Houston's Label?

[J.A.S.O.N.]

All the hype about Francis had me wondering... Would you consider Houston a baseball, football, or basketball town? The Comets already have four championships under their belts. Are the Rockets one championship away from folks considering this town a full fledged "basketball town"?

[JJxvi]

Houston is a football town and it will become plainly obvious once we have a playoff type season. Until then Houston is a baseball town.

[lockmat]

Football town number one of course. But I think baseball is right behind it now. Time will tell. Just look at the attendance numbers, and there's no winning, no Clemens, just baseball. The only thing you might be able to point out is Biggio's run at 3,000.

[citykid09]

I think Houston is an all of the above town. People don't usually show favoritism over one sport or the other.

I would say Dallas is a football city,

And San Antonio is a basketball city, because thats pretty much all they have, but atleast they are winners!

[TheNiche]

Growing up and visiting Houston from time to time, I always considered it more of a baseball town than anything. Not sure why.

[lockmat]

I don't know, it's kinda weird. I know I've always loved football my entire life and wanted to play, but didn't for reasons too long to explain. But I played baseball my whole life. I grew up in the Spring/Klein area and it seemed that baseball was king there. There was so much competition there. I had friends who liked football, but I don't know...it seems like I knew more diehard Astros fans that Oilers. Maybe it's cuz of the circles I was in.

[Jeebus]

We're a no-sports town. That is, until one of them is in the playoffs. Then suddenly we have no shortage of fanatics.

[T 2 THA C]

Football City 1st then Baseball then Basketball. Even though the Rockets have won championships Football is # 1, then Baseball like posted above they have the Attendance without winning. The Rockets only sell out or get close to selling out with the Marqee games. Texans tickets are hard to get compared to Astros and Rockets, plus you can't forgett about the tailgaters.

[TJones]

Houston is known far and wide for having "fairweather" fans. We can't even sell out a 15,000 seat arena during the playoffs in a town of 5 million people so the TV station usually has to kick in money to be able to broadcast the game and not get blacked out and get the advertising revenue ? C'mon !

[Ethanra]

We can't even sell out a 15,000 seat arena during the playoffs

When was this? Houston never had problems except at the Dome selling out for a winning team...

Couple seasons ago the Texans had 70,000, the Stros had 40,000 and their was 5,000 at a college baseball game all at the same time... Houston has good fan support but when the team isn't playing well people stop showing up, their is to many other things to do with your money then support a bad team....

[TJones]

When was this? Houston never had problems except at the Dome selling out for a winning team...

Couple seasons ago the Texans had 70,000, the Stros had 40,000 and their was 5,000 at a college baseball game all at the same time... Houston has good fan support but when the team isn't playing well people stop showing up, their is to many other things to do with your money then support a bad team....

Both the Summit and the Toyota have trouble selling out. Astrodome, hardly EVER. Stros? how many seats at the Juicebox ? 5 million people, and they can't sell 60,000 seats ? I will give ya Reliant, Texans draw a good crowd at the beginning, but then..........well, you know the story.

[dalparadise]

Houston is known far and wide for having "fairweather" fans. We can't even sell out a 15,000 seat arena during the playoffs in a town of 5 million people so the TV station usually has to kick in money to be able to broadcast the game and not get blacked out and get the advertising revenue ? C'mon !

I don't really think this is the case anymore. I think you're buying into the hype generated by the former football team's owner, whose name I can't even bear to type. Houston is definitely a football town. The Texans have sold out every game in their history. Tickets for a couple of games set to be played in October are already down to just scattered singles available. If the Oilers had been half as good at PR, they would have been able to reap this kind of loyalty reward.

Secondly, we have made strides toward becoming a baseball town, though we are nowhere close to the real thing in that regard. We are in the phase where we support our team, win or lose, though, which bodes well for our maturation, if we keep it up.

Basketball was a flash-in-the-pan in popularity for the championship years a decade ago. The NBA as a whole is having image troubles. It's becoming a medium-market sport, with a few exceptions. The Rockets are one of those exceptions and with Stevie, we may be very, very good this year. Stay tuned.

That all said, I think the fact that we seem to be embracing MLS more readily than I thought we would, even acknowledging the championship team we inherited, is an indication that this truly is becoming a first-rate sports town.

