[rant] Yeah, the parking price tag is a huge deal for me also. Even if my tickets don't increase in price, and extra $5-20 a game, 40 times a year is out of the question for me. You talk about the rich being about to handle the increase, so why not make them pay for the parking? In fact, I think I just going to skip out on season tickets next year and just watch on TV and go to a few promotional nights and nothing else. Why should I have to pay $200-800 a year just to park, then pay $13-19.50 per ticket for a sub par product? I think I'll just get used to watching everything on TV, or *shudder* find a new hobby that isn't going to cost me thousands of dollars a year. [/rant] B
Geez playercentral, you act suprised that the Rockets show preferential treatment to the higher priced season ticket holders...Vegas doesn't give free hotel rooms to guys playing the nickel slots... I think Rockets fans got a little spoiled with the free parking at Greenway Plaza...is there any other arena in the NBA at which fans DIDN'T have to pay for parking?
My 1/2 season package has been in Section 103, Row P for the last 2 years. I live in Beaumont, and 1/2 the games is about all I can do. The drive is difficult during weeknites with work the next day. In Beaumont we get almost no games - except when it is TNT, or playing Chicago on WGN. My 2 tickets are 59.00 ea. How much will they go up? Do you think a 1/2 season pkg is available next season?? I had not thought about parking. I guess I'll drive my old work car.
Spoiled??????? And I hate to tell you this but somewhere down the line we paid for that parking so it was not free. My beef is this: A MAJORITY OF THE SEASON TICKETHOLDERS are not aware that the "Parking garage" is not for everyone to use on a first come first serve basis. For every Season ticket holder who wants to express their concern over this parking fiasco contact Channel 2, Fox 26 and the Houston Rockets front office. The news media was all over Texans big blunder and the Rockets will be next. By the way A-train is their any other arena with a team that has not given us playoffs, charging the 2nd highest ticket prices? I have seen many arenas, and where they put the Rockets Arena at is CRAMPED. Astros can make parking passes with the season tickets why can't the Rockets??????????
First of all, I'm curious as to where the new ticket prices will put the Rockets in relation to the rest of the league. Second, if the Rockets still rank in the top two or three in tickets prices next season, can someone please answer me this: why? Thanks.
Parking downtown is easy, but it does cost. No one wants to pay it but Compaq Center was the only building in the league with its own adequate parking. I NEVER have a problem going to Minute Maid and finding a $5 space a few blocks away. Hell, if I go at night, I just park on the street for free when the meters are turned off at 6pm. Now, I do agree that giving the 2500 parking spaces in the garage away to only luxury or club seat holders is not a great practice. IMO, they should go in this order: 1. Physically disabled ticket holders 2. Long-standing season ticket holders no matter where they sit 3. All other season ticket holders. As for the comparison to the Texans, they are not even close. The Texans had problems because they have basically one giant lot (albeit subdivided) and they didn't prepare well for the amount of traffic. Parking at the Dome has always been a nightmare. When you only have 3 or four roads into the place, getting people in and out just sucks donkey balls. That is one of the reasons I liked the Astros move downtown. It is so much easier to get in and out of there because downtown is built to move traffic in and out of it for people going to work. And when you consider that an average work day brings 10 times as many people as will attend a basketball game, you realize how much space is available. I agree that the garage issue could be handled much better, but complaining about parking in downtown is kinda pointless at this point. The arena is moving down there and everyone knows the situation. I'm not sure what everyone expects the Rockets to do at this point.
Tim, maybe you misunderstood my post - I am not opposed to paying slightly more for the same package in a nice, new, clean arena. I AM opposed to paying slightly more if it involves the same CRAP ASS (non)team that you guys fielded this year. I understand that you are in the marketing dept. & not the GM, but YOU should understand that the novelty of a new arena will wear off VERY quickly when the product you are employed to market - the players - is crap. Just ask the Astros. This team has not gotten us to the playoffs in years. It plays a very frustrating, boring brand of basketball. In my opinion there is no justification - none - for jacking up prices, not even for the "rich people's seats," when your product has the quality of horse feces! If you added a couple of bucks to the tickets & called it a "charge for watching us play in a cool new areana" - fine! Don't jack tickets up and then try to sell it to us as worth the value of the entertainment. Hell, if you were "valuing the entertainment" of the Rockets team, you should have steadily DECREASED prices over the last few years. The parking thing is overblown though guys. Yeah you'll have to pay at the lots - and there are plenty - but you have to pay as it is whenever you go downtown for anything: Astros, theater, concerts, opera, clubbing... We knew this from the second we heard the arena would be dtown. We knew & we still voted for it. Anyway, park to the west of the arena & you should be safe. Living & working down here though, I would highly recommend that you avoid parking in areas to the southeast of the arena - that is unless you want to pay some shady guy 5 bucks to "watch your car..."
