The Red Rowdies is a start in trying to appeal to the regular-guy fan base...Houston's downtown traffic is bad but nowhere as bad as LA area. That'd be a decent idea of having an arena in the suburbs (too late now). Part of the promotion in building arenas is the idea they can revitalize downtown areas, and the idea that fans want something to do before or after the game. So maybe its a harder sell to build arenas in more remote areas.
As strange as this might sound, the Rockets actually have good road attendance which is in the top 20% of the league We are 5th in Road attendance and 21 in home. I don't live in Houston , so it is not up to me. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance?sort=away_total&year=2007&seasonType=2/
I spend good money to go see the Mavs play regardless of who they play. When I'm in Houston, I'll only go to a game if I can get free tickets or they are playing an exciting team. Why would I pay 55 bucks to go see Rockets/Hornets? I've been a "rowdie" about 8 or so times this year. It was a great fun the first 2 games, but got really old after that. It's just a pain to go to a Rockets game. I'm still going to argue and say it's all about the lighting and color scheme and the rest of the atmosphere. If TC was anything like AAC, then I would get season tickets no questions asked (if I was living in Houston). I did travel 1500 miles to go see the Rockets play in L.A. against the Lakers a few months ago. I left Friday morning and came back Saturday morning. I spent that night in the airport and only took a toothbrush with me! The sole purpose of flying all the way there was just to watch the Rockets play!! I don't know how else to address this issue. The fans are there. Rockets just need to do a better job getting us inside the arena.
