$200: the final straw for this Gopher alum & lifelong fan

[Word]

I don't keep a ledger but mostly it would have been saved. I certainly didn't spend the kind of money I would have spent on the season tickets, fuel to Mpls and game day indulgences. Mostly spend a little more time hunting and watching the games on TV.

I think for people that live in the metro area it's a lot easier to just shop around for events and do them spur of the moment. If you're outstate I can see it being more of a commitment.

 

[Mr. 131]

Yet even the Wolves gave me free tickets this past season. Attendance is definitely better though.

I mean, if you are looking for cheap Gopher tickets, they are everywhere on the second hand market. On any of the cupcake games each year you can score sub $15 tickets with ease. I can't even get $5 for my season tickets for those early games if I try to sell them.

I will always say that there is no better sporting value in the Twin Cities other than perhaps, MN United (not my thing, but cheap compared to the other pro clubs in town). Twins Pass is decent, but the Twins are currently dead to me.

 

[Word]

I mean, if you are looking for cheap Gopher tickets, they are everywhere on the second hand market. On any of the cupcake games each year you can score sub $15 tickets with ease. I can't even get $5 for my season tickets for those early games if I try to sell them.

I will always say that there is no better sporting value in the Twin Cities other than perhaps, MN United (not my thing, but cheap compared to the other pro clubs in town). Twins Pass is decent, but the Twins are currently dead to me.

Gopher Football and Hockey are both great values, relatively speaking.

 

[SeaBee_Gopher]

My (worthless) diagnosis is that this was screwed up years and years ago, when they decided to have Gopher football leave campus and play in the Metrodome.

We're still a decade+ out from the 2nd generation of fans who (I mean the kids of the kids) who came back on campus and actually grew up caring about Gopher football.

Winning (or rather, not being bad) helps keep that momentum alive.

PROBLEM #1:
You beat me to this point GopherGrit. This is a huge part of it. I graduated in 1995. I remember going to a couple games with my friends at the Metrodome and the environment was terrible. Getting there was terrible too. Tailgating was basically non-existent. That is why we never went back until they built the current stadium. Even when that happened, it took me years to ever get back into watching the Gophers. I had developed allegiances to other local sporting teams with varying high water marks in level of interest in the Wild, Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, Gopher hockey and Gopher basketball. As I've started following Gopher football more including spending more and more time on this message board, I've followed those teams less. We lost a lot of fans during those Metrodome years that are now in their prime earning years like me. We'll never get a large portion of them back.

PROBLEM #2:
My impression is Nebraska football is big for almost all Nebraskan's, not just people that went to school there. They are culturally extremely important to the state. Same for Iowa/Iowa State. Those teams are the main sporting entertainment choice for people in those states by far. The Vikings are the main sporting entertainment choice in this state and the U isn't even a close number two, it's way down the list. We are the state of HOCKEY, not football, so the Wild and Gopher hockey are very important. Hockey is not that large a distraction in states south of us. Pro basketball is becoming a bigger draw too (men & women's) as is soccer.

Part of the reason we have all these pro sports teams is because we are the largest metropolitan area northwest of Chicago for quite a long ways! We're a natural hub in this region for pro sports teams and draw pro sports fans from the Dakotas, Iowa and western Wisconsin. That's an awesome thing for the Twin Cities. The problem is that dilutes the importance of the Gophers as sports entertainment. Every dollar spent promoting the Gophers is drowned out by dollars spent on all our other pro sports teams. Unfortunately, those same cross border pro sports fans have local choices for college teams. That puts dollars into the pockets of pro sports teams that the Gophers do not have access to. An Iowa fan can easily be a Viking fan, but they are much less likely to be a Gopher fan. Those pro sports teams advertise with those dollars which directly hurts the Gophers. The U of M draws mostly alum and I don't see that changing. The Gophers are not a state institution the same way our competitors are. The Badgers are in a closer situation since Wisconsin has a lot of pro sports teams, but Wisconsin seems to put more effort behind being a Badger state. Wisconsin's state medical program is called Badger Care for god's sake! Talk about free advertising. I don't think we'll ever get that level of support from our state. Too many other distractions. Even in the Twin Cities, it seems like St. Thomas is not as far behind the Gophers in notoriety as they should be.

