What bothers me most is that other teams will allow fans to move down into the "visible" sections after a quarter or two, but we don't allow it. And what's worse is that most of the other sections fill up much more than the visible sections...we look like we get amongst the worst attendance if you watch us on TV.
Most places i know of do not allow fans to move down until maybe the 2nd half at best. It also depends on the sport......baseball is much more lax than say basketball. As far as the original post i completely agree. It is a shame we have such a beautiful arena, a great roster of players that have a chance to compete for the championship and yet many seats are empty. Keep in mind though the regular season hasn't started yet.
Reality is that basketball is not that popular here to begin with, but the segments that it IS very popular with tend to be younger, minority groups. Then you look at the basketball gameday experience as being one of the most expensive in all of sports AND add the fact that, to me personally, basketball is the sport that is the worst to watch live if you don't have great seats, and it's no wonder you see what you see. I've been to Toyota Center a few times, and I'll probably never go back. I don't want to spend the money to get really good seats and if I'm not in good seats then the experience is a lot worse than watching at home. Not to mention that I don't have any friends or associates who have any interest in watching the Rockets. Except my brother in law.
If Seattle is willing to wait until 2033 when the Rockets' lease ends at TC, sure lets talk things 20 years down the road prematurely.
In order to be considered a sports city, players on the team have to deliver or else it becomes a joke. For such a large city, we have had 2 major titles in three major pro sports. The Oilers and Texans have been largely utter disappointments. The DisAstros speak for itself. And the Rockets lasted tasted champagne during the 94-95 season. If this city had pro sports teams that actually delivered, there would be so many more diehard fans.
Isn't that simply furthering the bandwagon stereo-type of "We will only cheer for teams that win?" I understand where you're coming from... but I don't think a city that has lots of success and thus supports its sports teams = a "good sports city". Miami is supporting the Heat now, and Atlanta is supporting the Braves/Falcons... but neither are good sports cities. On the flip-side, Cleveland hasn't won much of anything lately... even less than Houston... but I consider the fans there to be knowledgable/passionate/and will support the team when they do well (but won't completely abandon/disown them when they're bad).
Houstonians aren't bandwagon fans, they are fairweather fans. It is really annoying being a fan in the city when a team isn't great.
Agreed. Most cities are. And I don't really see much of a difference between the two terms. Both involve only following or rooting for teams that are "good". And every city will have people crawling out of the woodwork saying they were always a "fan" when the team starts doing well (even though they don't know half the people on the team). Is that a bandwagon fan or a fairweather fan?
I got my tickets for the 2nd home opener along with 40 other peeps! But you wont see us because we will be in nosebleeds. Wished we could all afford lower bowl seats.
Financial planners have deemed the sunk cost of empty seats to be more than worth the price of effectively charging a king's ransom for the remaining seats. What results is corporate ownership of a large majority of the closest seats, with bigwigs and honored guests opting instead to mingle in the lounge beneath the stands rather than take in the whole game in person. The people who are able to afford individual lower bowl, close seats are for the most part the Houston upper class. Further away lower bowl seats and upper deck seats will be completely full this year I guarantee you.
Most cities with new arenas have corporate big-wigs and club level seats. Why is it that Houston seems to have more empty seats than those cities? (the answer is that these fans need something worth while to leave the "meeting" and get in the seats... the Rockets haven't been a championship contender since the 90's... and the closest they've been since then, Yao years, was de-railed swiftly due to injury. Also, nobody really expected the Yao teams to win it all).
A lot of them are. Houston is a city full of transplants. There are so many sports fans who are fans of other teams when they move here. Those people are not going to support the local teams very much unless they start winning and they can hop on the bandwagon.
There's also enough people living here who were born/raised, or have been here long enough to only consider Houston their home (esp as far as sports are concerned). Houston is still relatively young, but they've also been around long enough now to no longer be considered an "expansion" city of the major cities (similar to the Heat).
Those empty seats in the lower bowl have been sold. If the people that purchased those seats would rather hang out in the bar areas, then that's their business and I don't care. They paid their money and they can enjoy the game however they see fit. There is more than on way to watch the game in Toyota Center, and there is nothing wrong with that.
I been to 6-7 games, but living in Austin makes it hard for me to go to games unfortunately. I have 4 jerseys, Dream's Spalding shoes that I got authorized, and a basketball signed by Mad Max and Elie when they visited my elementary school many, many years back.
You guys are crazy. Ur naming small market cities that have fans that show out all day every day?...... Because theirs nothing else to do in Cleveland then go to a cavs game. Houston's the 4th largest city I'm the United States. We have multiple options of what to do every single night if you want. Theirs always something from music to sports and art going on in this city. I've been a season ticket holder for 8 yrs and when we had Yao Ming. And TMac we were always sold out and it was extremely loud. I think what some are forgetting is its much easier to sell out a football game when u have 8 home games over the course of 4 months compared to 41 home games that start late end late and often times play during the week. The TC will be sold out this yr. I mean we had 15k ppl outside TC in hot as hell July during the middle of the week. If you don't think people are excited about the rockets then your just nitpicking. The city is ready and we will be in full support.
