Bill Simmons: "Houston has a top 3 worst crowd"

That doesn't account for people that are streaming off sites on reddit and other sites. I lived in Cleveland for 4 years and streamed at least 60-65% of the games. I had no interest in paying for NBA LeaguePass and i'm sure i'm not the only one. In addition to those, there are others that are also cable cutting cuz there other ways to watch.

 

I remember game 6. Biggest game of the season and the arena was half empty. It was quiet from the start and it felt like I was watching a preseason game.

I blame the fans for that loss. Players feed off the fans energy and that crowd was just dead.

 

I think there's a lot of truth to this. A lot of people really don't believe Harden can get it done and there's a few who don't like the team for other scattered reasons, some relating to Harden, some not.

I think if the Rockets were to win a title it would change to an extent, but that clip above showed a quiet crowd in a Finals-clinching game after we had already won a title the year before.

I dunno, its weird - most of the people I know are Rockets fans, but it still seems most people in Houston get more hyped to go to Texans games. Its really hard to explain.

 

Dumb crowd as well.

You are supposed to stay quiet when your team is shooting free throws especially in crunch time.

MVP MVP MVP...

lol....

 

They used to do same thing in football. They’d get loud when the Texans offense was on the field, when you’re supposed to be quiet.

 

TC was like 30-40% full at tip to start that game...it was so embarrassing that Mike Breen pointed out how empty it was

 

it would help if DISH started carrying Rockets games

I’ve had to rely on streaming in order to watch any Rockets game that’s not on national TV for the entire Harden era

 

They will never be on time. No matter the day / time. Unless it’s a playoff game.... ppl will arrive for the t shirts.

 

the Rockets just don’t get the type of love that they should in this city

I go to HEB on a Sunday, and I see multiple people rocking Texans gear...Texans bumper stickers everywhere...people even show up to the gym to workout with a Texans jersey on

The Rockets? I don’t see a damn thing

 

I think part of it comes from the fact that Houston suffers from some of the same problems that Atlanta does, and even Phoenix and central and northern Florida, albeit not as drastic.

Many of the people living around here came from up north/west coast because jerbs and cost of living, and they took their fan affiliations with them. There are quite a few Boston fans around here because either they or their parents moved here, some story with many yankee fans or laker fans. Transplant fanbases tend to lessen the impact a local team can make relative to its population.

Even then, success breeds a strong bandwagon following, many people only started watching the Astros when they made the postseason (don't blame them, Playoff Baseball >>>>>>> Any other Playoffs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MLB regular season). Many of them will grow to become full time fans of the team. Off topic, but I don't think you should be angry if farewether/bandwagon fans assemble now that your team is good. I think you should take the opportunity to go crowd surfing.

 

Houston is a bit strange, whereas many cities ride on one historically successful organization and don't pay attention to their doormats (see: Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles.) The city in general seems to gravitate to the historically inept football team, instead of the consistently competent basketball team. I know that as of late, i've been seeing far more Astros gear in public now, but how long is that going to last?

 

it echo other posters, it's really sad that we have the best record in the league (even beating the all-time warriors) and we still have loads of empty seats in the lower bowl.

 

dont agree. neilisen numbers are really poor metric for engagement for live sports on a regional sports network. Accessibility is considered. I would think crowd size is a better indicator.

 

It’s so backwards here. The Texans can be garbage, but get supported like they’re contenders. The Rockets can be contenders or very good, but get supported like they’re garbage.

 

Nba viewership is up. No way less people are watching the rockets this season compared to last.

 

i stream most of the games.

 

You have no clue what you are talking about

 

NBA Viewership is up because the Lakers and Kincks were only mediocre instead of complete garbage.

 

As long as the Astros keep winning/making the playoffs at a bare minimum it’ll continue. Let’s face it, as good as the Rockets have been no one has truly believed they could win a championship in the past 15+ years. If they knock off GS this year the city will start gravitating towards the Rockets and the Astros and away from the Texans should they continue to be mediocre.

 

Where did you see that? I am kind of surprised.

In general Houston is a bad sports city except for football.

 

Ugly Logo.Ugly font.
Too much marketing toward fans and corporate sponsors in China.

Before the uniform changes , people proudly wore the red and yellow