PROBLEM #3:
The Gophers had a LONG run of being not very good. If they were better more recently, that would certainly have helped, but I don't see that ever completely overcoming #2 above. We're blessed to have all these sports entertainment choices in the metro, but it hurts the Gophers. Yes, our population is larger than other surrounding metros, but not so much so that it overcomes all of our sporting choices. The Gophers being good IS helping with #1, but that will take time.

I love being a fan of the Gophers! They are a great comparative value and the tailgating and game day atmosphere is improving. I think their overall situation will continue to improve. Thank god we are in the Big Ten Conference and all the money that brings!!! I also think it's unrealistic to overestimate our upside. Some of the positives of the Twin Cities sports entertainment scene are a permanent negative for the Gophers.

 

[swede2]

PROBLEM #1:
You beat me to this point GopherGrit. This is a huge part of it. I graduated in 1995. I remember going to a couple games with my friends at the Metrodome and the environment was terrible. Getting there was terrible too. Tailgating was basically non-existent. That is why we never went back until they built the current stadium. Even when that happened, it took me years to ever get back into watching the Gophers. I had developed allegiances to other local sporting teams with varying high water marks in level of interest in the Wild, Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, Gopher hockey and Gopher basketball. As I've started following Gopher football more including spending more and more time on this message board, I've followed those teams less. We lost a lot of fans during those Metrodome years that are now in their prime earning years like me. We'll never get a large portion of them back.

PROBLEM #2:
My impression is Nebraska football is big for almost all Nebraskan's, not just people that went to school there. They are culturally extremely important to the state. Same for Iowa/Iowa State. Those teams are the main sporting entertainment choice for people in those states by far. The Vikings are the main sporting entertainment choice in this state and the U isn't even a close number two, it's way down the list. We are the state of HOCKEY, not football, so the Wild and Gopher hockey are very important. Hockey is not that large a distraction in states south of us. Pro basketball is becoming a bigger draw too (men & women's) as is soccer.

Part of the reason we have all these pro sports teams is because we are the largest metropolitan area northwest of Chicago for quite a long ways! We're a natural hub in this region for pro sports teams and draw pro sports fans from the Dakotas, Iowa and western Wisconsin. That's an awesome thing for the Twin Cities. The problem is that dilutes the importance of the Gophers as sports entertainment. Every dollar spent promoting the Gophers is drowned out by dollars spent on all our other pro sports teams. Unfortunately, those same cross border pro sports fans have local choices for college teams. That puts dollars into the pockets of pro sports teams that the Gophers do not have access to. An Iowa fan can easily be a Viking fan, but they are much less likely to be a Gopher fan. Those pro sports teams advertise with those dollars which directly hurts the Gophers. The U of M draws mostly alum and I don't see that changing. The Gophers are not a state institution the same way our competitors are. The Badgers are in a closer situation since Wisconsin has a lot of pro sports teams, but Wisconsin seems to put more effort behind being a Badger state. Wisconsin's state medical program is called Badger Care for god's sake! Talk about free advertising. I don't think we'll ever get that level of support from our state. Too many other distractions. Even in the Twin Cities, it seems like St. Thomas is not as far behind the Gophers in notoriety as they should be.

PROBLEM #3:
The Gophers had a LONG run of being not very good. If they were better more recently, that would certainly have helped, but I don't see that ever completely overcoming #2 above. We're blessed to have all these sports entertainment choices in the metro, but it hurts the Gophers. Yes, our population is larger than other surrounding metros, but not so much so that it overcomes all of our sporting choices. The Gophers being good IS helping with #1, but that will take time.