In 2001 and 2002 (the 2 years following the opening of MM Park), the Astros finished 1st and 2nd. I would not call that product 'crap'. The Astros still averaged 31,000+ fans last year for a total attendance of over 2.5 million. In 2000 they averaged 37,000+ which was 5th in the NL while in 2001 they averaged 35,000+ and again were 5th. Last year they were 9th, but not because the product was 'crap'.
I totally understand supply and demand, it's what makes our country what it is. But I do think there should be loyalty to the long-term season ticket holders. Those people have been loyal to the team (good teams and bad teams) for many years and if nothing else, it would be a great PR move. I don't think the Rockets would lose money by keeping ticket prices the same for a few 20-year-long season ticketholders. Once again, the fans loyalty is not being reciprocated.
That is complete horsesh!t that the parking garage is only for the rich seats. I thought that garage was to provide parking for everyone who wanted it and who was going to the games just like for the Compaq Center. Why the hell is the city of Houston building that damn thing if it is for the rich elite. My family used to split season tickets with friends from about 1987-1999. The price of those tickets in the upper deck in section 237 tripled from $8 to $27 with most of that increase coming in the last 8 years. We used to get some lower prom tickets occasionally when they were at the reasonable price of $32 a ticket. Even if I had the money I would be insane to pay $175 PER TICKET PER GAME to watch the crap that is put out on the court. No wonder that real fans no longer occupy those seats. Only the corporate dickw@ds in their suits occupy those seats and the real fan is driven away just like with wea. The Rockets are asking their fans to pay more for tickets AND to pay for parking which we never had to before (I know parking was included but does the average fan know that all they know is that they are reaching for their pockets to pay more money to the Rockets) without a specified place to park. This whole parking garage thing is an outrage. So where the hell am I going to park. The Rockets never should have left Compaq and The Greenway Plaza area. They should have just remodeled Compaq to add some luxury suites. They were in a proven area that works with plenty of parking for the fans making it very convenient. The shenanigans that the Rockets have pulled have caused me to get as few as one or two games the past couple of years and I am a rabid fan. This crap will probably put me over the edge if the product is the same. I might not go to any games this year. Pro sports are killing off their fans. I didn't go to an Astros game last year for similar reasons. Before you flame I voted for the arena to keep the Rockets in town but I am dismayed that the average fan is getting screwed in such a way. I like going to downtown but I don't want to pay $20 each time and I would like park in a safe place that is well lit and close to the arena preferably in a garage like we had for Compaq. The Rockets need to provide us with affordable parking or attendance will be even worse. The average fan is not going to scramble for parking and pay $10 bucks to a homeless guy in a gravel lot.
