No, I don't think the article I got that from ment the rockets, just the league in general, which is what BGM was refering to.
First, I'm not defending the fans at the games and lack of support. I go to about 5-6 games a year and people sit on their hands and talk to each other about business, rather than watch the game. However, you an't compare basketball and baseball attendence to football attendence. There are only 8 football home games a year and most sell out throughout the nation. When the Oilers were here, they got great fan support until Bud decided to move the team. The only reason people didn't go to the games after that was they were pissed. You also can't compare Houston to New York/Jersey areas. They have about 30 times the number of people and only double the amount of teams. Of course they are going to sell out their arenas. Plus, most of those teams have large population areas right next to the stadiums. Most people in Houston have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to even get to the game.
crispee, I don't think I said anything about prices being lowered, other than if they were lowered you would see an increase in attendence. I bought tickets to the finals in 94-95 for cheaper than you can get tickets now for the regular season (minus the cheap seats). The problem with the $10 tickets is that the view is so bad, that it can sometimes be more entertaining to watch it on tv. What I like to do is move down when I get $10 tickets and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth. At enron you can pay less than $10 for a ticket and still have an average seat, yet to get a fair seat for a Rockets game you are looking at $46. http://www.nba.com/rockets/tickets/arena.html Take a look and see the great value of Rockets tickets. Someone mentioned the Cavs selling out, well it helps when the price range is $10-$68 vs $10 to $112. B
Using the World Series and terrorist threats as excuses for poor attendance last night ain't gonna cut it in my book. I went through the various box scores and found that next to New Jersey, the Rockets had by far the worst opening night attendance. Here's the complete rundown: Cleveland 17,748 New Jersey 8,749 New York 19,763 Orlando 16,088 Minnesota 18,697 Dallas 19,200 Houston 9,500 San Antonio 16,803 Phoenix 16,421 Utah 18,845 Sacramento 17,317 LA 18,997 What sets these teams apart from the Rockets? For one, the majority all went to the playoffs. So the "Rocket fans are frontrunners" excuse could be valid. I don't have a rundown on ticket prices for each venue but cheap tix can be had a Compaq so that shouldn't be an excuse either. Then there is the "many of the fans here aren't from Houston, blah, blah, blah..." Well, that didn't stop them from going to games just a few years ago. Old School
Rockets move up a notch!! Charlotte fans are worse! Here's tonights (10/31) attendance figures: Boston 14,158 Charlotte 9,002 Miami 16,500 Chicago 18,163 Portland TBA
In Orlando if the team is winning crowds will come. If the team is losing you'll get 13,000 at the games. Orlando use to sell out everygame back in the Penny-Shaq era. Last two seasons it was horrible, we avg 13,000 fans last year. That number will likly be 14-15,000 this year. The team is expected to go far in the playoffs. Season ticket sales have gone up since Hill and McGrady signed. We didn't sell out the game the other day vs the Raptors. We drew about 16,100, thats much better than last years 12,000. It just has to do with winning IMO. Also how big your market is, New York, Chicago, L.A, Toronto all have big markets. While Orlando has one of the smallest they advertise to Tampa Bay which is an hour and half away for season and 10 game ticket packages. They have more fan support in Tampa then they do in Orlando. Tampas a bigger market, the past 3 preseason games in Tampa have all drew over 17,000. Market is the biggest thing, but Utah doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I always thought Houston fans were real supportive. I was shocked to see such a low opening nite figure. I heard the MJ game is sold out, but there are still tickets for Hakeems return. Ouch! I also agree with the person who said he enjoys watching the game at home. I got League Pass, and just got a big screen 61' inch TV screen , I enjoy watchin at home, because you get the lastest news, stats, make all the noise you want, and not drink Pepsi for $4.50.
We watch a lot of games at home - almost all of the UPN games. Then when they aren't televised on UPN, it becomes a bean counters choice how to watch the game. Do we go to SRO's? Doing that gets a meal and the game. If the Rockets' fans were noisier, the games would be more fun and we'd choose that more often. Anyway, we've gone to three games so far this year. So far the noisiest section, by far, has been section 225. So that's where I'm planning to migrate (or even buy tickets) the next time we go. If we can get all the crazies together, maybe we can even get some others in it.
The Jets and Giants play in the same sports complex as do the Nets (the single worst franchise in all of sports in terms of success and fan support) so the population near the area doesn't have a smuch to do with it really. As far as the proximity of the stadiums/arenas, when the Jets moved from Shea Stadium to the Meadowlands, which is a good hour to hour and a half away, the season tix list got longer.
Oops! http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/1101sunsws.html Series on arena TV irked Suns Say telecast diminished opener Bob Young The Arizona Republic Nov. 1, 2001 The several thousand fans who came to America West Arena on Tuesday night for the Suns' season opener may have appreciated seeing the World Series on the jumbo screens, but it was clear Wednesday that coach Scott Skiles and his players did not. Skiles called it "a joke." "Preseason, I'm not so concerned about," he said. "I didn't voice any opinion about that. But even one of the referees said to me it was a travesty. (Tuesday night)." The Suns lost their home opener for the first time since 1996 when Denver beat them 99-96. "I don't think it had any bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the game," Skiles said. "Whether we win by 20 or lose by 20, I think it's ridiculous (to have the baseball game on). "I wonder how Bob Brenly would feel Opening Night next season if on the Jumbotron the whole game is our playoff game? "I want them to do well. Hell, I want them to win the World Series. I'm a Diamondbacks fan. But a lot of people who work nights wanted to see the World Series. Guess what? We had to work last night, and the game was on the whole time. If it was so important for our fans to see it, why were so many of them leaving while the baseball game was still going on and we were getting blown out?" Suns President Bryan Colangelo was caught off guard by Skiles' remarks. "I'm somewhat surprised because Scott and I talked about this some time ago," he said. "Perhaps something was lost in communication. He had a chance to veto it. We placed an ad in the paper telling fans they could catch both at one time based on that conversation I had with Scott. "My initial thought is (Skiles) is caught up in what actually did occur and the way we played and the potential of that being a distraction. In hindsight, maybe it could have been avoided. But we might also have been playing in front of 5,000 fans." The announced crowd of 16,421 was for tickets distributed. There were far fewer in the arena. But Skiles said he wasn't asked about the plan to show the game. "I was told that was going to happen." If there is a Game 7 on Sunday, it would go head to head with a home game against Houston. Will something different happen? "Something's going to happen," Skiles said. "You can bet on that." Colangelo indicated he won't put the baseball game up if Skiles doesn't want it. "Based on the conversations I've had (Wednesday), I'd say most likely not," Colangelo said. The Suns and Skiles are caught in a difficult spot because they don't want to sound as if they aren't pulling for the Diamondbacks. "I think it just takes away from the game," guard Stephon Marbury said. "In the preseason, nobody was complaining about it. We understood. But, I mean, this is our season opener. It was kind of a distraction." Penny Hardaway confirmed that a member of the officiating crew said, "I'm not too fond of this going on," in reference to the baseball broadcast. "It wasn't on at Madison Square Garden (during the New York Knicks game), I'll guarantee you that," Hardaway said. Forward Rodney Rogers said he hopes Game 7 isn't on during the Suns game Sunday if the Series is still going. "The city is happy. It's a great time for the state of Arizona," Rogers said. "We want to support them, but it was our season opener. Fans were concentrating up in the air instead of on the floor. "You could probably ask some of the ballplayers, and they were taking a peek every now and then, I'm pretty sure." How about Rogers? "I probably did once in a while," he said, smiling.
