Tim: Please don't sell play-off tickets to corporations

That's actually wrong - as Tim pointed out. The merchandising revenue goes back to the NBA - and is then equally doled out to all 29 teams. Ticket sales, and then corproate sponsorship are the two biggest revenue generators for professional sports franchises. Next up is not merchandise sales - instead it's the percentage of the NBA's television contract (and sometimes, local television, although I don't believe that's the case with the Rockets and KNWS).

I don't know where you got your attendance figures from, but everything I saw had the NOLA game at about 12,500 attendance.

 

This is a great suggestion. The Rockets could still make money off of selling expensive side court seats while getting a really enthusiastic and raucous crowd behind the baskets. This could be like the Black Hole at Raiders's games or the Dawg Pound at Brown's games.

Another suggestion is something that I think U2 does is to reserve a block of seats up at the front and then at the start of the concert they invite people in the last row of the stadium to take those seats.

 

Maybe Tim could throw in 15,000 season tickets to all of us here at ClutchFans as well. We'll just throw the remaining 2,500 or so snots upstairs.

 

thats about as realistic a suggestion as the one starting this thread...





but I like it...

 

Lessons from this thread:

1. Don't screw with Tim; he knows what he's talking about.
2. Everyone hates corporate season ticket holders, but very few are willing to buy the tickets themselves.
3. The Rockets are a business, so it's likely they actually determine optimal pricing for their seats.
4. Tourist taxes are used to pay for the Houston stadiums, so the "my money goes to taxes for TC" doesn't fly.

For the BBS members who go to the games, maybe you should start up a chant during a timeout or halftime: "Corporate fans suck!" That would be funny.

Tim has no need to explain himself or the Rockets to us; thanks very much for taking the time out to do so anyway.

 

One additional lesson to add:

No shows are a big concern.

We realize that. We don't like it when people don't show up in the seats they bought. Not only does it hurt the game atmosphere, but it also makes us concerned that they've lost interest and won't be buying tickets next year.

However, on the "Grand List" of things to address, getting to the point where we're sold out regularly is the first priority. We're making very strong progress -- from averaging 11,700 two seasons ago to about 15,200 currently. But we still have more work to do on that front.

Most of the tactics I'm aware of that work in addressing the no-show rate are really effective only after the building is sold out, by the way. Then two things happen -- the arena becomes "the place to be" and people who can no longer buy tickets (because it's sold out) start scrambling to get tickets from people they know who don't always use theirs.

Tim

 

I may be naive about these things, Tim, but here's an idea that might work:

I would hazard a guess that the majority of no-shows come from season-ticket holders. People who buy smaller packages or single-game tix are more likely to guard their investment for those games. You could have a place on the Rockets web site where season ticket holders could "release" their seats, allowing the team to sell them again. If someone knows they can't make it, they log in (with passwords, of course) and let the team know. If that ties into the ticket office, the seat release could be automatic. As an incentive, maybe give the ticket holder 50% of the seat value back *if* that seat resells. The team still gets to sell that seat 1.5 times, right?

The only problem with the above would be if the season ticket holder then shows up at the arena with his ticket -- two people might have tix to the same seat. But that's a DETAIL, Tim! You guys can work that out!

 

That would be truly hilarious. I wonder what Bill and Calvin would say?

 

Not naive at all ... we've actually studied programs similar to that. The issue is that, in the programs we've studied, they work well when the team is consistently selling out, but tend not to work if you don't have consistent sell outs. So we're probably a little ways away from being able to really consider something like that.

Tim

 

When the Rockets make the playoffs, who here thinks that no-shows will still be a problem?

I don't.

 

I DO! with out a doubt . houston fans are seriously way below par. i was at the grizz game and i was the only guy amongst 75 fans that was hootin and hollerin. pathetic.

but the reason i said I DO is cause during the 1st championship season...in the playoff home games against the suns...we didnt sellout out..we had lots of no shows....major MAJOR bullcrap...v.maxwell got so upset with the lack of support he said "our fans are the worst. to hell with them"

 

First let me say as an old time Rockets fan, that you answering some of these posts is very impressive Tim, thank you. I can see the lost revenue if you resell sold tickets instead of selling unused seats. As a fan who has a chance to go to only a few games a season, being able to purchase tickets on the first level would be awesome. Once you've sat down there and actually experience the game, its tough to sit on top again, especially with the games on TV.

With the team on the upswing again, I hope when you do start selling things out on a regular basis, you re-consider some plan to use those unused seats. Thanks again for your responses.

 

It was pretty loud at the Grizzlies game I was just at. Which one did you go to?

 

Tim is right. I was there and the crowd really got into it as the game progressed. JJ's "facial" at crunch time was the capper, and brought down the house........high five's all around.

We had a blast!!

D R

 

Ditto. My experience was the same. For that matter, one thing that I really like about the new arena is that the in-game atmosphere is really good at the "BIG GAMES" (Dallas, L.A., San Antonio, weekend games that are important like the Grizz game). We're no Sacramento by any means, but so what - I've only recently started being more entertained at teh games by the team than disgusted by their play.

 

oh i was at the last rockets V grizz but its a totally different game from section 416 row:as far as possible. section 416 was completely dead. only until the 4th quarter did some folks wake up but for the most part it was really surreal cause i felt like i was yelling cheering and going nuts inside a movie theater. i'm sure it was off the enron bizooks down there though.

next game i'm going to is against the raptors. ev1.net is doing a half off for the $55 tix

 

that's what happens when you cheer at a Houston area sports event. It's so much different from an East Coast game it's a joke. I'm not sure why that is exactly, but I think a big part of it is the fact that so many people that live in Houston aren't actually from Houston, and we don't have a team with a crapload of championships like the Yankees, Bulls, Lakers, Celtics or Cowboys.

 

I was at both the memphis game and tonight's game (Phoenix) and the crowd on saturday was much louder.