1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

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

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Nivos, Jan 18, 2018.

?

Is Simmons right?

  1. Yes

    387 vote(s)
    87.4%
  2. No

    32 vote(s)
    7.2%
  3. Media conspiracy

    24 vote(s)
    5.4%
  1. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 1999
    Messages:
    47,916
    Likes Received:
    14,156
    Houston and Atlanta have traditionally been neck/neck in the bottom of the attendance ranks during down years.

    Early 90’s... and then 2001.
     
  2. Roomba

    Roomba Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2017
    Messages:
    3,820
    Likes Received:
    13,760
    The thing is, red and yellow are literally China’s National colors, so if they went red and yellow they would be pandering more to China as well as the fans. Someone in marketing is trying too hard
     
  3. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,539
    Likes Received:
    40,170
    No they wouldn't because the Rockets were Red and Yellow before Les decided to exploit Yao.
     
    waytookrzy079 likes this.
  4. SWTsig

    SWTsig Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2002
    Messages:
    13,928
    Likes Received:
    3,515
    dish network is irrelevant, it's never been available there anyways.

    it's concerning bc it's a damn business before anything else... tilman didn't pay $2.2 BILLION for sh!ts and giggles. ad revenue is critical for any team, losing 20% of your viewers is no bueno
     
  5. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,539
    Likes Received:
    40,170
    Remember we sold out the compaq center / summit for 5 years straight after the title
     
  6. Swiss Roll

    Swiss Roll Member

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2017
    Messages:
    1,943
    Likes Received:
    2,025
    Game 6 was like the oilers blowing 35-3, it permanently turned the city against the team. Good performances generally beget good ratings, as last year our ratings doubled compared to 2015-16. Playoff choke jobs simply kill any enthusiasm that a team can have, just two of them were enough for the city of Houston to tell Bud Adams to take his chokers to Nashville and shove his new stadium plans up his ass.
     
    Louka likes this.
  7. Swiss Roll

    Swiss Roll Member

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2017
    Messages:
    1,943
    Likes Received:
    2,025

    Im sure the Braves sold out for half a decade after they won the World Series too.

    Those cities just have some strange affection to their perennially disappointing football teams, although SB 51 was so bad that it sent Falcons ratings down 33% after a decade of consistent growth.
     
  8. jbasket

    jbasket Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2012
    Messages:
    4,361
    Likes Received:
    1,187
    Lol @ rockets fans in denial at how bad our stadium is. The in-game crowd atmosphere at Rockets games (outside of playoff/marquee match ups) are as dead as when I went to a Brooklyn Miami game last year. Just is what it is.

    Went to a Knicks Rockets MSG game when we had Howard, and it was still hyped af, even before they had Porzingis. Face it, our crowd sucks. We have the best record in the league and show so many empty seats. The fact that we will need to win a championship to get any true city support is hilarious.
     
    Reeko and Mr Chuck Norris like this.
  9. YOLO

    YOLO Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2012
    Messages:
    46,478
    Likes Received:
    44,654
    i mean thats what the astros had to do and look at them now. they are going to have plenty of support for this coming season
     
  10. jbasket

    jbasket Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2012
    Messages:
    4,361
    Likes Received:
    1,187
    Yep, and it's sad that they have to do that. Houston is a sucky sports city for non-football teams. Pretty simple.
     
    Reeko likes this.
  11. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,093
    Link? They just released these numbers and Rockets are not in the biggest decline list, where the Worst 5 start at 11%.

    Ratings are up 7% across the league (see Dish thread just released), while the NFL took a beating. I doubt Rockets are in decline whatsoever this year. Maybe your stats are from last year....which would make sense.
     
  12. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,093
    The NBA is showing a league-wide 7% boost in Local Regional Sports Network ratings. National ratings are even bigger.
     
  13. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,093
    I stand corrected. Sports Business Journal just published the local ratings across the league, but David Barron reports differently.

