to over 40 games per season for the Rox. They are also generally on Sundays...so its easier to get to them for most people since its a day off work, school, etc.

Given these reasons, I think a lot of people find their money is better spent on football games.

However...the caliber of fan in Houston has never ceased to amaze me either. Seems like cheering and yelling for your team is frowned upon. I have definitely been told to be quiet and/or sit down on more than one occasion. I wasnt cursing or being obnoxious...just cheering for my team and heckling the opposition. Thats what I think going to the games is all about...sometimes I wonder what these other people are there for?

Hell, I didnt even get such weird looks when I was in the Delta Center cheering on the Rox as I do cheering the home team in H-town. Its a shame.

 

ill be at the game vs the celtics on the 11th. maybe if i yell loud enough, ill have enough quarters thrown at me to buy a hot dog or something. rewards system

 

I actually have never had a problem w/ his actual style, or even his random chants of defense (which don't seem akward in a loud arena).

The only thing I don't like about him is the way his voice SOUNDS. It just doesn't sound like a PA announcer voice... if you don't know what I'm talking about, go over to Minute Maid Park and hear the "voice of god." Or, watch a 94 or 95 home Rockets game where Matt Thomas does the starting lineups.

Their voices sound unmuffled/very clear, and they have this accoustically pleasing sound that makes them seem enthusiastic (and i'm pretty sure that you're either born w/ that or not).

T Grey tries to be enthusiastic, but in the process his voice sounds worse and worse for a big mic in a big arena.

As far as the new starting lineup song is concerned... could anybody give any details on this? Like, are they using the LED ribbon boards during it?

 

Get musical acts and integrate the game!

The game itself is okay..not too ugly and boring..Power Dancers and Clutch are entertaining..music is good!

Linkin Park concert with a game! Then it will be sold out.

 

I call 'em "white-collar fans"

A white collar fan....

1. Got his ticket for free from his business or from a client/vendor. He doesn't really care too much about the Rockets, but figures he'll go to a free game.
   
2. Gets to the arena late because he's going to a nice restaurant with client/vendor.
   
3. Doesn't scream and yell at the game because he's old, doesn't want to be obnoxious with his client/vendor, and really doesn't care about the game (see no. 1 above).
   
4. Doesn't mind no-showing for the game at all and wasting the tickets, 'cause he doesn't care about the game (see no. 1 above)
   
5. Leaves early because it's important for him to be sharp the next morning with client/vendor, and he doesn't care enough about the game to stay.
   [/list=1]I have no sympathy for the Rockets whatsoever. They have priced out blue-collar fans. This Chronicle article talks about how quiet the stadium is, but the Rockets don't care about noise. The article talks about empty seats, but the Rockets don't care about attendance. The Rockets care about ticket sales.
   
   If a fan pays $135 for one seat out of his own pocket, I guarantee that he'll yell at the game: his financial commitment is a direct reflection of how much he enjoys watching the rockets play. Any time you see a guy sit in the expensive seats and not yell - that's a guy who got free tickets.
   
   Though I think that it's obvious that this is a business/financial decision for the Rockets, I think that it's a financially foolish pricing structure: with fewer fans in the stadium, fewer concessions are sold. I would think that it would be better to lower the ticket prices, make the good seats available to non-season ticket holders and blue collar fans, and get more people in the door and in the seats in order to sell more overpriced beer and hot-dogs.
   
   -- droxford

 

My 12 year old son got two tickets for Chrismas to the T-wolves game in the cheap seats.
He is a big fan I was thinking of moving down, is it easy just to go to the lower level or are you checked?

 

From what I heard you can't move down. They built the arena so that you can not move down to the courside seats etc. (also they seem to check heavily at the doors) .....just from what I have heard. I could be wrong.

 

I sit in the lower bowl and I hate it when "rowdy" fans come down and get a free upgrade. Part of it just has to do with knowing that those people didn't actually pay for those seats. The majority of it, though, is because "rowdy" usually means completely wasted and enormously obnoxious. Second, it always creates some level of confusion and game watching interruption. Inevitably, people come down and sit in someone else's seat and then those poeple come back and there is confusion and then the seat-hoppers walk away trying to spy another seat and it happens again to the point where it becomes this annoying side attraction that takes my attention away from the game no matter how hard i try to ignore it.

I like a great atmosphere as much as the next guy, and, though I'm not the loudest guy in my section, I am certainly one of the biggest fans and I think I have a great understanding of what is actually going on on the court, etc., etc.

 

I am a big fan of the idea of re-selling the non-used tickets in the arena at a much lower price point, though.

 

If you're gonna think about the re-selling idea, you might consider 5$ cash rebates to the high-dollar ticket holders if they get to the arena early, and $5 rebates if the stay late. That'd keep people in the stadium.

The 'free bobble head' types of promotion are a similar incentive, but

1) white-collar fans don't care enough about a ¢15 imported piece of plastic. Money talks. Plastic walks.

2) it doesn't inspire the white-collar fan to actually stay at the game through the end.

The Astros had a smart idea with the crowd on one half of the stadium yelling against the other half to win free bottled water. It promoted a product, and got the fans a little more vocal.

This is evident also with the Rocketc: the loudest I've heard the Toyota center so far has been when the Rockets scored/almost scored 100 points, and the fans got/almost got free Big Macs.

Maybe the Rockets could build a 'super-fan' card: swipe it 30 minutes before the game, AND 15 minutes after the game for one credit.... and, at the end of the season, the season-ticket-holder can redeem the credits for discounts or stuff: the more credits you get, the more discounts or stuff you can get.

BTW- Tim, if you read this and steal any of my ideas, I want a piece of the action!

-- droxford

 

Note: The reason they won't re-sell the tickets is because it's not fair to full-price payers. In other words, you'd have a guy who paid $135 for his ticket sitting right next to a guy who bought a re-sold ticket and only paid $50 for it. That's not fair to the $135 ticket-payer, and it inspires people to not buy $135 tickets.

-- droxford