two quick points to thadeus: 1. because there is nothing else to do in sacramento. that's why they use the cow bells. it's a cow town. there is no other competing sports franchise in sacramento and there isn't much else going on there either. 2. not everybody in the lower bowl was born rich. my father owns four season tickets 11 rows up at half court that go for 175 each. He came from a lower class family and began working construction as a manual laborer in the summers when he was 16. Now he's vice-president and part owner of the largest city contractor in houston. I'm sure you didn't mean offense but I get touchy about somebody implying my father didn't earn every perk he gets to enjoy. Tim: I'd love it if something was worked out that the lower bowl could be filled with upper bowl fans after half time: if that's not possible it's not possible. as to being concerned with no shows as being a case in which you're possibly losing a customer. My father has owned four season tickets since the early 90's. Up until recently he was saying he wasn't going to renew them next year if Jeff Van Gundy is still the coach because our offense has been so horrific that the games are about as enjoyable as having teeth pulled. If the last five games are any indication then this isn't going to be an issue. If they revert back to that ugly basketball that we've seen alot of this season, I'd be very concerned were I you. 60-70 point games just aren't fun to watch. Regardless of who wins.
I agree with Tim that a 15% reduction in ticket prices would not result in a 15% increase in attendance. But that is because, in my opinion, 15% is not enough of a cut to make the lousy nose-bleed seats worthwhile to your average Houstonian. Try a 30% cut instead. You won't increase attendance by 30%, but I maintain that you'd do enough volume to make up for the reduced price, especially when you factor in the additional food, drink, and souvenirs sales that more fans would bring. Try it for a couple of games (with appropriate publicity leading into it). I won't pretend that it would generate a huge profit leap, but I think you'd do better than you are now and the team would really benefit from having a packed house.
Eh, well assuming you're telling the truth (and there's no reason to assume otherwise), then good for him. I started working manual labor around the same age, and washed dishes for a few years before that. But how can he stand being surrounded by corpses during the game? Nevermind, rhetorical question
I have a novel idea: Have Les do a commercial saying the Rockets are for the fans and to show he is serious he is cutting ticket prices drastically. He could be the peoples owner. What's better? Higher ticket prices with empty seats or a sold out arena with lower ticket prices? Wouldn't they also make more with concessions that way? Better atmosphere, better home court advantage might equal more wins and a playoff berth. I bet he still wonders why his Thunderbears flopped here. No one wanted to pay those prices for an arena football team. He should have had tickets so low just to get butts in the seats. I'm guessing it's a pride factor.
I've got a secret: The NBA is a business. I assume Tim and the marketing people have done some sort of cost analysis to determine the optimal price for tickets. If they haven't, they should. Naturally, the coolest thing to do would be to simply bid for tickets in general. The highest bids get the best seats. Just keep going down the list until you have a sellout. That won't happen because of logistics and the uncertainty in cash flow. No owner would ever be "the people's owner" in the sense you're describing. Remember, Tim is telling us that the empty seats in the lower bowl *have been paid for*!!! Someone buys these seats and then DOES NOT GO! Optimally, the ticket office would call season ticket holders and ask them if they were going to the game. If not, then they would resell the tickets (and some money would probably have to go back to the season ticket holder for fairness, or you'd get people who always claim to go).
I am not renewing my season tickets. They were great in Compaq (upper level, mid court , 3 rows up). Now, I can't read the names on the jerseys - because the seats are about 25 feet higher and about 40 feet farther away from the court. And, the seats are smaller and closer together - which is the same for all the new arenas. Still, I don't care if the upper level tickets are FREE - its not worth me cramming my big ass into a little chair and hugging my knees so I don't hit the guy in front of me - for hours. THE VIEW IS BETTER ON TV THAN IN THE UPPER LEVEL! After I use up my tickets for this year - I am done with the upper level. Next year, time to consider whether lower level is worth the price - or maybe it is just time to watch on TV and buy a really good ticket for one or two games a year.
You just don't get it, do you. That kind of commentary is going to get you fired son. Damnit, we didn't pay a bazillion dollars to have your smart ass tell us we need to show up and cheer at a basketball team. And what the hell are you doing for us?, sitting around on your ass all day whining about not getting a better seat at a BB game - on my time......
I've been to 2 games this season, and have seats for 2 more already. I wish some sideline tickets were available at a lower price (the $65 dollar endzone seats are a lot too), but the rest of the place is pretty reasonable. One issue I have with the Rockets (and all Houston sports tickets) is the number of seats that end up in the hands of ticket brokers. I think this also adds to the no shows. Is there any way to limit the amount of tickets they get? I can't stand scalpers (either on the street or "brokers")
COMPLETELY and TOTALLY agree with you on this one! The old "Big Bang" gimmick intro was terrible. There was absolutely no excitement to it at all. My wife and I were at the Wolves blowout and were glad to see the change. The music and fireworks were cool. Reminders of the "Dream" days so to speak. I also agree with another post I read. I agree that the fans who actually show up and make some noise should be able to partake in the festivities as well. For example, when they throw T-Shirts out during timeouts, why not do like the Coyote does in San Antonio and get a machine to actually fire them suckers up into the upper deck! Instead of giving the same people with the lower seats or firing them into empty seats, get those things up top to the people who are making noise and probably already haven't caught 4 or 5 like the people downstairs! Anybody else with me on this one? Let's get some love up top, too!
My suggestion to Tim is that you should implement a system (preferrably online) where fans can easily sell their tickets to other fans when they can't attend the game. Kind of like an official "ebay" for the Rockets tickets. I believe that this would significantly increase the number of people who actually attend games, as those "rich people who own season tickets but don't go" can actually sell their tickets to fans who are going to go. I say this because the last time I went to a Rockets game, we bought $10 tickets but someone on the street offered us a $265 club seat ticket because he had 2 tickets but only 1 person. If a ticket-market among fans is put into place, more people will attend the games and the arena won't appear as empty. This will ultimately go into building a more exciting atmosphere that will get more people to buy tickets.