Here's my take on major towns and their signature sports:

New York -- NYC is an all-sports town by virtue of it being the biggest stage. Even mediocre teams or teams that have mediocre years eventually become contenters again in New York, with a loyal following. Any game in the tri-state area is a "big game" for the visiting team.

Chicago -- Chi-town loves the Bears, but they are a baseball town at heart. And, lest the Southsiders confuse you with hype, Chicago loves The Cubs. This is an indication that Chicago fans are purists. They love the Great Game, despite their favorite team being a big loser. That may change this year. If it does, Chicago will go apeshit.

Los Angeles -- Los Angeles is a basketball town by default, because it's a terrible sports town. Basketball is about the event. It's entertainment indoors, at night. It's a place to be seen. It isn't about the game. Disinterested Angelenos are oblivious to the significance of having one of sport's greatest franchises, the Brooklyn Dodgers, in their town. They only want football as a "me too", if, in fact, they want it at all. Terrible sports town.

San Francisco-Oakland -- Football town. Storied franchises on both sides of The Bay mean that even the equally impressive histories of baseball transplants from NYC and Philadelphia (by way of KC) will always play in the shadows of the great football teams. Most people in SF are unaware the area has a basketball team. A few make the hour-long trip to catch a hockey game once or twice a season, if it isn't interrupted by a strike year.

Boston -- Pretty close to NY in being an "everything town", but despite fielding one of the greatest dynasties in football, this is a baseball town. Check that -- this is THE baseball town. In the past, the basketball team could have made a legitimate claim for Bostonians hearts, but in the end, it all comes back to the Sox.

Washington/Baltimore -- They have the Redskins, the biggest brand in American sports playing there, a team that has made it clear that it doesn't like its fans very much. And still they come. The Ravens have also made a name for themselves in pretty short order, though "Baltimore Colts" still seems like the right thing to say. So, I guess this is a football town, though Camden Yards is a gem and the Orioles' history and fan loyalty runs deep.

Philadelphia -- Football town, plain and simple.

Pittsburgh -- See Philadelphia

Denver -- An all-around sports mecca. They back their teams win-or-lose. The favorite is Football -- this is a beer-drinking town, after all, but if a game's on, Denver is rooting hard for the home team.

St. Louis -- Baseball super-town. The Cards are the NL's version of the Yankees, but waaaaay more likable. Aside from the homers in Chicago and Houston, the Cards may be the best liked, most admired team in the NL.

Phoenix -- terrible sports town, with a "build it and they will come" mentality. Even with the hardest to get prize in American sports under their belts -- an MLB championship -- They can't seem to get it.

Milwaukee/Green Bay -- The last great football town, where the sport is still pure. People wait all their lives for a chance to buy season tickets to Packers' games. They have a baseball team too, I hear.

KC -- regional fans, homers. A football town because its overshadowed by St. Louis as a baseball town and no Royals' fan today was alive when George Brett was playing.

Miami -- Terrible sports town. Likes the spectacle of the NBA, when they're winning. Can't quite remember the golden age of Dolphins football. Won the World Series and dismantled the team, in an apparent request for a refund. Terrible sports town.

Seattle -- a football town, I guess. Because of geography and a history of lackluster teams, nobody farther East than Spokane ever sees games played there.

Detroit is called Hockeytown, USA. Any questions?

The best overall pro sports towns (subjectively based on my impression of fan allegiance to, knowledge and support of a variety of sports) can be ranked in this order:

1. New York

2. Denver

3. Dallas

4. Boston

5. Chicago

6. SF/Oakland

7. Houston

8. Philadelphia

9. DC/Baltimore

10. St. Louis

[dalparadise]

Both the Summit and the Toyota have trouble selling out. Astrodome, hardly EVER. Stros? how many seats at the Juicebox ? 5 million people, and they can't sell 60,000 seats ? I will give ya Reliant, Texans draw a good crowd at the beginning, but then..........well, you know the story.

Baseball plays 81 home games per year. The ideal stadium size for such a schedule is about 40,000 -- which is about what Minute Maid seats and comes quite close to filling every night. I believe the average attendance for the Astros is around 36,000 over the last 4-5 seasons, putting them in the upper eschelon of attendance. they will most likely break 3,000,000 this year, for the fourth time in their history, I believe.

