I was looking at the price of tickets for next year & was surprised at the prices. My best guesstimate is that over 2/3 of the seats cost $34 or more & that most of the sub $34 tickets are stuck, either behind the video screens or, so high up that the 7'+ players look like ants running around. The average working stiff can't afford to go to the game with any regularity & they most assuredly couldn't afford to take their entire family to the game. I'm assuming you get a discount when you buy season tickets, but how many average people can afford, or would be willing, to fork over $1,000 or more per seat? This makes me wonder how high the tickets will be in the new arena. http://www.nba.com/rockets/tickets/arena.html
Except for the ones blocked by the video screens, there aren't really any bad seats in The Summit. The Summit is so small, that even the nosebleeds are pretty good seats - as someone used to the cavernous Erwin Center, the proximity of the cheap seats to the court in the Summit is a welcome change.
I was in sec 225 row G last year. The seats were pretty damn good for $19.50. Sure its not center court and high up. But the sightlines were still pretty damn good. This year I was able to move to sec 228 and I got a special price of $20 on them. Originally they go for $34.00. Also you do not get a discount of any kind when you buy season tix. If you want season tix just take the price of one game and times it by 44 (41 regular season games and three preseason games). That is exactly what you will pay for season tix. Playoffs are extra.
I've said time and again that the Rockets are overpriced. The only reason why I even go to games is because attendance is so bad now that I can buy awful tickets and move further down. I've always said that they should cut their prices by about 15%. I think that attendance would go up by more than 15% as a result, and everyone would have more money for food and beer. And, of course, having more home fans could only help the team perform better, thus leading to a better record, to the playoffs, and to even more ticket sales. This logic seems simple to me, but I think that Les would view any cut in ticket prices as a failure and perhaps an admission that the team isn't as good as it should be. But, from a business stand-point, I think it would make the most sense.
I think that this year they could charge 20% more for tickets and still get away with it. Comparing this year to last year is not fair in a sense, because we know that the Asian community is going to come out in full force and show their support for Yao. People of all backgrounds from H-town will want to get a glimpse of Yao-mania and see what all the hype is about.
I buy $10 tickets because I take my wife to the games. I agree that the $10 seats are still pretty good - although with average attendance we never have to sit in them. The thing is with season tickets is that there are 44 games and no benefit to ownership of said tickets - especially when you don't make the playoffs. $800+ is a steep price to pay for just watching an event, especially given the limitations: 1. You can't bring in any nice cameras 2. Refreshments are ridiculously priced 3. Stripping by female fans is not encouraged (see brazillian world cup fans) Ok, the last two are asking for a little too much, but the limitations on cameras is a little silly. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to make your own Rockets scrapbooks and galleries online? They are worried about protecting revenues based on merchandise - but I think they would do better to promote all fan activity.
I've been to some NY Knicks games and the $10 seats in Houston cost me $50 in NY!!! Last row in section 1,928,223!!! Everything is overpriced in big cities. Anyway, the listed prices aren't bad at all.
Ticket prices should be OK at the new arena; Les'll be making more dough-re-mi on those luxury suites and shouldn't have to raise the price of seats for the working schmoes. Of course, if Houston's Asian community makes decent $$$, maybe I'm just waaaaay off on this one, and it'll still cost too damn much to see the team play.
For someone who buys the cheeper seats often: How easy is it now a days to move down? I rarely go to games but when I do, it seems I've just been fortunate that the ticket checker looked away for a second.
All NBA tickets are expensive, not just Houston. The only problem is that we have a much bigger population than most cities, but we manage to still not be able to sell out. Houston is filled with Fair Weather fans.
Well, at the MCI Center in DC, there's three levels rather than two levels like at the Compaq Center. The second level at MCI is all club seats, so the third level is the only place you can get tickets for $45. It is so high up you almost need binoculars. The $45 seats in the Compaq Center are twice as close to the action. However, with the crappy attendance at Rockets games, it makes you wonder why they just don't go ahead and bite the bullet this season and lower the prices a tad. It would allow more fans to purchase tickets for the games and help to boost team support for next season.
I didn't mean to imply that only Houston's tickets were expensive. Maybe, I should've said that NBA tickets are expensive. That still doesn't change the fact that the NBA is a rich man's play ground. The NFL is even worse. A family of 4 would have to take a second mortgage on their house just to see one game. Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but it seems to me that Baseball is the only remaining Pro sport that a family can afford to attend. Unfortunately, they go on strike every 8 years or so. Oh well, here's hoping that sports fans will serve notice on the players & owners, that enough is enough. But, I doubt that will happen either. Sports fans are like sheep being led to the slaughter.
The tickets were center court, but my dad and I went to a Rockets game a few years ago vs. the Kings and we paid $45 for seats on the VERY top row.
The last time I went to a Rox game, I think my dad got tickets in the 40 dollar range. On that chart, it looks pretty far, but I could easily make out the game looking at the court, and not the screen. It was a pretty cool game because it was the game where the Rockets snapped their losing streak last year. (wasn't it 15?) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that almost any ticket is good.
You gotta remeber that the ticket price includes tax & parking so I don't think most of those prices are too out of line. And like others haves said, besides being behind a scoreboard, none of the seats are that bad. I had season tickets in sec 203 Row R (3 rows from the top) and the view was pretty good. I could seen everything and the players didn't look like ants. When I lived in NY I went to the Knicks v. Rocks game at MSG and paid 35 bucks for seats in the upper deck and I could barley see a thing I was so high up there. Lets just face it. Tickets for pro sporting events are pretty steep across the country but the Rockets are probably somewhere in the middle of the pack.
In Oakland you can get lower bowl ticks for less than 30 bucks, and there is a discount on season tickets (like I want to see all the Warriors games.) They also have horrible attendance, but it is because they are the worst team in the NBA. I will try to get to a game or 2 again this year.
I'm a previous Dallas Cowboy Season Ticket holder and when the PSL came into play I didn't renew my tickets. I miss "vacationing" in Dallas 8 times a year but I wasn't going to pay just for the rights to buy my tickets. The Rockets are my favorite team and I go to as many games as I can (10-20 a year for the last 3 years, and most for free with tickets from vendors) but this year I was going to split some season tickets with a buddy and his wife but when I was discussing the cost with my wife she pointed out I could have that Hi-Defination TV I've wanted for the same cost. Guess I'll be watching the games on my new TV and depending on Vendors and Friends for the free tickets.
