Tag: Memorial Hermann

Rockets announce arena, game experience upgrades at Toyota Center

In advance of Friday’s regular-season home opener, the @HoustonRockets and Toyota Center announced several arena and game experience enhancements for fans.

The Houston Rockets and Toyota Center announced a series of arena and game experience enhancements in advance of their regular-season home opener versus Memphis on Friday night.

In a continuation of the team’s partnership with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his premium wine and spirits company, Sire Spirits, Toyota Center is launching the Sire Spirits Social Club. Located on the lower suite level on the south side of the arena, the club offers fans a great view of the court with a fine dining experience in a high-end, club-like setting with premium cocktail service.

The Golden Nugget Club and Lexus Lounge both return this season. With spaces adjoining the Rockets’ team entrance to the court, the Golden Nugget Club and Lexus Lounge provide upscale hangout spots with potential for unique interactions with players as they pass by.

The PNC Club, located behind the team benches on the east side of Toyota Center, now features dynamic murals created by local artist Reginald C. Adams. According to the team, Adams is world-renowned for his award-winning tile mosaic murals, sculptures, and art installations located in historic and underserved communities across Houston and the United States.  His work in the PNC Club was selected and voted on by fans over the summer at Rockets.com and on the team’s social media outlets.

Brand new this season are two experiential concept suites — The Green Room and The Sneaker Suite — designed to bring the best of pop culture for an enhanced fan experience.

According to the team, The Green Room showcases a bright motif decorated with lush greenery and offers a boutique experience worthy of celebrities, musicians, athletes, influencers, or simply Rockets fans looking to stand out from the crowd.

Meanwhile, The Sneaker Suite amplifies global sneaker culture and its organic connection to basketball, with Houston serving as one of the cities at the forefront of the cultural movement. The suite, curated in collaboration with Houston based boutique Premium Goods, highlights basketball lifestyle and local artists as well as team personalities. Both suites are available to rent on a nightly basis for all Rockets games and Toyota Center events.

For the 2022-23 season, the Rockets are injecting more local flavor into their arena entertainment with Clutch City Beats. During the offseason, the team hosted a competition for Houston-area music producers to submit original beats, and the five winners will have their tracks played during Rockets games and on social media throughout the season. Eight local artists were also commissioned to decorate the electrical boxes outside of Toyota Center.

For concessions, the Rockets and Toyota Center are introducing the Takeoff MKT featuring Zippin technology. These autonomous concession stations allow fans a frictionless experience to grab their favorite beverages and get back to their seats as quickly as possible.

Fans make selections and are automatically billed for their purchases when exiting the concessions area, with sensors, vision cognition and machine learning used to drive the experience. One station is located on the main concourse, with the other in the upper bowl.

As part of the team’s expanded partnership with Memorial Hermann, nursing stations will be added on both concourse levels at Toyota Center, providing private, comfortable spaces for mothers. The Rockets and Memorial Hermann also partnered to install additional baby-changing stations in restrooms throughout the arena.

Earlier this month, the Rockets Team Shop at Toyota Center debuted a Josh Christopher inspired merchandise capsule, which he worked on in collaboration with the team. The Rockets plan to collaborate on apparel items with other players and creatives in the near future. The team shop, which offers online and in-store shopping with curbside pickup, is featuring San Diego Rockets-themed Hardwood Classics apparel in celebration of the franchise’s 55th anniversary season.

Finally, the Rockets are also offering a range of new ticket package options at Toyota Center, including:

  • Margarita Mondays: one ticket and a Don Julio margarita starting at $25.
  • Taco Tuesdays: one ticket, two tacos, and a beverage starting at $29.
  • Sunday Funday Family Packs: four tickets, four hot dogs, and four beverages starting at $99.
  • Five-Game Flex Plans: fans choose dates and opponents at their convenience, starting at $55.

More information on the options is available at Rockets.com.