[Ethanra]

Both the Summit and the Toyota have trouble selling out. Astrodome, hardly EVER. Stros? how many seats at the Juicebox ? 5 million people, and they can't sell 60,000 seats ? I will give ya Reliant, Texans draw a good crowd at the beginning, but then..........well, you know the story.

I agree about the dome and Rockets games... MMP only holds about 41,000 with SRO and avrg over 35,000 a game. Houston is one of the few cities that draws over a 3million attendence mark for a baseball season. Even NY doesn't sell out every Yankee game. Back to my question. When couldn't we sell out a home playoff game? Houston has never had the problem of selling out playoff games...

[lockmat]

Even NY doesn't sell out every Yankee game.

Not to get too picky, but doesn't Yankee Stadium hold over 50k or something like that?

[RedScare]

Both the Summit and the Toyota have trouble selling out. Astrodome, hardly EVER. Stros? how many seats at the Juicebox ? 5 million people, and they can't sell 60,000 seats ? I will give ya Reliant, Texans draw a good crowd at the beginning, but then..........well, you know the story.

I think you are using old numbers chief.

Houston Texans - Sold out every game since they started in 2002.

Houston Astros - On pace to sell 3 million tickets for 4th time since Minute Maid opened....even though they have the worst record in baseball. They average 90.4% of capacity, 7th in MLB, and AHEAD of the NY Yankees 90.3%. Have sold out every playoff game in recent memory, with the possible exception of one day game in 2001.

Houston Rockets - Had some mediocre regular season attendance, though it improved this year with the team's winning record. Have sold out every playoff game.

[Trae]

The Rockets attendance will get so much better with Francis, and an overall improved team this year. The Astros are on pace to have over three million in attendance this year. That is more than last years attendance (which was after the World Series hype). The Texans sell out every game, but people just don't show up (should change with an improved team this year).

[Coffin]

The Comets already have four championships under their belts.

The who? I mean, do anyone really go to the Houston Comets games or even pay any attention to them?

[Trae]

Not anymore, but back at the Compaq Center, they were huge.

[DJ V Lawrence]

All the hype about Francis had me wondering... Would you consider Houston a baseball, football, or basketball town? The Comets already have four championships under their belts. Are the Rockets one championship away from folks considering this town a full fledged "basketball town"?

I'd say we're a baseball town. Whoever's winning that year, that's who the city's passionate about. You know how passionate the fans are in a city when you see how they react to their team having a losing season, and we seem to be more forgiving to the 'Stros than any other team when things aren't going their way.

[Trae]

Yeah, Houston is a baseball town, but football still rules over here. Two Texans home games sold out in ten minutes (Titans and Saints).

[DJ V Lawrence]

Yeah, Houston is a baseball town, but football still rules over here. Two Texans home games sold out in ten minutes (Titans and Saints).

True, but international soccer has also sold out Reliant Stadium consistantly, but Houston still isn't considered a primarily "soccer town" yet. Those game have a much higher attendance than Astros games.

It's about more than attendance IMO. To me, it's about the question "the first team I would think of when I hear Houston, who would it be", and because of their history, I'd say Astros still.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

True, but international soccer has also sold out Reliant Stadium consistantly, but Houston still isn't considered a primarily "soccer town" yet. Those game have a much higher attendance than Astros games.

It's about more than attendance IMO. To me, it's about the question "the first team I would think of when I hear Houston, who would it be", and because of their history, I'd say Astros still.

Really? I'd assume the Rockets have more of a storied past than the Astros.

[Deut28Thirteen]

Yeah, Houston is a baseball town, but football still rules over here. Two Texans home games sold out in ten minutes (Titans and Saints).

I think we all know why those games are sold out. Unfortunately this is a football city thats why all the Texans home games have sold out in their history. 'Stros are going to take over if they can make another wildcard run, BUT when (if) the Texans make .500 Houston will hop right back on the Texans and that is sad. BEST CLIP EVER!!!!!! I think I cried tears of Joy it was so beautiful.

[TJones]

The Texans may sell out every ticket, but there are NOT 70,000 butts in seats. I see pockets of empty seats at every game.

