The $13 seats are a great bargain. My friends and I bought a 4 pack of the Cuttino Mobley pack and are loving it. Section 203 baby! However, the question for marketers should be, how do we get Gutter to upgrade to a season pass or a half-season pass? I agree with the people who say it's about getting butts in the seats - the more we can get the atmosphere like college football, the more fun it is. You can break it down into 2 parts: Improving game atmosphere: 1. Upgrade the game-time music. If you want a raucous crowd, examine each music selection and drop the ones that don't pump the crowd up. My friend who used to go to the Bulls game was mortified one of the selections in particular - and it gets played like 10 times a game! 2. Expand the fan of the game idea. You could have a cheer/fight leader in each section, and then have them choose the loudest fan in the section for a t-shirt or half-time promotion. This would have a much bigger effect on crowd noise than the current system. 3. Referring back to the cheer/fight leader - I don't think you would have to pay these people - a free ticket and maybe some perks would probably be more than enough to get people interested. Selling season tickets: 1. 41 games is a long season, and if you are thinking about season tickets, you are also thinking about having to miss some of the games. Until the game atmosphere is up to par and we have continuous sellouts, the Rockets need to offer attractive promotions. The current promotion is ok, but it doesn't hit me as a fan - I want to be at the game, but the difference between the $19 and $13 seats doesn't mean squat to me. Why not give ticket purchasers a choice of promotional packages? Some might like the current deal, but others might want: a. A straight discount on their current seats (i.e. 10-20% off) b. Some otherwise unattainable item (a signed Jersey or signed offical ball). If you could get 10 significant Rocket figures to sign 10 things per game, that's 8200 valuable items for season ticket holders. c. Extra tickets to bring a friend. Let the season ticket holders be your product evangelists. We are the ones talking up the Rockets - give us some ammo.
NB. This post is the voice of all that are tight with their money or lack of same. The Rockets should be more promotionally minded! EG:- Say there are on the average 100 seats not filled in a certain price range say for example $50. Then they advertise that that for the next game they will be giving away 25 free seats, for the following home game, to purchasers of $50 seats. From a random drawing they announce these winning seat numbers, at the start of half time.Or they have them under the seats prior to the game.This extra attendance can be switched arround to keep the better priced seats full at every game. It will create a habbit of Fans attending some games, with the off chance of a free ticket! Money speaks. At every game there should be a random drawing for $1000- . Reintroduce, if the Rockets score 120 pts AND WIN,each ticket holder gets a free hamburger. Although Fans go to see the game, the extra chances of a freebe/money in the pocket and a hamburger will pull in many. Some nights two parents should be able to bring two children free.Get them interested while they are young and while they are able to talk obout it to their many friends and class mates. I can think of many ways to improve the attendance.
I know that, when I originally created this thread, the primary answer would be ticket price. But even though that may be the primary influence on sales, I strongly believe there are other things that could be done to boost sales. 1. More giveaways - Giving away some cheasy cheap made-in-china toy goes a long way with kids, and is easier on the wallet for dad. (MORE MOOCHIE BOBBLE-HEADS!). Throw a ton of shirts into the crowd. Take some notes from the Astros. 2. More and better pre-game, halftime, and post game activities. Just adds to the value of what I'm paying for in my ticket price. How about autograph sessions? Have-your-pic-taken-with-Rocket-Power-Dancer sessions? 3. Package deals that offer discounts for bulk purchasing. I'd be a LOT more inclined to buy a group of tickets if I knew that i was actually getting a discount. 4. I thought that xcharged 's idea of having a headphone jack to hear Peterson's broadcast was brilliant! It could also be helpful for the hearing impaired, or for different languages (both of which might be applied to other events that might take place in the stadium). 5. Concessions coupons! The Rockets don't have to be winning for me to purchase ticks to a game and have fun watching it. The prices may be high, but I'd feel better spending the money if I got more value. I could take my wife and daughter to 2 or 3 games, OR I could buy (for less money) a pretty darn nice color television (on which to watch the game). Well, if I choose to go to the game, I better get a lot for my money. If the Rockets increase the price of the ticket, they should also increase what we get for our money . -- droxford
You can NOT market a$$e$ into the seats. Marketing only goes so far. The Rockets need a solid product on the floor. The coach needs to get incontrol of the players and his rotation. Sale Sale Sale will not fill the stadium. Marketing has gotten them where they are at. Plain and simple the Rockets need to be exciting to watch and to win ball games. I can tell you all day of how great my product is and talk it up to be this great thing. No matter how I make something appear to be, it is still what it started out to be until I prove to you that it is something to spend your dollar on. It is about seperating you from your money. Now there is something to say about lowering the cost to match your product. Fans (fair weather) whatever you feel like calling them, don't want to bite into an orange and have it taste like a grape fruit. DavidS, Not to make it personal but you can't point your finger to me, I for one due go to 1 of 5 home games each year. That is 8 games a year. I am simply stating why the seats are empty. Believe me it is very hard to convince the wife that I am going to go to games no matter what happens with the team (She wants that money). My wife is a banwagon fan. She is all into them when they win but could careless when they lose. This is why I say when the fans put a winning team on the floor people like my wife will show up. It is life my friend.
