As my 2 or 3 readers probably know, there was some fallout from last week's Houston/Dallas game. There were A LOT of Dallas Cowboy fans in attendance at the game and in the parking lot tailgating. The combination of alcohol, Texas heat, and the stomping of the Texans by the Cowboys fired up more than a few negative emotions among the fans in attendance that day.
One source I read (note: I did not confirm this, but I have no reason to doubt this information) noted there were 57 arrests and 1 injured Houston Police Officer in the parking lot following the game. Although I'm sure there have been incidents in the parking lot during and after games in the past, I had never heard of anything widespread like this. As such, this prompted a reaction from the Texans.
Effective immediately, only those who have tickets to the game will be allowed in the Reliant Stadium parking lots for tailgating. Season ticket holders (of which I am one) will be able to purchase tailgating permits, but only limited numbers will be available for each game.
So if tailgating permits are going to be required to tailgate and are only available to season ticket holders, what happens to those on mini-plans or who have purchased only single game tickets with parking passes who also happen to tailgate? Are those groups no longer allowed to tailgate? From what I understand, some of the bigger setups bring in volunteers to watch their areas while they are inside the stadium. What about those fans who may not have access to the game but still would like to enjoy the gameday fun at the tailgating gatherings? I've walked by many of these setups on the way into the stadium and those who participate seem to have a lot of fun (and some of these setups get very elaborate) and I've noticed more than a few participants at some of these stands who never entered the stadium. The one last question I (and many others) relates to the logistics of the new policy. Are Reliant Park employees now going to check the ticket status of everyone entering the parking areas?
If Reliant Park is going check the ticket status of everyone entering the grounds, this is going to create a traffic nightmare in and around Reliant Stadium. I have only parked on the stadium grounds 1 time in the past (I decided not to park on the stadium lots ever again after it literally took over an hour to exit the complex). The normal routine for me is to park in the Park-and-Ride area and then take the light rail to the stadium. It takes just as much time to park and exit that way, but at least I'm getting some exercise on the walk to the stadium from the rail platform (as opposed to sitting in my car for an hour with an idling engine wasting gas). Are they going to check the ticket status of everyone at that entry point as well?
I've heard some say that this seems to be an opportunistic cash grab from the season ticket holders by the team, and while I'm skeptical of that motivation, it's hard to disagree. I can understand the need to balance the gameday experience with security for the fans, but this new policy seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to an isolated outbreak of violence from drunk emotional fans touched by the Houston sun in the middle of the afternoon (it was around 90 degrees ambient that day, on the concrete it could have easily topped 100 degrees).
I would have hoped that there would have been a more well thought out plan to balance security and fan enjoyment, but this is what we have for now. Hopefully by the time the 2011 season rolls around we can have something a little more fan friendly that addresses the security concerns of the Houston Texans organization. I guess when I head to the Giants game next week I'm going to have to leave a little early as at this point I have no idea what to expect.
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