I was actually referring to lack of people in seats at Rockets playoff games that I have been too. Astros, I will say that during playoff time the seats are filled, I don't think during the regular season that there is ONE sell out game , and the games that I go to, there is NO WAY that there are 34,000 people there, maybe 34,000 tickets sold, but only 24,000 people. When they measure attendance are using the turnstall totals or are they using ticket sale numbers ?

[ricco67]

The Texans may sell out every ticket, but there are NOT 70,000 butts in seats. I see pockets of empty seats at every game.

I was actually referring to lack of people in seats at Rockets playoff games that I have been too. Astros, I will say that during playoff time the seats are filled, I don't think during the regular season that there is ONE sell out game , and the games that I go to, there is NO WAY that there are 34,000 people there, maybe 34,000 tickets sold, but only 24,000 people. When they measure attendance are using the turnstall totals or are they using ticket sale numbers ?

I think Houston is a lousy sports city period.

It doesn't really matter what sport it is, the fans will show up during a win streak, but let them start going down the tubes and the "fans" stay away in droves, even in the sports bars. I've seen other teams with HORRIBLE records show up in droves to support their teams.

Generally, I will go to about 10-20 games a year and you can see the differences in the crowd throughout the year. Since I personally I have no experience with football (I will only watch at a sports bar....once a year), I know that Baseball counts the bodies through the turnstiles.

[TJones]

Ricco, I thought they counted through the turnstalls also at baseball, but there must be a few ticket takers turning them a few more times during the course of the gates opening. LOL!

[lockmat]

The Texans may sell out every ticket, but there are NOT 70,000 butts in seats. I see pockets of empty seats at every game.

I was actually referring to lack of people in seats at Rockets playoff games that I have been too. Astros, I will say that during playoff time the seats are filled, I don't think during the regular season that there is ONE sell out game , and the games that I go to, there is NO WAY that there are 34,000 people there, maybe 34,000 tickets sold, but only 24,000 people. When they measure attendance are using the turnstall totals or are they using ticket sale numbers ?

I work in the box office for a sports team here in town. I'm the one who gives the GM the paid attendance numbers. The paid attendance is always way more than the actual attendance. And it's not just season ticket holders who don't show up. It's people with comp tickets and regular purchased tickets.

Ricco, I thought they counted through the turnstalls also at baseball, but there must be a few ticket takers turning them a few more times during the course of the gates opening. LOL!

Tickets are scanned these days, so actual numbers are instantly sent to a computer in the office.

[Trae]

I think we all know why those games are sold out. Unfortunately this is a football city thats why all the Texans home games have sold out in their history. 'Stros are going to take over if they can make another wildcard run, BUT when (if) the Texans make .500 Houston will hop right back on the Texans and that is sad. BEST CLIP EVER!!!!!! I think I cried tears of Joy it was so beautiful.

I think I threw up on that play. We will get VY again, and once the Texans start winning this year, the stadium will be packed, and hopefully they will support the Texans. The stadium then was so full of Texas #10 jerseys and Titan jerseys. It was ugly.

[lockmat]

I think Houston is a lousy sports city period.

It doesn't really matter what sport it is, the fans will show up during a win streak, but let them start going down the tubes and the "fans" stay away in droves, even in the sports bars. I've seen other teams with HORRIBLE records show up in droves to support their teams.

Ya know, I used to be obsessed with sports growing up. But as I've got older, I've filled my time with other things that take a higher priority. I used to love sitting in front of the tv during the summer and watch the same sportscenter over and over or stay up really late on a school night waiting to see if the 'Stros were gonna get Randy Johnson. I don't blame people not being totally obsessed with a sports team. Although I love my Houston teams still, I just don't follow them as closely anymore. Part of it might be because I haven't really lived in Houston in eight years or maybe it's cuz I don't have cable. Just my two cents.

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Let me add something else I thought of that even somewhat counters my argument. If I had the time and money, I'd go to an Astros, Rockets, Texans, Aeros or Dyname game no matter what the record. I think fair-weather fans, instead of liking the team or just the sport, like to see winning. If they had really really like the team or just enjoyed the game, record wouldn't matter. Because even if you're team is losing, you should be able to appreciate the talent of the other team.