If you are a fan then you cannot criticize the team. Period!! Sorry. Your rules. Not mine. They are well worth the price of admission and a joy to behold, all the time. Period!! Just like the Jailblazers. If you are a fan then you have to take your kids and they have to be just like their favorite players. Period!!! No room to criticize. Can't expect a wholesome product. No expectations of responsibility by the players or the owners. Just put a product out there for the local "fans" to go and watch. No accountability. Period! Come on! You are right about one thing though. If the Rox raise prices the quality of the product should go up. Period!! End of discussion!!!
Uh... no... not 'end of discussion'... I believe my exact words were, "The Rockets don't have to be winning for me to purchase ticks to a game and have fun watching it." At no point in time did I criticize the team. The Rockets are ? You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I remember many times being disappointed in a Rockets performance. That doesn't make me any less of a fan. Umm... rrrrriiight.... I have a two year old daughter. She "has to be just like" Yao Ming? -- droxford
1) Better value. 2) Better atmosphere. 3) Better product on the floor, ie winning, playoff berths. 4) More entertaining style of play. Dribble dribble brick sucks.
First and foremost, I'd have to be back home in Houston, and not stuck up in Tennessee finishing my last semester of college and then waiting another year and a half for my wife to finish. Second, I'd need the better parking that will come with a new arena. Third, I'll echo pretty much everyone on this thread and say lower prices. As someone said earlier, the Rocks have some of the highest ticket prices in the league, but don't offer good enough quality of play to justify the price. And just when we think that they are turning things around we get the bonehead crap that was displayed against the clippers and the blazers. I didn't even have to watch the whole game on TV, just three minute clips on NBA Fastbreak on ESPN to figure out that there is no way I'd pay what they are asking to see the Rockets play that poorly. Who wants to shell out seventy dollars for a pair of decent seats when you run such a high risk of being disappointed? Money comes by a college student to rarely to justify it.
TIME.......Its so hard to find time to go.....plus the Rockets need to show H-town they're serious and up for a title run, until they prove that, were gonna have sparse crowds....
I 've been a houston rocket fan since 93 and I still havent gone to a game inmy life...i would sacrafice a lot of things to go to a rockets game... But I live outside of Chicago..sooo it would be hard for me to go to a home game..but i will soon go to a bulls rockets game...we should remove your local rockets games and put Bulls games on tv and cut out half of the rockets coverage..and then i am sure the rocket "fans" will show more appreciation and go to the games...
1. I work for a living (i.e., have to get up in the morning), so I don't want to be out until 10:30 - 11:00 or so after the weeknight games. Therefore, I could only go to Friday, Saturday, or Sunday games. 2. Can I get courside seats for about $20? I don't think so. 3. Can I get a full meal (with drink) from the concession stands for around $5-$6 (the same price I would pay outside the Compaq Center at the same restaurants)? I don't think so. 4. Can I make all the traffic on Houston's freeways disappear, so I can drive straight to the arena? I don't think so. So, to recap, if I didn't have to work, could get $20 courtside seats, eat a complete meal for $5, and not sit in any traffic, then I would go to every game. Since that will never happen, I guess I'm forced to just sit at home and watch on TV. Oh well.
I guess the real question is: Why do you think Hoston Fans don't support their teams unless they look like they will win the championship?
hey big bad if u were a REAL fan that would not matter at all what is 20 dollars any way and do u have no patience for traffic just show up early.