    While I still can't find our numbers, the article list the 5 worst declines...the 5th worst is -11%, so we are not close to 20%, and likely seeing an increase since the league average is a 7% increase in local ratings.
     
    #373 heypartner, Mar 5, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2018
  14. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 1999
    Messages:
    47,916
    Likes Received:
    14,156
    David Barron apparently just had an article about it... although my source is Charlie Pallilo (who is as unlikely to be making stuff up as any journalist in the history of journalism). Its fairly recent (more updated than your article.)

    http://www.sportsmap941.com/pallilo-rockets-tv-ratings-drop-win-totals-rise/
     
    heypartner likes this.
  15. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 1999
    Messages:
    47,916
    Likes Received:
    14,156
    Again... you underestimate how much "easier" it is to go to 8 football home games that are on a day where everybody's off, typically during the day-time... and each individual game is more of an "event" that includes tail-gating, drinking, gambling, to a much greater extreme than your average 41 game NBA regular season affair.

    So, yes... even bad sports towns can end up being good-to-great NFL cities, regardless of how those teams are.
     
    34to11 likes this.
  16. The_Yoyo

    The_Yoyo Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2001
    Messages:
    16,683
    Likes Received:
    2,872
    My friend visiting from LA and I went down to the Rockets/Wolves game two fridays ago. I figured with it being a big matchup and first game after the ASG it would be pretty packed. We were sitting in the club area and it started to get filled up during the second quarter. The guys next to us showed up after half time. The other side of the arena looked around the same way. I do think a lot of it has to do with the "club exclusivity" nature of those 6 prime sections. I've never seen another arena set up that way. Most will have those exclusive sections be either on the second level (TC doesnt have a second level) or a part of the lower bowl. I saw a ton of people just chilling and talking around the bars and concessions in the club area when I had to go use the restroom during the middle of the game.

    The crowd is fine during the playoffs since you have a ton of fair weather fans who have access to those tickets interested but the regular season is pretty poor. There is a reason why JVG started the red rowdies after all.
     
  17. 34to11

    34to11 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2008
    Messages:
    3,307
    Likes Received:
    2,853
    His comments don't reflect my experiences at TC.
     
    Little Bit likes this.
  18. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,093
    OK, thx for that.

    It's weird because they mention the same report, which came out the same time, and 20% would have put us in the bottom 5 list they showed, and we weren't in that list ... which came out the same week.

    As for why, wonder how much local broadcasts are competing with our increase in National games. Not all of the games are being blacked out in Houston, right?

    Indeed, Pallilo's source, David Barron's article, mentions the combined local ratings of our nationally televised games for Houston region viewers.

    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...o-Despite-team-s-success-Rockets-12720256.php
     
    #378 heypartner, Mar 5, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2018
  19. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 1999
    Messages:
    47,916
    Likes Received:
    14,156
    Regardless of how you truly break it down... interest has decreased despite the team being “better”. It’s not simply a “the arena is set up bad and it’s the corporate types” problem.

    Houston is just not going to support an nba team, with rabid ferocity, unless they achieve overwhelming playoff success in multiple years.
     
  20. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 1999
    Messages:
    62,498
    Likes Received:
    56,093
    Apparently TV interest is not just measured by one local channel. Apparently we are splitting viewership across local options and national.

    David Barron's article mentions that, which was Pallillo's source. He mentions the combined local Houston viewers for naitionally televised games that give ppl an option to watch Bullard and Drexler or the national crews. We have much more national games this year.

    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...o-Despite-team-s-success-Rockets-12720256.php

    https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/02/19/Research-and-Ratings/NBA-ratings.aspx

    So how the Sports Business Journal break down the All-Star break numbers vs David Barron can make a difference, no? I don't see how they can be so far off, unless they are just counting differently. For sake of our discussion, what ATT sportsnet does as a network means little to fan interest if the local fans are tuning into the other channels. We should be interested in the total number, right?
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now