[lawrence-related id=105845,99607,102476]

[listicle id=104364]

‘Aggressive’ Rockets GM Rafael Stone finds support from Tilman Fertitta

Rafael Stone on Houston’s pre-draft approach: “That’s probably the biggest commonality that Tilman and I bring. We’re aggressive people. We’re going to call everybody 5,000 times.”

With only two days left before the Houston Rockets are scheduled to make the No. 3 overall selection in the 2022 NBA draft, owner Tilman Fertitta and general manager Rafael Stone took some pre-draft questions from media at Toyota Center following the announcement of an expanded partnership between the Rockets and Memorial Hermann.

Houston will be making their second consecutive top-five pick, and although they would love for the results of a winning season to have them drafting later, Fertitta is excited to be able to make any selection..

“When you look at what we accomplished, what our basketball ops really accomplished, it’s so exciting to think we have the third pick of the draft again, and we have two other draft picks in the first round,” Fertitta said. “You have to remember, my first four years; I didn’t know what a draft pick was. I thought it was something they did in the NFL because we never had one. I didn’t know what it was like. We’re thrilled.”

The Rockets are hoping to secure another talented player like they did last season with the selection of Jalen Green at No. 2 overall.

With Houston in rebuild mode, they are looking for a player that can make an immediate impact and fit right into place with the young, talented group of players that is already on the roster.

“We are rebuilding,” Stone said. “We are rebuilding in the best way we can. We are making every decision, whether to pick it, trade it, or whatever. We are going to make the best decision we can. Tilman has made it clear to me that the job is to get to the end goal. We don’t have an infinite amount of time to get there, but as long as we think that decision is the right one at that time, then that is the way we will go.”

Most NBA mock drafts have Paolo Banchero falling to the Rockets at three. The Duke forward met with Houston during the NBA draft combine and worked out privately for the Rockets. He was excited about the possibility of playing with a young core of players in Houston.

“It went great in Houston,” said Banchero during his pre-draft media availability. “They have a young crew. They want to play fast and space the floor. They see me fitting right in with my playmaking skills and ability to be anywhere on the floor.”

Houston also has the No. 17 overall pick in the first round and potentially the No. 26 pick, once the league office approves the proposed trade between the Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. If the Rockets stick to their blueprint from the 2021 NBA draft, where they selected Green, Usman Garuba, Josh Christopher, and traded for Alperen Sengun, they could soon find themselves as one of the best young teams in the league.

Yet, Fertitta and Stone are also open to the possibility of trading this year’s picks to acquire veteran talent or more picks in the future.

“We’re going to be aggressive,” Stone said. “That’s probably the biggest commonality that Tilman and I bring. We’re aggressive people. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. We’re only going to do deals that we internally decide are good ones. But we’re going to call everybody 5,000 times, and we’re going to see if there are different options that can be found.”

[lawrence-related id=102483,102400]

[mm-video type=video id=01g64ch0kjtkb8v94q5p playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g64ch0kjtkb8v94q5p/01g64ch0kjtkb8v94q5p-b8630eda161f39985822d3c83d400771.jpg]

[listicle id=102471]

Rockets to expand Memorial Hermann partnership, add new Toyota Center amenities

In a deal that will bring new amenities to Toyota Center, the Houston Rockets are expanding their partnership and collaboration with the Memorial Hermann Health System.

HOUSTON — In a press conference Tuesday at the Toyota Center practice court, the Rockets announced an extension and expansion of their existing partnership with the Memorial Hermann Health System.

Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Rockets, and Gretchen Sheirr, president of business operations, were on hand to deliver the news.

After nearly two decades of working together, the groups described the new arrangement as a unique, first-of-its-kind collaboration and branding partnership. Effective July 1, 2022, Memorial Hermann’s entire orthopedics and sports medicine service line will be rebranded to include the team as Memorial Hermann | Rockets Orthopedics.

In addition, Memorial Hermann’s sports medicine institute clinics will be named the Memorial Hermann | Rockets Sports Medicine Institute, and the Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital will be named the Memorial Hermann | Rockets Orthopedic Hospital.

