Parking problem for new arena.Season ticket holders getting screwed

So if the entire garage is going to club members at the Rockets games, who will park there for concerts, Aeros, etc. I dont think those are sold as club seats for those events, but I could be mistaken.

 

Summit: If you are coming 59 South, you could take that last exit prior to the 288/45 interchange - Richmond/Downtown - and go in that way. You could also take the Gray/Pierce exit right before getting to 45. My choice would be to take 59 to 610 around to I-10 and take either the Smith Street or (my personal favorite) the Hardy/McKee exit off of I-10. Those both come in to the north and west of the ballpark which is just north of the arena.

When leaving, you just take any street going west and hang a left on Travis which will take you directly onto 59 south after about 2 miles. Or you could take Prarie which turns into Memorial and ride Memorial all the way to the West Loop.

Downtown is SO easy to get in and out of.

As for concerts, many arenas sell season passes with their suites and club seats allowing people to buy them both for sports and events. Not everyone will, I assume, but it is an option. Other than that, I'd have to believe that the garage would be open for cash parking during other events, but I honestly don't know.

 

First of all, since it has been put in such indelicate terms ... please, nobody is trying to "screw" anybody else. Building a relationship between the fans and the team is a core mission for us.

The parking lot that is being built next to the arena was built to help make the overall parking situation for the arena easier for everybody by creating 2500 extra spaces. There was never a plan to build a garage that would house everybody coming to a game -- that would be a huge expense (remember, land alone downtown is several million dollars a block), and it just hasn't been seen as a need.

Remember, the Astros have over twice the capacity, average over 30,000 fans a night, have NO garage, and fans don't complain about a parking problem for the ballpark.

Also, nobody is getting to park in the garage for free. First preference will most likely go to luxury suite holders and then club seat holders. But the cost of the parking will be included in the cost of their ticket packages. If there are spots left after that (it would be a small number), we may sell them to non-club seat season ticket holders.

It will be a situation where most fans will pay for parking if they want to park near the arena ... again, it will be very similar to the situation with the Astros. Fans pay for parking at every other venue in the league, and at the other venues in Houston. It's not really news, to be honest -- although we do realize it will represent a change for our fans.

Hope that helps clarify.

Tim McDougall
Vice President of Marketing
Houston Rockets and Comets
timm@rocketball.com

 

Tim:

Please excuse some of the language presented by some of our die hards. They are cool to have around your sports teams, but sometimes never satisfied. Sometimes it is hard for some to phanthom that we live in a society where people who are willing to pay more for luxury usually will and some people will never understand it.

I think I understand you to say that general parking will be included in the packages, but at an additional cost? You see there is one point that begrudges some. The change from unpaid parking (Compaq center) to potential paid parking (downtown) is a bit of a thorn. We (Rockets fans and attendess of the Compaq center) have been accustomed to free parking at the Compaq center for as long as it's existence and now you are potentially asking some to pay an additional $5.00 to park downtown. Now, progress means change and change is good and this will be a huge change. Yes, Astro fans pay for parking downtown, but they have been accustomed to doing so at the Astrodome at $4.00 - $6.00 per pop. Being that Astro's tickets cost signficantly less than Rocket's tickets, I would imagine that an additional $5.00 per game was not that bad of an offering to go to the dome or even downtown. The fact remains that Astro fans have always paid for parking and Rockets fans have not. This is the potential thorn. Some, like me who will pay big bucks to park in front, will get over it, but it will be a further source of contention and rightly so. Progress is great and the new arena will be great, but you potentially will be asking folks to pay an additional $200-$250 per season for parking. There is probably no resolution to this matter, but sensitivity to the subject is required.

On that note, I guess we should wait for the formal presentation of the parking situation. But, you have shed light on some of the issues.

 

When I was in Houston, parking at the Summit was not free. If you looked on your ticket, you saw a parking charge. That meant if you rode with someone or didn't park there, part of the ticket still paid for parking. Perhaps it has changed in the past 10 years, but in the old days there was a fee (perhaps $.75 per ticket).

 

Bobrek is right, there is a parking charge currently built into every ticket at Compaq Center. It's a small charge, but it's built into every ticket, so you pay it whether you drove or were a passenger or took a bus.

Currently, that money goes to the Arena Operating Company, the same company that collects lease payments from the Rockets for using the Compaq Center. That company works it all out with Greenway Plaza.

In the new building, parking will be handled by several independent entities instead of just one. Those fans not parking in the garage will pay those entities directly instead of having the a parking fee included in their ticket. It should end up working out roughly the same.

We are sensitive to it. Just keep in mind that, while we have worked very closely with the city on the details of the new arena, neither the Rockets nor the city owns the land near the arena that will be used for parking. The people that own the lots are going to want some compensation for the use of their land; it's not revenue source for us, and hasn't been at the Compaq Center, either.

Tim

 

Im telling ya the only good thing about this new arena as far as Im concerned is that it kept my team in town. I like the old Summit aka Compaq center...and I especially like having convenient, covered and FREE parking. I am accustomed to it after 5 years of being a season ticket holder. Our tickets are already around $60 a game...so $120 for the two. Ive never paid more than $30 per for lower level at an Astros game in the new arena....thats twice the price to watch in the "old" building before you even get in the door. Now I dont know where you guys are parking, but when I go to the Astros games in downtown, I never remember paying less than $10 and still having to walk a few blocks. That maybe because all the cheap parking is much further away and/or full when I arrive. That $10 could buy me a burger and fries for dinner from the concession stand! But even so...at an Astros game you are still paying less to park and sit down. Im sure the ticket prices will go up even higher for the new venue...the food and beer will too...and now we have to pay to park outside and potentially walk several blocks in the rain. I knew this would happen...its no surprise to me...but it still pisses me off. I go to the games to watch the team...who cares what building they are playing in? If the team wouldnt have held a gun to my head by threatening to move I wouldnt have been at all in favor of a new arena for all of the reasons Ive mentioned. So now we pay for a new building for them to enjoy, pay higher prices for everything to line their pockets even more...and we are the only ones forced to accept this change for the worse.

