NRG Stadium - Preseason Parking and Fan Experience

[barrett]

I went to the game last night and it was nice to beat the Cowboys. Our scrubs weren't just better than theirs, ours looked better coached.

But going to NRG on a week night remains a total train wreck. You can be within a mile of the stadium at 6:30 and not reach your seats until 7:45. It blows my mind that the Rockets and Astros play downtown where there is WAY more non game traffic, and they can get you into the stadium three times faster. The team needs to get with the city about traffic fixes.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by barrett

I went to the game last night and it was nice to beat the Cowboys. Our scrubs weren't just better than theirs, ours looked better coached.

But going to NRG on a week night remains a total train wreck. You can be within a mile of the stadium at 6:30 and not reach your seats until 7:45. It blows my mind that the Rockets and Astros play downtown where there is WAY more non game traffic, and they can get you into the stadium three times faster. The team needs to get with the city about traffic fixes.

Where were the issues? When I was going to the stadium every game we parked in the Blue lot and I never had any problems getting in. Of course I was usually there four hours before kickoff.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Where were the issues? When I was going to the stadium every game we parked in the Blue lot and I never had any problems getting in. Of course I was usually there four hours before kickoff.

On weekends people can show up 4 hours early and they often do. The rest are spread out for the next 4+ hours. At a week night game all 50K-70K show up in the same hour, and that same hour is rush hour traffic. I guess since week night games are rare they don't care to fix the problem.

[Keith]

Without fail, the weeknight preseason home game is by far the worst for pregame traffic, and it ain't even close. A combination of several factors, including the late afternoon/evening rush hour as well as the sheer number of non-season ticket holders attending that don't have any clue how to get where they are going, contribute to this annual clusterfest.

To add to it, the traffic control plan along the feeder road of 610 westbound between Fannin and Kirby has worsened. Traffic even for Sunday kickoffs backs up through the deceleration lanes onto 610 WB through this area now worse than ever before... and I've been taking this route into the stadium lots since 2002.

[Arky]

I used to use Holly Hall as a backdoor back when the dome was cookin'. Never had to deal with Kirby Drive. I have no idea if that is an option these days...

[Keith]

I have a space in platinum, and the only entrance option the Texans give is off Kirby, so I don't have much choice. The Texans could easily allow platinum lot drivers to enter from other directions, like Holly Hall or even directly from the 610 feeder, but they don't.

[barrett]

It feels almost deliberate it's so bad. I also waited for a half hour at half time in a food line. The woman in front of us said she left the Woodlands at 5:30 to come to the game and hadn't been to her seats yet (it was close to 9).

When you consider how amazing the NFL is at presenting their product on TV it amazes me they put so little into presenting it in person. I don't like the Rockets but I went to 2 games last year and the presentation was so much better. The NFL holds you hostage in the stadium for a 4 hour game and they mostly don't care if you like it because if you don't someone else will.

All hail the Falcons who have made huge steps to change the gameday experience. They sell almost all their food for under $5 and drinks are $2. This has allowed families to show up early and eat there on Sundays, and that in turn has greatly lessened entrance lines since people arrive spread out through the day. And with the lower prices they led the NFL in concessions revenue and sold more in stadium Merch than anyone in the NFL since people were there longer and were happier about being there.

[chuck]

It doesn't take too much to look around and find franchises that are not operated by idiot necks.

[Keith]

I will say that the Texans seem to put little effort into presenting their preseason product. Less and less effort every year. They do a better job in the regular season. I left the Woodlands area around 5pm that day and was seated at least 15 minutes before kickoff, so that poor woman not seated until 9 must have had other issues.

I actually attended the first home game at the Falcons' new stadium last year... it was a preseason game as well. Without a doubt, the nicest surprise was their concession prices - extremely reasonable. The burger-coke combo at Texans games is almost twenty bucks, which is insane. The game I attended there was on a Saturday night, but iirc, Chick-fil-A was their main food sponsor, which is very odd since most Falcons games are played on Sundays, when Chick-fil-A is closed.