In a press release, Memorial Hermann said it is proud to be the first health system in the country to be able to co-brand its orthopedic programs with a national sports team partner.

“We’re joining forces to offer exceptional, best-in-class orthopedic care, yes — but also to help build a healthier Houston,” said Dr. David Callender, President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System. “We are excited to show Greater Houston what we can accomplish by bringing our two exceptional teams together.”

Memorial Hermann and the Rockets first entered into a sponsorship agreement in 2005, making Memorial Hermann the official healthcare provider of the franchise. The two organizations have a long-standing cooperation on community wellness initiatives and beyond.

For over 10 years, the Rockets and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital have presented the Be Fit Challenge, which encourages and rewards students for healthy nutrition and physical activities. In addition, Memorial Hermann recently provided funding for numerous new breast-feeding stations to be installed in Toyota Center, providing private, tech-savvy breast-feeding and lactation spaces for mothers.

Memorial Hermann is also funding the installation of more baby-changing stations in all men’s and women’s restrooms in the arena.

Just last month, Memorial Hermann — in partnership with the Rockets and the City of Houston — unveiled two newly refurbished basketball courts at the Moody Community Center. Local children were treated to mini-clinics by Rockets players and coaches and given backpacks filled with items from Children’s Memorial Hermann and the Rockets.

The refurbished basketball courts, one inside and one outside, will provide this northeast Houston community with a quality place for kids and adults to get active and engage with one another through basketball, exercise classes, children’s activities, and more. This collaboration was the first of many planned efforts and initiatives that will improve health and the quality of life for Greater Houston.

“This collaboration with Memorial Hermann is truly an honor for the Rockets organization, and it strengthens our fantastic long-standing partnership while further aligning the commitment we both have to the Houston community,” said Sheirr.

“The world-class service Memorial Hermann has provided to Rockets players over the years is indicative of the care they bring to all patients with unmatched knowledge and passion,” Sheirr concluded.

[lawrence-related id=102483,101433]

[vertical-gallery id=101480]

[mm-video type=video id=01g54v70rqcbg74tr11v playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g54v70rqcbg74tr11v/01g54v70rqcbg74tr11v-f85d341354d70230d5ec5aeff1af40f6.jpg]

Rockets, Memorial Hermann work to renovate large Houston community center

With Jalen Green and Calvin Murphy among team reps at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Rockets and Memorial Hermann have successfully renovated Houston’s Moody Community Center.

The Fertitta family, Houston Rockets, Clutch City Foundation, Memorial Hermann Health System, and City of Houston unveiled extensive renovations Thursday afternoon at Moody Community Center.

The Rockets are owned by the Fertitta family, while the Clutch City Foundation has served as the umbrella organization for all of the franchise’s community initiatives in the Houston area since 1995.

In addition to overhauls of both an indoor and outdoor basketball court, the Moody project included a refurbished reading and learning center complete with computers, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathemathics) equipment, and gaming systems.

According to the team, the refurbishment of the basketball courts is an extension of Memorial Hermann’s mission to improve the health and well-being of all Houstonians and part of the system’s vision to create healthier communities. The learning center is part of a broader NBA league-wide initiative during its 75th anniversary season to create or improve live, learn, or play centers in each team’s home market.

At Thursday’s event, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner led a ribbon cutting ceremony along with Carol Paret, chief community health officer at Memorial Hermann. Following the ceremony, the Rockets conducted mini-clinics for area children at the two basketball courts.

Representatives of the Rockets present at Thursday’s ceremony included Gretchen Sheirr, president of business operations; Stephen Silas, head coach; former Rockets player and Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy; and current players Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Josh Christopher.

Going forward, the Rockets say they will continue to partner with Moody Community Center and the City of Houston’s Parks and Recreation Department by bolstering afterschool and summer programs with reading and wellness initiatives, along with basketball clinics and camps.

Courtesy of rockets.com, scroll on for photos from Thursday’s event.

[lawrence-related id=101471,101462]