work in the ticket office, only thing they had left were view deck 2 seats. nice job coming the game. hopefully today we can sell out as well since kershaw on the mound and a chance to seat. my advice to people who go to the games is buy tickets early in advance, they are cheaper. astros are on the dynamic pricing system so the price changes towards game time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anyone care to opine on the fact that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> are drawing less than 20,000 while also recording some of their best TV ratings of the year?</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/status/639275125842407424">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/TexansCommunist">@TexansCommunist</a> Indeed, but it's a big city.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/status/639275492596543490">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And when I say big <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> ratings, I mean best since 2009 & worthy of their contending days. All explanations welcome. Keep 'em coming.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/status/639277548304601088">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It is pretty striking to be outdrawn by Colorado and San Diego on these weeknights (where they also have school nights)... but again, as many have noted, the season ticket base is largely responsible for the early season (and late season) attendance numbers. There was also always going to be some lingering ramifications for being as bad as they were for the past several years. Next year will be better... as the tv ratings improving are a telling sign.
Damn skippy Nick! Next year we will blow both of those teams out of the water, along with several others. The next five years will be the most entertaining for this franchise Ever! I'm calling 2 of the next 5 right now.
I can't be the only one still refusing to financially support the team in any way because I'm still mad at a combination of their depriving me of watching themselves and the Rockets for so long, the move to the American League, and Uncle Drayton allowing the team to go to such crap at the end of his tenure as owner. On top of which I don't have to pay $10 for a coke if I watch from home. I'll come back around eventually but it's not going to be this year.
You can still have issues with all of those things... AND be a fan of this regime. The move to the AL was unavoidable if Crane (or anybody) wanted to buy the team... and he did the "smart" thing and handed over the keys to a smart-ass GM who is doing the opposite of everything you hated about the end of the Drayton regime. Lastly, the CSN debacle was Drayton's doing... it actually put Crane in a deeper hole as he paid an inflated price for the franchise based on that over-valued TV network. So, if the only thing that could "save" this franchise was a new owner (who would hire the perfect GM for this situation), I'll take the trade-off of changing leagues for a franchise that no other NL team or city would really miss anyways. If anything, its far more palatable to watch a first place team being built out of nothing... with plenty of talent in the minors to potentially stay elite for a really long time. Always better to get in on the ground floor of something than just hopping on a full bandwagon as well.
I think the hardest pill to swollow for me personally, was the fact that MLB basically stuck our asses in the AL.
I never agreed with the sentiment behind it (to have an even number of teams in each league)... as the leagues had been unbalanced for years with nary a complaint. However, once the NL adopts the DH (and people finally get over not getting to see the pitcher hit, or sac bunts, every game)... and IF the Astros finally get another city to consider them as a top rival (never happened in 50 years of NL ball), the "forced" move deleterious effects will be mitigated. Hell, the Astros are in far better shape to contend for the next several years in "this" division, vs. the NL central.
I don't disagree with any of your points Nick. I just don't understand the constant whining or claiming not to understand about low attendance from certain posters and the media (Charlie Pallilo drives me nuts with it) when the Astros have done nearly everything possible for the last several years before this year to be completely irrelevant in the city and in baseball. And while Crane didn't start the CSN debacle, he did have the ability to walk away from it long before being ordered to by a judge... something he refused to do either due to misreading the market or just being stubborn.
Agreed that the CSN debacle was just that... but ALL parties involved were culpable (the Rockets were just as guilty for the prolonging of things and pushing for the bankruptcy... along with Comcast basically drawing a line in the sand as they could afford to drag things out forever). The main issue with Crane's role was that he had just paid an exorbitant sum for a franchise with a large amount of that equity based on the network succeeding... so yes, he may have had a little bit more riding on things working out (and had they been allowed to break the contract due to the unpaid rights fees, it would have been over long before it actually did end). But regardless, you can't really fault him for the decisions he's made on the baseball side of things... really the only side that ultimately matters in regards to the long-term success of the franchise.
The Rockets came to the conclusion a long time before Crane did that their revenue expectations from a tv deal weren't reality and that they needed to reconsider their options. Crane claimed he could find a deal that wasn't there for quite a while after the Rockets wanted to move on. My point though isn't to rehash the minutia of what kept them off tv or the other issues mentioned. It's that there are several mitigating factors that everyone in this thread and the media that keeps on harping on the poor attendance are fully aware of, yet they seem to expect one good regular season to completely turn around the poor attendance that has been a staple of the last several years. I don't get it. I understand even less their claiming not to understand that it's going to take more time to win back fans.
Not really.... or else they wouldn't have sided against them in the bankruptcy decision (only to reverse course and side with them once they all realized what comcast was prepared to do... bleed the teams and the network to death). Fair enough.... I always felt it would take more than one season (given that attendance is largely season ticket-based, and there was very little interest going into the season). But you would be in the distinct minority of holding "these" issues still ever-present as a serious reason of "not" going to the game. For the vast majority of the people who don't go to games anymore... the games not being on TV didn't create "anger"... it created apathy and total forgetfulness that there was a MLB team here.
I agree, I am a little more vindictive in my response than most but I'm surely not the only one. Not being on tv over a period of time where they had a span of seasons where they were historically all time bad largely put them out of sight / out of mind. David Barron and the others though know all the reasons. I don't understand the need to "opine on the fact" or to bring it up every game.
Agreed.... I guess some had presumed the attendance had turned the corner over the summer. It will take not only a successful rest of the season but some measurable playoff success. Hell, unless their first round playoff games are at favorable times on the weekend, I do not expect them to sell out. (especially not for mid-week day playoff games).
I understand the high TV ratings. Having gone for so long without being able to watch them, I watch them every night now. Don't know what you've got until you lose it for a while.
They're actually not that high... its high compared to what it was, but still not where most other good teams are. They'd certainly not break the bank if they wanted to re-negotiate their tv rights fees based on "these" numbers.... but again, progress is progress.
Again, I think the biggest factor is the drop in oil prices. I would bet good money (like, $8) that the majority of corporate season tickets (which makes up the largest % of their season ticket base) are energy companies and that those tickets are mostly going unused right now. That, more than anything, is probably impacting actual AIS. In terms of the general public, well, jobs are being shredded here right now, in relation to the oil price - but, beyond that, you have a mostly anonymous team that's been terrible/out of sight/mind for years. I think, until the games start to really matter, we're going to continue to see lagging attendance during the week and much better attendance on the weekend. And, as such, everyone should stop b****ing/wringing hands about it.