 

Just a tiny quibble here...

It is true that something like $2 is built into the ticket cost at Compaq, however, the tickets prices (my assumption here) aren't going to go down in the new arena by that amount (or are they?), so, the Rockets will actually absorb a $2 ticket increase that they will not have to hand over to the arena operating company, correct? Has there been any consideration to dropping, for example, the lowest ticket costs - $10 and $15 - to $8 and $13 respectively as a way to lessen that burden?

Since fans will have to pay for parking (most anyway) to the new arena, a small discount to the lowest-priced ticket holders would probably be a nice gesture to them considering the higher cost of parking. Let's face it, the fans who buy the cheap seats are usually people (like many of us) who simply cannot afford more expensive seats. Is there any concern that keeping those costs the same plus the cost of additional parking is going to drive away the ticket holders in those cheaper seats? I mean, if you get a $5 lot and pay $10 for a seat, that is a 50% increase over the Compaq Center.

Overall, this shouldn't be a big deal at all. My bet is that the convenience of getting in and out of downtown and finding a space there will FAR outweigh the cost. It has with the Astros.

And, I'm certainly the last one to be critical over this type of thing because anyone who has follwed the arena saw this one coming. But, when it comes to the cheapest seats, fans who buy those very likely need to protect every dollar they can. So, cutting them a break could be a good thing.

 

Parking is the NUMBER ONE REASON why building the new arena downtown was a bad idea.

Raven

 

That is a stretch. Where else in the city are you going to get central location, tons of available parking at night (which is easy to find for the Astros currently) and easy access in and out of the area. The ONLY downside of parking is the fact that it costs something at all, but find an arena anywhere in the country that doesn't have paid parking. The Texans and Astros have had it (well, the Oilers before the Texans) at the Astrodome and now Reliant and Minute Maid respectively.

I don't think anyone likes paying for parking, but moving the arena somewhere else wouldn't have solved that problem and having it downtown solves a TON of other problems.

 

If parking, of all things, is the #1 problem with the location, then it was a pretty damn good idea to build downtown.

 

Tim, I dont see how the parking costs between The Summit and the new arena are going to work out to be the same. Yes there is a charge in the ticket now, but it is very small comparatively to other venues. At the new arena, it will probably cost anywhere from $5 to $10 or more a game, that is a huge increase in the yearly expense of your season ticket holders. Not to mention that it will be more difficult to find a place that is within a few blocks of the arena. I know this is the price we pay for a new arena, and there is not much you can do about it, but we are just voicing our concern for the situation that faces us in a year. On one hand I cant wait for the new arena, and on the other I will sorely miss the conveinence of our old home The Summit/Compaq Center/HP, whatever you wish to call it.

 

Not for much longer. The amount that you can deduct for tickets has already decreased and, if I'm not mistaken, it could be close to eliminated within just a few more years. Gotta love the IRS.

Great post, though.

 

The parking cost is an interesting fee that I did not know was currently attached to each ticket, but let's be realistic. If you want to park within a reasonable distance of the new arena, you will pay $5-$20 depending on how close. Yes, you may be able to squeeze a freebie now and then, but the majority of people I know plan on forking out $5-10 per game at Minute Maid and will have to do the same at the new Arena. Again, I am one who pays for proximity, but $5.00 for the average fan (which is the standard rate for Minute Maid park and is about a 10-15 minute walk) is steep compared to the $.75 or $2.00 that is supposedly added to the current ticket prices.

There is no pretty way to sell this parking issue. The bottomline is that parking will cost significantly more that it does now and if you want premium parking, you will pay $10-20 per game just like the City Club parking, except probably uncovered . If you want other parking, you will pay $5.00 on average to attend a game. I do not have a problem with it from a personal usage point, but it is a central issue to the average fan. There is no way to sugar-coat it!

Discounts to season ticket holders would be cool, but this is not a democracy issue and this is reality...The stadium is very cool, but no it's location....we just gotta deal with it

 

You have to take the good with the bad.

Brand new, state of the art, centralized arena in downtown: good.

Paying for parking: Bad

I think the trade off is fair.

 

Why is paying for parking such a big deal? If you park anywhere downtown (or the medical center or else in town) you pay for parking, and yes your car is at your own risk while you park there. It is costing the HCHSA $30 MM just for a 2,500 space garage? What would the cost be for all of the patrons? What is the greenway space used for during the day, I would think the cost is also offset by businesses that park in the summit parking at night (although I could be completely wrong). If there is a demand for parking big garage is needed someone would be proposing to one.
On my trips downtown for work, astros game or socially I've rarely had trouble parking in a garage or on the street, pay or for free. The cost and access is far lower and easier than compared to other cities.

http://www.hchsa.org/news/loan_cancelled.html

 

Not putting the parking cost into the ticket price may actually benefit most fans. I assume that most fans don't go to games alone. One car fits five people and a minivan holds about seven. If the $2 parking fee were added to the ticket price, that's up to $10 per car and $14 per minivan--that's more than the separate parking fees. If I am correct, there are already price breaks on some of the seats($19.50 going for $16 and $13 seats going for $10). I don't see any problems with the parking fee at all. It would be hard to say whether the parking fees will cost fans extra dollars for the new arena compared to the old one. Some people will actually benefit and some, those that go to the games alone, will pay a bit more. Considering all the conveniences of being in downtown, there really should'nt be any big complaints.