That said, the rest of the experience in Atlanta wasn't anything better. While traffic was less of an issue, parking options were not great. Lots of walking on uneven ground. The concourses in their new stadium were narrow and bottlenecked in several places. Their seats were a thinner plastic, kinda like the Cowboys' ones in Arlington for those who have been to the JerryDome. All in all, if you can figure the traffic into the stadium better, I'd take the Texans experience first.

Unrelated, I've enjoyed Braves games at their new stadium. They developed a sort of "downtown" walkup area as well with shops and restaurants (and condos). Would be cool if Houston furthered the development around MMP either toward BBVA Compasss and/or GRB and Toyota Center/Discovery Green.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Keith

I will say that the Texans seem to put little effort into presenting their preseason product. Less and less effort every year. They do a better job in the regular season. I left the Woodlands area around 5pm that day and was seated at least 15 minutes before kickoff, so that poor woman not seated until 9 must have had other issues.

I actually attended the first home game at the Falcons' new stadium last year... it was a preseason game as well. Without a doubt, the nicest surprise was their concession prices - extremely reasonable. The burger-coke combo at Texans games is almost twenty bucks, which is insane. The game I attended there was on a Saturday night, but iirc, Chick-fil-A was their main food sponsor, which is very odd since most Falcons games are played on Sundays, when Chick-fil-A is closed.

That said, the rest of the experience in Atlanta wasn't anything better. While traffic was less of an issue, parking options were not great. Lots of walking on uneven ground. The concourses in their new stadium were narrow and bottlenecked in several places. Their seats were a thinner plastic, kinda like the Cowboys' ones in Arlington for those who have been to the JerryDome. All in all, if you can figure the traffic into the stadium better, I'd take the Texans experience first.

Unrelated, I've enjoyed Braves games at their new stadium. They developed a sort of "downtown" walkup area as well with shops and restaurants (and condos). Would be cool if Houston furthered the development around MMP either toward BBVA Compasss and/or GRB and Toyota Center/Discovery Green.

I wasn't pointing to the Falcons as the paragon of fan experience. I was pointing out that they lowered food prices mostly in an effort to get people to show up early, thus reducing traffic problems. That's being responsive to issues fans identify. The Texans may have started with a better overall experience. I love their stadium. But they make it very clear that they are content with where they're at. That's why traffic has gotten worse for 5 years without any effort to change it. And honestly why wouldn't they be content? They've got a mile long wait list to purchase season tickets and a robust resale market when the team is even decent. There are more ticket buying fans then available seats at this point so smart business says to ignore the problems.

[Keith]

[Mod note: Split these posts from the Cowboys fake game thread into a new thread.]

Found a listing of the most expensive stadiums to watch a NFL game. Found this interesting mostly because the Texans try to sell ticket buyers that they have very average, middle-of-the-road pricing. This article claims otherwise, though I cannot confirm how they truly determined their figures.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ranked-most-and-least-expensive-stadiums-for-nfl-fans-to-watch-a-football-game/ss-BBMTS6n?ocid=spartanntp#image=29

1. Patriots
2. Seahawks
3. Packers
4. Broncos
5. Texans
…
11. Cowboys
…
20. Falcons
…
32. Browns

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Keith

[Mod note: Split these posts from the Cowboys fake game thread into a new thread.]

Found a listing of the most expensive stadiums to watch a NFL game. Found this interesting mostly because the Texans try to sell ticket buyers that they have very average, middle-of-the-road pricing. This article claims otherwise, though I cannot confirm how they truly determined their figures.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ranked-most-and-least-expensive-stadiums-for-nfl-fans-to-watch-a-football-game/ss-BBMTS6n?ocid=spartanntp#image=29

1. Patriots
2. Seahawks
3. Packers
4. Broncos
5. Texans
…
11. Cowboys
…
20. Falcons
…
32. Browns

Supply and demand. Demand is driven in most of those markets by winning super bowls. Demand here is permanent and not particularly tied to wins and losses.