I love being a fan of the Gophers! They are a great comparative value and the tailgating and game day atmosphere is improving. I think their overall situation will continue to improve. Thank god we are in the Big Ten Conference and all the money that brings!!! I also think it's unrealistic to overestimate our upside. Some of the positives of the Twin Cities sports entertainment scene are a permanent negative for the Gophers.

#3 must certainly be the biggest issue. If 2019 is the high water mark post 1967, our best season in 58 years made us at at best a 3rd place finish in the B1G. The new stadium and the modest sustained improvements under PJ have increased interest some, but until the Gophers are actually national contenders, the interest probably doesn't grow a whole lot more. To that end, I wonder if the expanded CFP and the loss of the Rose Bowl game is an impediment to the program's growth? Look at what it did for Wisconsin, a program in the gutter before Barry Alvarez. But three B1G championships and 3 or 4 Rose Bowls, without truly competing for a national title, really elevated the Skunks. Does getting into the CFP once or twice and getting bounced have the same cache?

#2 certainly has a ring of truth to it. 25 years ago, it wasn't just Nebraska, but a big chunk of South Dakota and even parts of extreme western Iowa were Husker territory. There's a big disconnect here between out state and the U. Around the lakes country of west central Minnesota it seems like you're much more likely to see NDSU flags flying than U of M flags. In my part of the state and westward, the U is an afterthought and there is little visible evidence of that the U of M exists, at least in the sporting mind. People seem to mention a big Gopher win in passing like they would mention getting an inch of rain. That disconnect might be part of a bigger metro v. outstate issue, too, but it certainly has spill over affects into athletics, especially since we haven't had wild success. Maybe some of that changes - PJ does seem to take a greater interest in recruiting greater Minnesota that perhaps some of his predecessors. Mason in particular seemed more interested in recruiting MAC guys from Ohio than some kid that might be tearing it up out on the Minnesota prairie. Having guys like Koi and hopefully Voss having success at the U would go a long way to boosting outstate interest, I think.

 

[disco]

To that end, I wonder if the expanded CFP and the loss of the Rose Bowl game is an impediment to the program's growth? Look at what it did for Wisconsin, a program in the gutter before Barry Alvarez. But three B1G championships and 3 or 4 Rose Bowls, without truly competing for a national title, really elevated the Skunks. Does getting into the CFP once or twice and getting bounced have the same cache?

Good question, the best example to look to for this would be Indiana.

#2 certainly has a ring of truth to it. 25 years ago, it wasn't just Nebraska, but a big chunk of South Dakota and even parts of extreme western Iowa were Husker territory. There's a big disconnect here between out state and the U. Around the lakes country of west central Minnesota it seems like you're much more likely to see NDSU flags flying than U of M flags. In my part of the state and westward, the U is an afterthought and there is little visible evidence of that the U of M exists, at least in the sporting mind. People seem to mention a big Gopher win in passing like they would mention getting an inch of rain. That disconnect might be part of a bigger metro v. outstate issue, too, but it certainly has spill over affects into athletics, especially since we haven't had wild success. Maybe some of that changes - PJ does seem to take a greater interest in recruiting greater Minnesota that perhaps some of his predecessors. Mason in particular seemed more interested in recruiting MAC guys from Ohio than some kid that might be tearing it up out on the Minnesota prairie. Having guys like Koi and hopefully Voss having success at the U would go a long way to boosting outstate interest, I think.

NDSU (and to a lesser extent SDSU/UND/USD) going D1, even if FCS, has probably also had an effect on this. When I was in college across the river, NDSU was still D2. They won a lot, and people up there still made a big deal about them, but not like it is today. And a lot of talent from Minnesota goes to those schools. Granted not all would be able to play at the Big Ten level, but some would.

