What the Rockets can do for True Fan Ticket Holders

There's been a lot of talk about corporate tickets and Greenway suits and whatnot...

The problem: The people using corporate seats never have to pay for their seats. That's why they can show up in the 3rd. That's why they can sell 2 $110 seats for $20.

I want the IRS to stop allowing firms to count NBA tickets as business expenses. But whaddaya gonna do? Hire lobbyists?

A club level and better luxury suites would certainly help. Move at least some corporate tickets out of the lower prom. The current luxury suites suck, I'd NEVER want to watch a game from there, so I can't imagine them selling very well.

That still won't be enough. Even with a club level and better luxury suites, I reckon the vast majority of the low, center lower prom seats will be sold to corporations.

Here's what the Rockets can do:

They can reserve some of the good seats for non-corporate ticket holders. Specify that a certain %age of season ticket sales in certain sections are resoved for individuals to purchase, as opposed to businesses.

It'd be better to have a balance of people in the low, center lower prom. Reserve some of those seats for regular people so they won't be full of stiff stuffed suits. The low, center lower prom fans are the fans that the players see.

This'll never work though, right? Not enough regular people can afford to buy $110 seats, since regular people actually have to pay for them.

Rocket ticket sales don't occur in an open market. There are already artifical constraints. The season ticket sellers hold blocks of 4 tickets (like a restaraunt won't sit a couple at a 4-top), and don't necessarily give the best upgrades. Why not add another artificial constraint, and give the regular people the good seats? Why not let the players see some True Fans instead of stiff stuffed suits?

 

Actually, maybe that's not such a good idea.

There is one really big advantage to corporations having the best $110 seats: they never show up. Lots of corporate seats means lots of empty lower prom seats for me to move down into.