Its not so much of an isuue when said here by us, but when its on national media, maybe management will put more effort to change it. It reflects on the reputation of the team in many levels, on court and off. I am actually surprised that so many of us agree with Simmons to that level. Usually we go for the "Media Conspiracy" card when our team is critisised, but this is a legit concern by all fans here as it seems, and deserves recognition.
don’t think I’ve ever seen a poll this lopsided on here I hope that 1 day the team gets the homecourt advantage they deserve a potential 60 win team with 2 top 10 players gets the support of a 35 win team with no star...it’s sad
Wasn't this adressed already on Van Gundy's time when he held auditions for free giveaways of season tickets? And wasn't that how Red Rowdies was created?
The crowd wasn't that great in the 90s unless it was a huge game or the playoffs and it's even worse now -- Simmons is absolutely correct -- the Rockets deserve better. Management needs to figure out how to get the hardcore fans in the building and closer to the floor.
Disappointing this situation exists - hope it changes. Rockets are a Top 5-ish NBA franchise and Houston is a giant.
Regarding playoffs, baseball's is a much bigger deal due to the smaller field. A better comparison is 2nd Round NBA vs WCG or LDS. Baseball also has fewer games mostly, so each counts more. Astros' attendance deep into '17 wasn't balling out, true? Still agreed though, Rockets' fandom should be much better and it's happened for decades.
I know many people have mentioned this, but how about changing the red rowdies location to mid court?!?!?
Ain’t nobody in Houston, that has a car, gonna ride a damn bus to an evening event. Trains however are a different story.
Make a "Send Positive Vibes to Houstonians" thread to see if we can turn this season around for the underperforming Houston Rockets fans.
Maybe we need a player to call the fans out again. I don't think it's a lack of identity - Astros are proof of that. It's not the Arena - summit had limp crowds as well. It's not the size - plenty of people within 15 miles to easily fill an arena regularly. It's not a lack of a laid back party culture (which would seem to hurt being a rabid fan). What I do think it is basically socio-economics. The people who buy season tickets to Rockets games especially the lower bowl - they seem like corporate types. Entertaining clients and such - not real fans. I think the rabid fans are a bit priced out. Would any of us on this BBS - go to a game and miss half of it? No. But how many people here have season tickets? Or make it to the lower bowl more than a few times? The people buying the tickets are not passionate fans. They don't really care that much for this team. The championship years were over 20 years ago.
Yes. There is no problem during the playoffs...the crowd is always loud. During the regular season I had no hearing problems with the crowd. But I stopped going to playoffs because I would lose my hearing for 48 hours...so for the playoffs we Flashseat sold the tickets. We weren't greedy, so they sold fast. Houston has great vocal basketball fans, but they only show up consistantly for the playoffs. Occasionally we might have playoff atmosphere regular season games.
Unfortunately, Houston is a terrible NBA market... and they need a true championship contender and a MVP candidate that is well-liked, and everybody can get behind, for them to come close to capturing this city's attention again. Crowds were paltry with Hakeem till they won it all... and even then, 1995 crowds (right after the championship season) weren't always sold out. Then they got Drexler.. then they went on the 2nd run, and it was all over. Crowds went bad again when the team was no longer a contender.... then Yao came, and re-ignited something. Then T-mac came, and there was real buzz.... but again, they needed to do more and advance further. Now, they have Harden... who is amazing... but unfortunately not well liked by all. Not buying the "corporate" excuse... every team in the league has a corporate base. They're going to have to win it all... that's the only way... and even then (see 1995), that doesn't guarantee anything. They'll have to win a couple... then they're good for 5 years. Its a ridiculous standard... but that's the market. This is a football first, and baseball when they're winning. The NBA has always been 3rd unless the team was coming off championships.
perhaps we’ll see a change 10-20 years from now when the younger generation that is more into basketball and the Rockets are the ones occupying these lower bowl seats too much of the older generation in this city puts football on a pedestal and doesn’t get all that excited about basketball