Amidst another home game filled with empty seats. You got to ask why do so few people go to the games. Let me first say that I was born and raised in Houston and since I can remember have been a die hard astros/rockets/oilers-texans fan. But living in Houston for my first 18 years shielded me from the fact that in general Houston people suck as fans. Im not talking about the people who post on forums like this one or the Texans one. I'm talking about the fact that 90% of the people in my beloved hometown. a. Have no idea how the rockets are doing and probably think Rudy is still the coach. b. Cannot name another Texan player other than David Carr. c. Only would goto a game if they got free tickets and sometimes not even then. d. Didnt even know the astros were in a pennant race up until the final day of the season. e. Think but are not sure that the Texans suck not realizing its only their second year. The sad thing about it is that for the most part all of our teams our at the very least competitive even playoff calibur. This isnt a new thing either. I can dinstinctly remember mother's day 1994, Rockets-Suns playoff game where there were many empty seats!!!! Empty SEATS!!! They won the championship that year and had the MVP. You got places like Dallas and Sac-town, Seattle and so forth who sell out damn near every game and we can't even pack one for the playoffs. And remember watching those oilers home games on TV. IT should be real hard considering there were only like 3 locally televised because the seats couldn't sell fast enough. I went to school in Boston, and now live in chicago and have lived in DC. What a huge difference. I mean the Patriots/Celtics/Red Sox would be having a horrid season but everyone in the city would be into the team and know at least how the season was going. Chicago as well the Bears have had one good season in like 10 years and people still wear bears gear, and dont get me started about the cubs hats that 1 in 3 people in the city wear. On top of that I find Houston fans to be fair weather to the extreme. I mean your team is like your child you love them no matter how much they mess up. But in Houston its like the teams dont get any attention unless there's one second left to go in a championship game. Even then you could probably still get tickets. Maybe the people who live in Houston werent born in Houston, Maybe its just the mindset of the city, I dont know but its bothersome to me. That there is so little support. People dont know how lucky they are to get to go to games whenever they want or watch them on tv. I have to get league pass, sunday ticket to watch the games. I can only go to one game a year here is chicago. I am just venting a little frustration, but want to know other true fan's thoughts.
I am whining but I think there is definite truth behind the lack of fervor and abundance of indifference.
Lol, you've described me pretty well, and I've posted thousands of times in this forum. Point a doesn't apply, and I generally operate under the assumption that the Astros will fall just short of the playoffs every year, but otherwise, you're spot on. I'm sure the Rockets, Texans, and Astros would love to have more fans like you around -- the ones that feel that we must support our teams out of civic pride. I feel the same way, actually, and the only teams I root for are Houston teams (whether they are good or not). The difference is that I don't let such loyalties interfere with other aspects of my life. I don't follow football at all, so I don't know how the Texans are doing. I'm interested in them doing well, but I don't go out of my way to find out because I don't follow football. In the same way, I won't pay for tickets because my loyalty to my wallet is higher than my loyalty to the Rockets (I'll buy a t-shirt now that their unis are half-decent but only because I need to wear something anyway). It is the responsibility of the teams to make me interested and entertain me; the onus is on them, not on me. If they can't make me sufficiently interested, it isn't really the fans that have failed but the teams.
I'm of the belief that there is a limited amount of discretionary dollars that a household can spend on sporting events. Once the Texans entered the picture, I think the Rockets became the 3rd most desirous spot to watch a sporting event. Rockets used to be 1st, but that was when the Oilers were going into the tank after Warren Moon left. Astros really have been just #2 at all times. Noone really talks about the Rockets anymore on the sports talk shows. I listen, and the apathy is quite high.
People in Houston have lives, not like those geeks at Wrigley or Fenway. Seriously, if you aren't winning in Houston, people have plenty of other things to do with their money, and b, a lot of Houstonians aren't native Houstonians so they're loyalty lies elsewhere. Because of the latter, I think the Texans will get more support because even though people may root for other football teams, at least they got to see this one from its birth.
I agree with jradMIT's assessment. I'm from the east coast and have been here most of my life and don't understand the fairweather attitude of a lot of "fans" in Houston. People supported the Cubs, Red Sox, and other teams even when they lost on a regular basis (remember, the Cubs JUST started winning). No matter what, people wore their respective teams jersey, t-shirt, or cap. In 1996, I went to the store wearing the Rockets t-shirt after they got eliminated by Seattle in four games. The cashier commented, saying something like, "Why are you wearing that, they lost!". I replied simply, "I'm a fan" (no response from her on that one). I remember when the Rockets had 2 for 1 tickets and were running coupons in the Chronicle. AFTER they won the SECOND title, you couldn't get a seat in the house. The same attitude goes for the U of H Cougars (Phi Slama Jama), too, even though they didn't win a title, they were among the best assembled teams ever. I also understand other posters assessments, too. The team does have to win and win big, so the bandwagoneers can start jumping on The bottom line is that the real fans continue to support the team, and once the team starts winning big or pretty or whatever, the fairweather fans will come, too.
