The NBA Is Struggling To Survive In Both Houston And Indianapolis

are you kidding me? It's a great city for it. The business side has been weak. We are still one of the world's top franchises.

 

its amazing how you posted an informative piece and people just totally ignored it

 

Well of course we don't have a high tv rating, not everyone has CSNH...

 

Don't even bother.... nono has made other bizarre comments.

The Rockets are fine, are making lots of money and the franchise is very valuable. The fact that we have not been elite in 15 years and the lack of a television contract is troubling but are both short term concerns.

 

The business side isn't weak, the value of the franchise is high and Alexander is making a good amount of money off of the Rockets. The team does need to fix the television issue but it will be resolved.

 

Yes, they don't deserve those seats if they don't show up. It's pathetic to repeatedly give season tickets to these people.

And for all of those who are arguing that the blackout is affecting the games, remember that the Trail Blazers are also blacked out, yet rank near the top in attendance.

Face it, basketball isn't really appealing to the duck dynasty types, and the people who really love the game have been priced out.

 

Houston Rockets has the second best road game attendance behind the Lakers.

 

We arent struggling to survive at all.

People can't watch the games, people don't go to the games, but the franchise is extremely profitable.

 

The blackout in combination with several years of missing the playoffs and several years without a marquee star has starved the team of local interest.

The blackout has done a terrific job of choking what otherwise would have been a revitalizing season. Harden didn't come to town with superstar recognition, and over half the city (including bars) couldn't watch.

The whole situation has been a terrific turnoff in general. Even right here on the BBS, a good number of folks feel bitter towards the organization over this. Imagine how the more fairweather Houstonians think of Les and the team.

They could have won back a huge number of folks, but CSN-gate shot them in the face.

Pacers, on the other hand, are coming off a big season where they tested the Heat in the postseason, are back as a top seed, and don't have a TV coverage issue. Big difference.

 

I'd bet there is an exponential negative effect from so many households not showing the Rockets on TV. This is because of the way word of mouth spreads--each person watching the Rockets can potentially tell five, ten, even twenty friends about how well the team is playing and how exciting they are. There is also negative word of mouth to consider, because so many people are upset that they can't watch the team.

The standard for success in the NBA is also a lower bar than in other sports, so it's disingenuous to compare Rockets ratings to those of a baseball team.

All in all, I think the team would be doing fine at a mid market level if not for CSN.

 

Which makes our bad home attendance even more alarming.

 

Duck Dynasty types?

Face it, you don't know what the hell you are talking about (nothing new).

If the tickets are being purchased, then the Rockets are fine.

Just go back to your Jeremy Lin threads and leave the discussion to the adults in the room.

 

newb.

 

this study doesn't take into account the numbers of fans watching Rockets in other cities, as in watching games on NBA League Pass, for instance.

Also, if ESPN and ABC would start showing more Rockets games, it might help spawn more Rockets fans.

 

Yeah, they don't GIVE those seats to people. They sell them. At ridiculous prices. And many times the seats are empty...but because the team has put bars up in the concourses, the fans have used their tickets and watch the games from there. They don't market these seats to individuals typically...they market them primarily to corporations who write them off as a business expense and use them for client entertainment. The NBA is a very, very corporate product. There isn't a franchise in the league that's interested in "punishing" it's highest paying customers. If their checks cash, the Rockets are just fine.

The TrailBlazers are the only game in town...when you're the only pro sports option in a city that large, you're going to sell tickets and having high TV ratings. Ask Salt Lake City and San Antonio.

Not sure what you're duck dynasty comment alludes to. This is a ridiculously educated and diverse city...as diverse as any in the US...and is home to an assload of Fortune 500 companies.

Bottom line: The Houston Rockets are in no way, shape or form "struggling to survive" as this ridiculous article asserts.

 

Really ? It's fine for one of the most exciting teams in the league to play in a half empty stadium every game?

The worst problem is perhaps when you turn the radio on they would rather talk about the garbage Astros team on a $20m payroll than the Rockets team which is almost in to the playoffs for the first time in many years.

 

theres no one watching cause theres no stars on this team Hardens a good start but get a Howard and I bet he fills up seats lol

 

While this is true, TC has always had a weak crowd

 

Using attendance without reference to capacity is pointless.

Toyota Center is one of the smallest arenas in the league, in terms of capacity, so even if the Rockets sold out every game... they still wouldn't be in the top 10 in attendance. In terms of percentage of seats sold (91.8%), they're No. 17... right in the middle of the pack. Could be better, sure, but "struggling to survive" is overly dramatic bull**** from a journalist desperate for a narrative and clicks.

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/sort/homePct

 

But there MLB hasn't started and NFL has been over for a while and the Rockets still weren't selling seats