Texans Selling Out Home Games, But Fewer Fans Attending

Texans Seeing Increase In No-Shows Despite Sellouts

The Texans have sold out all their home games, including preseason, since entering the league in ’02, but the “no-show factor has appeared to rise significantly since the end of the 2004 season,” according to Jerome Solomon of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. While the team has sold out 45 straight games, several ticket brokers said that “the current period is the slowest for ticket sales in team history.” Fans can buy upper-level tickets “below face value, and many others at face value.” Ticket Stop’s Jack Stopnicki said, “The best seats still bring a premium ... but it’s not like it was the first three years.” The Texans believe that fans who vowed not to attend games after the team selected DE Mario Williams with the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft this year instead of RB Reggie Bush or QB Vince Young “are in the minority as far as their fan base goes,” as a club-record 61,350 season tickets were sold before the season. The team said that the fans are “a late-arriving bunch,” and the club offers “lengthy tailgating opportunities and a lush club seating option that opens a choice between football-watching and bar-hopping.” Texans President of Business Operations Jamey Rootes: “It’s a Catch-22. You want to create great opportunities for the fans to enjoy themselves, but you can’t be disappointed when they take advantage of those things. The no-shows we see at any given Texans game have consistently been around the NFL average” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/22).