I don't particularly understand all the whining on this topic. What are the Rockets doing to get people to drive 1 hour from Spring, Katy, Friendswood to see a team score 80 points? This isn't NYC, you can't just hop on the subway and get in line for a ticket. It's a nightmare and a half to navigate any freeway in this sprawling, ginormous hellscape during rush hour. I mean, c'mon, you people have BEEN to Houston, right? Please remember that to most people, it just a sport, and probably not even their favorite sport. This isn't some kind of new phenomenon for Houston. Van Gundyball isn't exactly a crowd-pleaser, to boot. People will come when the Rockets build up a buzz again. The only way to do that is to win a crapload of games in a spectacular fashion. I mean, do you hear people complaining about the Aeros' attendance? They're the champs! The reason no one comes is because no one cares. Just like the Aeros, the Rockets have the unenviable task of getting people with 5 major league teams to support (plus some indoor and Mexican soccer stuff) to give a crap. At one time, basketball was considered a little sexier than hockey, but after MJ's dunks went away, so did most of the public. The Cubs and Red Sox fans are the freaks, not the Rockets'. Sure, it's nice to have a lot of fan support even when you're no good, but it's not to be expected, in my opinion.
Explain that to Denver fans where they have the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA. They still sell out their arena and I'm sure its not easy to drive around either out there with less people. Although, I do admit, Nuggets Basketball is a little more exciting than Rocket ball right now.
1. our teams have been here for one generation. i grew up with the rockets...my father didn't. i grew up here with the astros...my father didn't. contrast that with red sox and cubs fans who've been around since the turn of the century. 2. losing teams don't sell seats, with a few exceptions...right now in the NBA, there are a lot of stadiums that are half-empty...it's not exactly a compelling product right now. and it's WAY overpriced. 3. the fact that you would cite dallas as an example of a great NBA town is laughable. i lived in the dallas media market from 92-96...and they couldn't give Mavs seats away then. when teams miss the playoffs year after year...fans stop plunking down $50 per ticket. 4. i think you're dead wrong in your analysis of texans fans...
The empty seats you saw on TV are in the lower level, which cost over 50 dollors, the fact is that upper level were probably packed, but cameras doesn't show it, and all the out of towners started b****ing at us for not going to the games. Solutions? How about let us go to the lower bowl after half time if there still seats empty? Oh, man, who am I kidding, is not like the Rockets give a damn about the not-so-rich fans.
Let's say you shelled out $75 for a ticket in the lower bowl and at halftime they let people move down who only paid $10-$30 for a ticket...Wouldn't you be kind of upset you wasted your money? I would...but yes it would have been cool to have been able to move down in the good seats
They've got a hot-shot rookie. Rockets attendence was better last year when Yao was the fad, too, though not a sellout every night. This is, however, the first time in history Nuggz fans have ever had to be hopeful, so why not enjoy the "new" thing in town?
couldn't have said it any better. 1. Quite true. We don't have the history of some teams around the nba like the celtics, lakers, etc. So our fanbase even for 35 years of establishment, isn't quite there yet. 2. With the exception of the championship years and the pretty good win-loss records that followed for 95-96 and 96-97 ; the fans of Houston haven't had alot to look forward to. citing stats right here off clutch city, I present the win-loss records for the last 6 seasons. 1997-98 Houston Rockets W-L : 41-41 1998-99 Houston Rockets W-L 31-19 (can't say for sure how the rockets would have fared as 30 games were cut due to work stoppage) 1999-00 Houston Rockets W-L: 34-48 2000-01 Houston Rockets W-L: 45-37 2001-02 Houston Rockets W-L: 28-54 2002-03 Houston Rockets W-L: 43-39 2. (cont'd) On top of that.... you can barely see anything without a pair of binoculars for less than $30-$50 a ticket at minimum. In addition to the ticket costs are the outrageous costs of every single thing offered; food, drink, souveneirs. Those prices would be hard to put up with even if you had a winning team on a consistent basis. 3. see win-loss record and rising costs over last 6 seasons for fans not attending games as much. 4. Really don't have a comment on this, although I'm not an ignorant fan by any means. I don't think most Houston fans are either so much as they are driven back by losing seasons and the money involved to simply attend a game. I will admit though I could give a **** less what the Houston Comets do lol or our joke of a hockey team for that matter. However, the main reason I'm not at every single rockets, texans, astros game is simply cost. $40-75 everytime out can get quite expensive after a couple of games for the season.
Ticket cost and team records have to be taken into consideration but I think Houston fan base sucks also. All these nice, new, expensive houses and loft being built and bought around town but every body is broke.
I still dont understand why there wasnt a big issue when the new stadium was opened about the ticket prices....i started a thread about how ridiculous it is that my dads tickets that are center court 6 rows up went from 112.50 to 175 a TICKET!!!! i was in shock my dad still paid for them, but the rox cant expect that many people to pay 175 a ticket......and those arent even close to the highest prices!!!!......i went to the game last night and it really is sad just seeing section after section being empty....
thats still no excuse to to have 9000 people show up at games!!!! We arnt the damn Cavs of last year!!!
