I went to the Heat game. I am going to the Jazz game on Dec 9. I would go to more games but cant due to school/work
its sad that the only sport that won a world championship for the city of houston is basketball, but this rednech football city gives no respect for the team that won them championships... Instead they are crazy about their 3-6 houston texans(super bowl contender )
Are you the voice of Houston? I dont like football. Only watch the Texans when there is nothing else to do...and I am not a redneck
im sorry i said redneck, i got overcarried. But the city of houston underapreciates the rockets period!!!
PR man, poster, and philosopher c*m physicist, ladies a gentleman, let's hear it for Tim!!! ( ps. Tim, you will note that the quality of my platitudes is becoming strained in direct proportion to the erosion of my faith that you're ever gonna come through with those ducats...) Coupla serious questions, though, as an outsider who is somewhat surpised that the Rox haven't generated more support yet, given the Yao factor, new arena, unis, etc. 1) What way have you guys decided to go re: the football team? Ignore, antagonistic, friendly rivalry, partnership, what? 2) I'm sure you've considered this, but how much work has gone into selling blocks to Hong Kong businesses, as part of a tour gig? It seesm hard to do, but the potential market in CHina, if you can ever tap it, would be HUGE. ( Yes, when appearing on a British quiz show , my specialty category was 'The Bleedin' Obvious'...5 points for anyone who gets this sort of quote... What ideas have you guys kicked around for how to do that?
Too early in the season son, but i've been to 3 games so far and did my part! they will come ....in april
When the Texans launched, they absolutely created competition for season tickets, sponsorships, and suites. In the short term, the launch of a new team is going to take business away from the existing teams -- just a fact, and there's no way around it. That said, we've worked our butts off, both on the player side and the business side. Ticket sales are up about 40% from the 01-02, the year before the Texans got here. Sponsorships are more than double. The place where we probably feel the impact most is in suite sales, since this market when from no real luxury suites to almost 400 of them in a matter of 4 years -- still, we're about 2/3 sold there, and we have leads on most of the remaining inventory, so we'll be fine if we just keep working at it. In the long term, you'll hear very different opinions on whether multiple sports teams make it easier or harder for each other. There's definitely some examples you can cite where being the only act in town makes it easier to get the city's attention -- San Antonio and Sacramento are good examples. But there's also a lot of owners who believe having three to four major teams is better for everyone, because it helps create more of a sports fan mentality. Drayton is one of the outspoken believers in this, and has spoken on it several times. You can find a lot of facts to back up this position as well. As for me, I hope the Texans and Astros both do well. I root for them both -- if all three teams can put good, competitive product out, and all three treat their fans right, I can't see how we can't all prosper. The more we make Houston a great sports town (and I think it's already a pretty good one), the better environment it'll be for everyone. As for China, we're somewhat limited in what we can do there since the league really controls our marketing rights outside a 75 mile radius of Houston. But we do have several sponsors on board that came on board partially because of our popularity in China (AIG, Hormel, Polaroid to name a few), and we're working on plans to play two pre-season game in China next year. Tim
Why don't a bunch of people all plan to go to the same game, sit in the same area, and be really loud? Maybe it will start a trend, and those people who want to be loud but aren't, will start being loud? Then maybe loud fans will start coming to games? Maybe, before you know it, we'll have louder fans in the arena?
Tim... A thought... In that the internet doesn't recognize geographic boundaries, couldn't you exploit that loophole in the physical access limit re: China? Or is that already specifically ruled out by the NBA, or would it be a matter that wouldn't technically break the rules, but would get the league ticked at you? What if you formed relationships with certain Chinese league basketball teams, wherein they sell blocks of Rockets tickets..not you...and you set up tours of China, or pre-season exhibitions, etc.?
Very insightful, MacBeth. The internet is The Great Grey Area concerning these types of rules. It's the subject of a lot of conversation within the league. Tim
I went to the Phoenix gaame, and I could feel a buzz in the air when I entered the stadium. Kind of a minor buzz, but it was there.
