Great stuff Rockets2k, thanks a lot for the link. I have to watch the Rockets game on NBA League Pass and they don't show local commercials, just NBA commercials. Great commercial!!
Tim, With all due resepect, I don't think that these are the groups that AlexVanderpool was referring to. I think Alex was referring to people who still follow the game but feel priced out of buying the occasional ticket (and who never had the resources to buy season tickets). "Former season ticket holders" are not exactly representative of all fans as a whole -- by definition, they have greater resources than the average fan. For the most part, if a season ticket holder has stopped buying season tickets, cost won't be the primary factor. They can often afford to keep buying, so of course something else (like not being able to relate to the players) motivated them. "Lapsed fans" are also unlikely to be motivated by the cost of ticket prices to stop following the game. They could still follow the game for free -- watching on TV, reading the paper, going on the Internet. So obviously they have a reason other than cost of ticket prices to have stopped paying attention (like not being able to relate to the players). Let me say that I'm not trying to pick on the Houston Rockets with this post. (3500 tickets under $20 is a great deal, and those family packs sound awesome -- I applaud the Rockets for being innovative.) In fact, I haven't lived in Houston for years, so I think the cost of tickets is a league-wide (in fact, a professional sports-wide) problem. Personally, I used to go to 3 or 4 games a year (mostly when the Rockets were in town), but I've only been to one game in the past 3 or 4 years. Often I might be willing to shell out the bucks to see my Rockets, but I can't find one of my other NBA fan friends to go because they think it's too expensive. Anyway, I'm sure that the NBA has tons of research that doesn't limit itself to the two demographics you mentioned. At least I hope so. Because there's a huge demographic of fans who can't afford season tickets, used to go to a few games a year, still follow the game, and now find themselves priced out. (Again, I'm not picking on the Rockets here. When I lived in LA, I could always afford Clippers tickets! Some teams do have more expensive tickets than others.) Tim, as always, thanks for keeping up a dialogue with the fans.
Wrath, hear you. I probably got a little testy with the start of my last reply, and that wasn't my intent -- I just wanted to stress that this is what FANS told us. It's not some "marketing spin." And that piece of fan feedback has been consistent across the league for years. The #1 mistake many marketers make is assuming that their personal point of view is representative of most of their customers. Sometimes I talk to fans who make the same error. That's why we do the research and follow it. When people claim that the research is wrong because it disagrees with their personal viewpoint, it's a hot button for me. If anybody thinks I reacted strongly to that here -- you should see my reaction in the office when somebody on my team takes that point of view. It's critically important as a marketer to put your own ego aside and LISTEN. That all said, yes, it's also pretty widely accepted that there's sentiment among some fans that they've been priced out of the game. (Not being the #1 issue doesn't make it insignificant.) That's why we've taken the "3500 @ $20 or less" stance, developed a Family Pack program, and a group discount plan. Its why we also give mini-plan buyers who purchase as few as 6 games a break on the ticket price. I'd love to do a "guy's night out" program as well (select weekday games, tickets + pizza + beer for a good price) as soon as we can work through TABC issues to make sure we do it within their regulations. However, it also bears noting that we'll probably sell out about 40% of our games this year, and that next year we project that well over one half of the games will sell out. We're gaining back customers at a pretty good rate -- we've been among the top three teams in attendance increases in each of the last two years. So ... it's an issue, yes. Do we think it's important? I think by the programs we've put in place and the results we gotten, I can't see anybody concluding that we don't think it's important or that we haven't addressed it with a lot of thought and a sense of urgency. Good conversation. Tim
Definitely sounds like you've done that. Now, could you just get some of the teams in my area to do the same? For example, the family pack where I live is $144 (4 tix, sodas, and hot dogs) ... I like the sound of $69 better ...
What prog were you using to encode? I havent checked any of your clips to see how long they are...but most normal plays last for 15-20 seconds...and using TMPEG, I can enode to mpg1 at a file size of 3-4 Megs arent yours around 9M or so per play?..or were those multiple plays combined?
Tim: I do want to give you guys kudos for the "family packs" and the 6 or 12 pack tickets. That has made getting Rockets tickets for my family within reach. Last year we did the Yao Ming 6 pack for the 1st half of the season. We enjoyed it so much and thought is was affordable so that we went back and did the 6 pack again for the 2nd half of the season! We didn't up this year because of a new baby in our family but come next year we'll probably look into the smaller season tickets packages again.
Just found out you got a terrible name, "KaiSeR SoZe"... btw, can you give more details on why Timberwolves' homepage is better? I didn't see it.
By the way - is there another link to the commercial? The links posted above for smeggy's site is not working.
sure it is..I just checked it. are you sure you didnt click the link in a quote from my earlier post? that had a typo and since it is quoted in anothers post..I cant edit it...but here it is again.. here
Tim - I have a question. I have been looking everywhere on the internet for a pair of the new uniform shorts. I am in Idaho so it is not easy finding rockets stuff at any store. Is there a reason why they are not selling them? I have found jerseys all over the place, but no shorts. Thanks
I'm willing to bet the Real #1 reason why fans stop going to games is..... drum roll..... L-O-S-I-N-G
I actually saw them for sale on-line somewhere recently, so I know they exist, but I'd have to dig around to figure out where. I know we don't sell them in the Team Shop in the arena because they typically don't sell well in arenas and it's impossible for us to reach a minimum order quantity. Shorts in particular tend to sell better in sporting goods stores or over the web. What tends to sell for us are things that people can wear immediately (hats, shirts, jerseys) and things that people can buy as gifts for kids (an example would be our kids sweats, which my little guy wears all the time). Tim
Tim, i want my shorts tooooo... i love team shorts nevertheless got my red Yao jersey in the post a little while ago and love it..... have a football jersey, a yao white jersey and some other stuff coming whenever heyP gets off his butt and posts them to me... please advise if you find anything more about shorts availability... the mrs really wants a long sleeve red warm-up top... make em sell them Smeg
The link is flat out not working for me guys. R2K - I got the thread from your link but I get a "page cannot be displayed" for smegs.
idrockfan- Congrats! Kids are a blessing though they are a lot of work! Take good care of momma and baby!
I get another message board thread with a link. Clicking on the 2nd link I get a "page cannot be displayed" message.
then I dont know what to tell you...I just tested it...and the link in that post works fine. here...try this one http://bbs.smeggysmeg.com/showpost.php?p=1533&postcount=9
