one reason I dont go to the games is cuz I can gorge on all the food I want at home without paying crazy food prices... but then again thats at all sporting events.
GATOR, As far as here in Maryland, the Wizards sell a lot of tickets (Jordan, Stackhouse, and Brown). But, they have always been pretty good for a long as I can remember. This is regardless of who is the visiting DC, so I can't really use other cites as a measurement when the Rocktes vist them. But, I can comment on how they market the Rockets and other teams. Anytime the Wizards have a game with the Rockets they really show a lot of film of Francis dunking. So, for the pre-views, they hype the Rockets as a run-and-gun type team. They are not used to that type of flash. At least not in the last 10 years (Bullets). Note: I think Drexler's first game with the Rockets was against the Bullets. I have it on tape! Anyways, just like the Wizards advertisements promote the Rockets as "fast paced team/dunking" team, I'm sure that a lot of other cites do the same for the Rockets. Of course, people and Houston have gotten tired off all the flash (all style and no substance) other cites yearn for that type of play. They consider the Houston a lucky city for having the Rockets. As you know, the Wizards are playing there on Friday. I started seeing ads for the game last weekend.
I think a big problem the Rockets have with their advertising/marketing strategy is, from what I've seen, they only run their tv ads during the Rockets game on a channel with horrible reception. Shouldn't they be advertising on the MAJOR stations 2,11,13,26 and 39? Not to mention the spanish stations. Aren't they preaching to the choir by advertising during Rockets broadcasts?
You can come up with all the excuses you want about the team being boring or the team sucking, but that just doesn't fly. Look at the Warriors, Clippers, Heat, Cavs, <B>GRIZZLIES</B>, <B>NUGGETS</B>, Hawks, Suns. How do you explain all these teams having a higher attendance? All those teams have a long history of losing. You can't tell me that they are all "more exciting" to watch. I mean, come on! The Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are more exciting to watch than the Rockets? Give me a frickin' break. Not to mention that most of those cities do not have the population of Houston. Bottom line: the low attendance is more of a Houston problem than a Rockets problem. I don't know how else to explain it.
1) Cost is outrageous- people will say that there are the cheap seats, but those are usually a good chunk of the 8,000 2) There is so much more to do with your entertainment dollar. I have season tickets for the Texans (and Stros last year). You have to think there are a good number of people who are willing to spend money to go see sports and of those there is a limit to what many will shell out per year to watch sports. To be honest, the Texans have over 60,000 season ticket holders and that hurts the Rockets. 3) Look at the local economy. Even in the championship years, the corporations were buying the majority of tickets OR the successful individuals working at the corporations had the money to spend. Enron, Reliant, Compaq, El Paso, Arthur Andersen, Dynegy and so on have had very difficult times and those employees are not looking to spend the money, and it has made the people who are employed also think twice about spending unnecessarily especially when..... 3) All the games are televised locally for free or a minimal fee
IMO there are too many business people who attend and half the time aren't even watching the game (ie. telling a fan to be quiet at pro-basketball game. Hello?) I love Houston, but when I look at the people in the seats watching the game (if you can call it that) I wonder why they are even there? All I see are guys with their primped up girlfriends/wives sitting next to them and not having a clue. They make our fans look so dull and therefore it just doesn't look like it'd be much fun to be there. I just don't understand the reason for these people to be there? I mean if it's a social status thing......then there are plenty of high class bars in Houston they can frequent. But this is not the place for them to be. This is a place for people who want to be loud and don't care if they look like fools doing it. That's why they are called fans. So everyone in the suits and silicone need to find another place to go and look good with a martini in hand. But that's just my opinion. I could be totally wrong.
Okay, okay. Far too many posts to reply to everbody individually here. Yes, we do face the obstacles of a down economy (especially in Houston), the launch of the Texans, and a small, outdated arena. It'd also be foolish to think that three straight non-playoff appearances aren't a factor either, although we really try not to dwell too much on that in our group -- we have a job to do, and rebuilding phases are something that every team has to cope with. And rest assured, although I try to watch this board pretty closely and post on occasion, I don't view it as a major marketing plank. It's great to get the pulse of our hard-core fans, and the interaction is just something we should do, regardless of whether it results in massive ticket sales or not. So ... I'll tell you what I've been telling the reporters who have called. We've been working hard this year to "rebuild the pipeline" and do the things that eventually pay off in ticket sales. Expecting this to be an immediate, complete turnaround is unrealistic. There's no instance ever in the league of a rookie coming in and causing giant surges in ticket sales -- not even a number one pick. Also keep in mind that the Rockets didn't start selling out every game until after the two championship seasons. We have no intention of waiting for that to happen before we start selling out this time around. Which is why you've seen us get more aggressive this year. Right now, our efforts are aimed to get more people "into the family." That means more TV viewers, more single-game buyers, more mini-plan buyers, etc. Build this base, and the rest follows. So ... here's some results on that front: * Our TV ratings are up 33% this year. I know we've taken some heat on this, and the negotiating arena was very tough. But we are reaching more fans overall. If we can get satellite on-line soon, that should jump by another 10%. * Individual game ticket sales are up 60% through the first 5 games. Game 6 (vs. the Wizards) will sell out ... expect