We had higher capacity with Yao. Our capacity is only about 18,000, so we are basically the norm for non-competing teams. At the same time when we had Yao and McGrady we weren't significantly better in terms of paid attendance than we were in the post McGrady perpetually injured Yao years. Right now we are 29th in average attendance, despite being 5-1 at the Toyota Center. Texans are king in Houston, followed by the Astros. Of course it is NFL/MLB/NBA in most cities that have all 3.
The attendance hasn't been great when we've been good over the past decade. 2009 was really the only good attendance year.
Honestly, those McGrady/Yao teams that lost in the first round in 7 games felt close to being a real contender.
Houston fans really don't show support like many other cities. You figure that being the 4th largest city in the U.S. for quite some time that you could find 18,000 fans to fill the Toyota Center. I agree with the OP and have never seen fair weather fans that can compete with houstonians.
...And yet there are still plenty of empty seats in that picture Look, there are tons of mitigating factors, yes. But I think the lockout hurt in more ways than just angering former fans. The biggest effect of the lockout has to be the condensed number of games. It used to be you had only a couple of times per week on a home stand to see the Rockets. Sometimes less. The condensed schedule has put too much supply crammed into a place with far too little demand. If people wonder, yes, I am in favor of shorter NBA and NFL seasons. Give me (Nintendo) 64 games per season, late October through June, and attendance will go way up.
Dude, NBA games are freaking expensive. The NBA sucks as an organization and is not worth supporting with your hard earned money. You can see the game much better on your own high def TV. Oh yeah, and we are a 500 team at best. These are the reasons why people don't go to the games. Don't get me wrong, I think it's important to get out there and support your team as often as you can. For my part, I end up going to about two games a year (I don't live in Houston anymore, but i catch them when i go back to vist as well as when they play the Wiz). But even when i lived in Houston the cost of going to an NBA game limited how often i could go. I consider myself just as much a die-hard fan as anyone. But you don;'t have to go to the games to be a Rockets fan. If you are lucky enough to own season tickets, my hat is off to you, but it's not a referendum on how much of a fan someone is. I wish more people would go, but i also wish we weren't in a recession, that ticket prices were reasonable, and that the Rockets put a quality product on the floor. It's just the way things are.
There will almost always be some empty seats. Often times they are bought by corporations, and they don't all get used.
I love how most of the people whining don't even go to games themselves. What is this, high school? We're supposed to blindly follow the team no matter what? Are we going after some spirit award or something? We're supposed to buy season tickets every year just so the arena will look full while you watch it on TV? Bite me. Wake me up when this franchise has something to look forward to besides a .500 record, another 1st round playoff exit and the 14th draft pick.
In Houston you're one out of two: Either too cool to cheer or just too big of a snob to care. Most people at the game sadly are there to be seen, rather than to see the Rockets. I hate to say it but the Mavs and Spurs have better fans than we do, game-wise that is.
When it comes to basketball, we're a bandwagon city. My view is, if you actually buy a ticket and goto the game, do whatever you want. If you want to just go there and chat it up, go ahead. At least they're supporting the team. While most people sit at home and b**** about what people who paid money for a ticket, should be doing at games. If you don't goto games, you cant speak on what fans who do go.
Angkor you right bro.... If u dont go to the games , the STFU... Therefore I don't have an opinion , because I haven't been to a game since Doug West lit us up while in Minnesota.... But I appreciate the fans that do attend...Thanks to them, it makes me feel like I aint missed a thing , when I'm flipping through the channels and catch the game for a quick minute.... No wonder they don't show up