 

[PMWinSTP]

#3 must certainly be the biggest issue. If 2019 is the high water mark post 1967, our best season in 58 years made us at at best a 3rd place finish in the B1G. The new stadium and the modest sustained improvements under PJ have increased interest some, but until the Gophers are actually national contenders, the interest probably doesn't grow a whole lot more. To that end, I wonder if the expanded CFP and the loss of the Rose Bowl game is an impediment to the program's growth? Look at what it did for Wisconsin, a program in the gutter before Barry Alvarez. But three B1G championships and 3 or 4 Rose Bowls, without truly competing for a national title, really elevated the Skunks. Does getting into the CFP once or twice and getting bounced have the same cache?

#2 certainly has a ring of truth to it. 25 years ago, it wasn't just Nebraska, but a big chunk of South Dakota and even parts of extreme western Iowa were Husker territory. There's a big disconnect here between out state and the U. Around the lakes country of west central Minnesota it seems like you're much more likely to see NDSU flags flying than U of M flags. In my part of the state and westward, the U is an afterthought and there is little visible evidence of that the U of M exists, at least in the sporting mind. People seem to mention a big Gopher win in passing like they would mention getting an inch of rain. That disconnect might be part of a bigger metro v. outstate issue, too, but it certainly has spill over affects into athletics, especially since we haven't had wild success. Maybe some of that changes - PJ does seem to take a greater interest in recruiting greater Minnesota that perhaps some of his predecessors. Mason in particular seemed more interested in recruiting MAC guys from Ohio than some kid that might be tearing it up out on the Minnesota prairie. Having guys like Koi and hopefully Voss having success at the U would go a long way to boosting outstate interest, I think.

I think Kill/Claeys/Fleck have done a great job of recruiting the top 5 instate recruits depending on the need and where they rank nationally. Most years the class drops off fairly quickly after the top 3-5.

 

[GopherPoke]

I can't even get $5 for my season tickets for those early games if I try to sell them.

I'll give you $10/each right now for week two if you're selling.

 

[Mr. 131]

I'll give you $10/each right now for week two if you're selling.

I haven't decided on week 2 as of yet, but I promise I will remember this message.

 

[GopherPoke]

I haven't decided on week 2 as of yet, but I promise I will remember this message.

How many tickets would you sell?

 

[swede2]

NDSU (and to a lesser extent SDSU/UND/USD) going D1, even if FCS, has probably also had an effect on this. When I was in college across the river, NDSU was still D2. They won a lot, and people up there still made a big deal about them, but not like it is today. And a lot of talent from Minnesota goes to those schools. Granted not all would be able to play at the Big Ten level, but some would.

People love a winner.

In my part of Minnesota, NDSU was a fairly hot topic during their long run of FCS championships. It definitely raised the school's overall profile - quite a few more kids make the long drive to Fargo for school than two decades ago.

SDSU's elevation to FCS football combined with Nebraska's long run in the doldrums has knocked some of the Husker cache off the state of South Dakota.

I think SDSU's recent success is instructive. Back in the NCC days, SDSU was perfectly average and no one attended football games. Now, having invested in the program and produced a consistant Top 4 FCS program, 19,000 people show up to watch a football game on Saturdays in a town of 20,000 people. What remains to be seen is if that support sticks if the winning drops off, which it could in the short term. How much success and for how long is necessary to maintain top level fan support?

 

[SeaBee_Gopher]

Good question, the best example to look to for this would be Indiana.

NDSU (and to a lesser extent SDSU/UND/USD) going D1, even if FCS, has probably also had an effect on this. When I was in college across the river, NDSU was still D2. They won a lot, and people up there still made a big deal about them, but not like it is today. And a lot of talent from Minnesota goes to those schools. Granted not all would be able to play at the Big Ten level, but some would.

I agree and have several friends from SDSU that live in the cities and are fans of all our pro sports teams. They root for the Gophers a little, but are much bigger fans of SDSU. The Twins have a game each year that are SDSU alumni games so they are smart enough to notice that niche market. Again, these people have allegiances to their home state college teams and Minnesota's pro sports teams. We all see tons of advertising from our pro sports team reminding us they are here and want us. This works against the U's interests.