that percentage to increase. * Group sales are up 270%. Our team there has been working very hard. * We've already sold over 25,000 tickets via mini-plans this year, a 10x increase vs. last year. (Incidentally, one reason to buy mini-plans over individual tickets, since it was brought up, is that if you buy a mini-plan, there are no service charges.) * Our no show rate has improved by 25% (more people who bought tickets are using them). * Sales of new season and partial season plans have already well exceeded last year and will probably be up 40% to 50% by the time all is said and done. We're going to have our strongest year for new sales since the Pippen signing -- and remember, that team was picked to win a championship by many. * Total attendance over the first 5 games is up 9%. It's been mentioned here before, but our real struggle this year has been that renewals of full-season ticket plans were much lower than we would have liked. We always talk to our lapsed plan holders, and typically those decisions (not to renew) are made during the prior season. It's an issue we've been spending a lot of time on internally. Our approach to sales and marketing this year will result in more peaks and valleys in attendance. Everything is geared towards generating as many high attendance games as possible -- sell outs create buzz, and that buzz eventually helps start selling the "valley" games as well. While we're disappointed at attendance like we had in Cleveland -- we're always disappointed in low attendance -- it would be wrong to say we were surprised. Keep in mind that over our first 6 games, we will have sold out two and almost sold out a third. We couldn't say that last year. We do have fewer full-season ticket holders. But the number of unique visitors we've had is way up. It's all part of laying the foundation for the future. A long post, I know, but it's a big subject. Tim McDougall Vice President of Marketing Houston Rockets and Comets timm@rocketball.com
DCkid, I agree. It seems to me that other cites (based on the stats and their history), even though they might have a bad team, go anyways. It's almost like they are saying, "Oh, well. It's the best we got!" I'm not saying the Wizards don't have our share of disgruntled fans calling into the radio sports shows. We do! I don't have to remind you that this team as been bad for many years! *Jordan! You came to late! *
Thanks for the update Tim, It doesn't sound as bad as some posters here have made it. I truly believe that it takes time to rebuild something that you lost. There's a general rule in the business world that says, as long as it took to lose, it will take just as long to regain. The Rockets have slid the last three years. With Tim's stats showing the progress of growth, give the Rockets another three years to fill the house again. I truly believe this to be true.
I believe the main reason is the pricing on the tickets. Our owner is one of the greediest owners in the NBA right now. We are #3 in ticket prices. I'm a die hard fan and watch all the games, but when I check for tickets they are wayyy to much. Ive compared our ticket pricing to other teams and ours is much much more. High ticket pricing combined with losing seasons messed everything up. You would think over the past two years that the ROckets would lower pricing to get ppl to come but no....... By the way anyone have any cheap tickets they want to sell me?? email me if you do omar23@houston.rr.com
Tim, I'm just going on vague recollection, not actual memory here, but didn't Vince Carter cause a huge upswing in Raptors' ticket sales?
Marketing is tricky business. The case here is how do you get fans to the game? Let me define "fan" short for fanatic, going by Webster's dictionary: marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion. I don't believe that ticket prices, billboards of Moochie's fro, or TV commercials can create a fan. What makes a fan is: a) being part or associated with a winning product b) feeling goosebumps when you actually attend a live game c) moments that swell with pride (Championships, Hakeem devastating D. Robinson, Clyde and Hakeem together again, etc.) When you have these things, you have people wearing rockets jerseys and caps around town. You have business people sneaking from the office to catch a game. You have father's who bring their sons to share in something special. You get my point.
I would have gone to last game, but it was against CLEVELAND with no darius miles. I have already been to 3 games this year and I scream my a$$ off everytime i go. However, I don't have a money tree in my backyard so I have to be picky.
Tim - Please give me MORE on your efforts to improve the broadcasting radius of the Rockets. You mentioned that we had championships BEFORE we started selling out games. Well - WE HAD NEARLY 100% TV COVERAGE OF ROCKET GAMES IN AND OUTSIDE HOUSTON ALSO!!!!! Thanks, your "starving for TV and Radio Rocket coverage" fan in Beaumont !!!!!!!!!!!
Alotta people just associate the Rocks as bein a bad team. All of us here would and do go see games in a heart beat, but everyday people only wanna go if their team is a winner. The Rocks are provin that they are winners this year but they have to get to the playoffs to draw a big crowd. The new arena will help next year but it will also be a boost if the rocks also have a chance at a ring.
I wish we had more fans like you! None of this, "golf-clap, sit in your seats and be polite fans"...ho-hum. I'd rather have the crowd be more like WWE than a Tiger Wood's Golf Classic!
In addition to all of the reasons that have already been posted... In the past, many ticket sales (and season ticket sales) were going to companies who would give tickets to their clients, potential clients, salesmen, etc.. And, because companies were buying tickets this way, I believe that many seats have been expensive because of that. I mean, if you know that the good seats are being bought by Exxon, First City Bank, and other big companies (not Joe and his family), then you're gonna make the ticket price a LOT higher. But now, many companies are cutting costs extensively, and that means not buying Rockets tickets. Of course, the downfall of giants like Enron, Arthur Andersen, Williams, Dynegy, El Paso and Compaq hurts Houston, but even companies that aren't in ruin are cutting back on their expenditures. That means that fewer companies are buying tickets. That's probably another big reason for weak ticket sales. -- droxford