Tim, I'm a loooooongtime Rockets fan stuck in Dallas and I have a slightly different perspective on the ticket price issue. First of all, I understand and agree with the Rocket's need for a new arena in order to remain competative with the rest of the league. The new TV contract makes it imperative that the organization generate as much revenue as it can from it's arena and the best way to do that is to sell luxury boxes. The high price for talent also insures a rise in ticket prices at the new arena. The same thing happened here in Dallas when the Mavericks and the Stars moved from Reunion Arena to the AA Centre. However, that's where the similarity between the two teams ends. What you see happening here at AAC is due to the passion and genius of the Mavs owner, Mark Cuban who essentially revived a dead franchise. Mavs fans were also asked to pony up more dollars to come to the new arena. They did so willingly because Mark Cuban recognized an important fact - that this is entertainment and therefore concentrated on making the fan's experience worth the price of admission. His most imporatnt contributions were in the most critical place - on the court. Under his ownrship, the Mavs are an exciting fun team that is challenging for the NBA Championship. They won a franchise record 60 games. This is clearly a team on the rise - a team that fills its fans with optimism for the future. Now, compare the Mavs situation to that of the Rockets. The Rockets are a stagnant team that has missed making the playoffs for the past four years. While it's true that this franchise has won back-to-back NBA titles, that was a long 8 years ago. With each passing day, the memories of those 2 championships fades more and more. Since that time, the Rockets have become a stagnant team. They play a style of basketball that would NEVER be described as exciting and fun - it was positively BRUTAL to watch Rocket games this year. Many times the Summit, er Compaq Center was deathly quiet as the fans sat stonefaced watching this team play boring, uninspired losing basketball. I feel that this is the primary reason why there has been such a lukewarm atmosphere surronding the team as it prepares to move into its new home. I guarantee that there would not be the anger and resentment to the new ticket and parking charges if this was a fun, exciting team to watch - a team on the rise - a team people WANTED to see play. People will pay to see a winner. People will come and come happily to see a team that fills them with hope and optimism for the future. Neither of these qualities describe the current state of the Rockets. The past 4 seasons have left a sour taste in the mouths of Rockets fans and supporters. Alone, a new arena with all of the attendant bells and whistles will not be enough to make people want to come out and support this "product". It is only when the "product" itself improves will you generate the kind of excitement that Les Alexander & Co. saw in Dallas and are looking for in Houston.
hmmm.. let's c, other teams in the NBA has lower price on the tickets than the second-most-expensive-tickets-in-the-league-team, other teams r giving away free foods and beers, and other team r MAKING TO PLAYOFFS!!!
First, to clarify, the Rockets won't be making the money on parking around the arena. Private individuals and private firms own the lots. Buying four to six more blocks of downtown property and building garages on them would've increased the dollar amount for the arena referendum a couple of years ago by many tens of millions of dollars. Ask Jeff or Clutch or any of the people involved in generating grass roots support for the referendum passage -- increasing the dollar amount of the package by that amount really wasn't an option. I've heard all the complaints about parking. I realize how passionate people are about the issue. But, please remember two things. One, fans have to pay for parking at every single arena in the country. And two, the Astros don't even have a garage and they average over twice as many cars per game as the Rockets and they are situated in the same general area of town -- and it works. As for the garage spaces going first to suite and club seat holders -- they aren't getting it free. It's one of the reasons club seats are seeing more substantial price increases than other seats. And it's one of the reasons suite are, well, expensive.
Wow, I guess I did touch a nerve. It makes me feel a little better knowing there are so many others who are not buying into this. The arguments Tim and Jeff make are fine but you are totally missing that corporate customers, like me, can't justify 36% price increase (sans parking) for a business outing. If you haven't noticed the economy is not really dictating wild spending especially on discretionary items. This whole supply/demand argument is laughable looking at your overall attendance. I still can't believe turning away 20+ year season ticket holders is a good thing. I really liked HillBoy's summation about the franchise's on-court performance. I have yet to meet with my ticket rep but I will update after. At this point, I'm not sure I will want to back 50 rows from the seats I've had for over 10+ years. It's more like does it make more sense to spend the $28,700 (4 seats/41 games) to maintain my tickets or to move on. The latter is looking like better business. Cheers, Bill
I can get Astros tickets for under $10 so paying $5-10 isn't a big deal for parking. I had no problem with the cheap seats at Compaq Center since it included parking. Also, when will the price structure/seating graphic be published? I may not feel so upset about this if I see that spending $30 for 2 tickets and parking will net me a better or equal seat compared to last season. Thanks, B
I agree totally 100% with you on this one B, having sat in the same row as you throughout the entire season, thereby seeing these same changes as you. I don't think I want to get season tickets again and waste all this money on parking and crappy seats. I can understand higher seat prices, but the parking is definitely what is driving me away. My gf wants to get tickets even though we'll be paying for parking, but I'm totally against this, and will do everything in my power to keep from paying this extra money for crappy parking, crappy seats, and to watch a crappy team that, unfortunately, I love. Pugs