The U has less margin for error for having bad years or decades than Iowa or Nebraska because they are NOT the only game in town. If they suck or the game day experience sucks (like the Metrodome), fans will lose interest quickly. As Swede2 mentioned about Wisconsin, their multiple years of success took them to a whole new level, but I think they are in a similar boat as us. If they don't get good again quickly, they'll lose fans to other Wisconsin sports teams.

Speaking of boats, I do think the Gophers are positioned to have some of the best years in their history simply because the B1G is getting so much stronger vs. other D1 programs. A rising tide lifts all boats. I don't think it will elevate us vs. Wisconsin, Iowa or Nebraska because they are on the same tide. It will help us competitively vs. the FCS and lower P4. I'd expect we will win a higher percentage of our non-conference games and by larger scores. That will improve our record and increase fan interest. Everyone likes a winner! That's partly why I favor LESS B1G games. I approve of the SEC model of 8 conference games. Fans like winning and less B1G games will allow us to win more games.

The expanded 16 game playoff will increase our chances of getting in, at least occasionally, and raise our national profile. That could be our Wisconsin like moment! A higher profile for the B1G and Gophers nationally will attract fans even from some of our local pro sports teams.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

At the end of the day it’s just a fact this is not a college football hotbed. Probably never will be. Not that it’s a good or bad thing, just the truth.

 

[swede2]

At the end of the day it’s just a fact this is not a college football hotbed. Probably never will be. Not that it’s a good or bad thing, just the truth.

I'd like to think it could happen for Minnesota. Again, using SDSU as an example. In its DII days, SDSU was a "basketball school" and football less than an afterthought. The state itself was always something of a basketball state, with less emphasis on HS football and a big emphasis on HS basketball. The school really invested in the FB program when it moved to FCS and turned into a top 4 program. People didn't show up immediately but the fan interest grew year over year. Attendance seemed to stagnate and then dip even then, until the team broke through to its first national championship game. While both the men's and women's basketball programs are still good and very good at the low mid-major level, FB is now king.

For SDSU, the biggest factor was investing in the FB program and getting donors to buy in. SDSU went from virtually no investment in its program to being funding FB at the NDSU level. I'm not sure where there is a corollary for the U. Sure, the assistant coaching pool could be better (and PJ could use it). But institutional support for the FB program has to be nearly on par with our peer and near-peer institutions (although I'd like to see a bigger slice of revenue going to FB salaries). I don't think there's the same opportunity for the institution to bridge the gap.

 

[maroonfive]

PROBLEM #1:
You beat me to this point GopherGrit. This is a huge part of it. I graduated in 1995. I remember going to a couple games with my friends at the Metrodome and the environment was terrible. Getting there was terrible too. Tailgating was basically non-existent. That is why we never went back until they built the current stadium. Even when that happened, it took me years to ever get back into watching the Gophers. I had developed allegiances to other local sporting teams with varying high water marks in level of interest in the Wild, Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, Gopher hockey and Gopher basketball. As I've started following Gopher football more including spending more and more time on this message board, I've followed those teams less. We lost a lot of fans during those Metrodome years that are now in their prime earning years like me. We'll never get a large portion of them back.

PROBLEM #2:
My impression is Nebraska football is big for almost all Nebraskan's, not just people that went to school there. They are culturally extremely important to the state. Same for Iowa/Iowa State. Those teams are the main sporting entertainment choice for people in those states by far. The Vikings are the main sporting entertainment choice in this state and the U isn't even a close number two, it's way down the list. We are the state of HOCKEY, not football, so the Wild and Gopher hockey are very important. Hockey is not that large a distraction in states south of us. Pro basketball is becoming a bigger draw too (men & women's) as is soccer.

Part of the reason we have all these pro sports teams is because we are the largest metropolitan area northwest of Chicago for quite a long ways! We're a natural hub in this region for pro sports teams and draw pro sports fans from the Dakotas, Iowa and western Wisconsin. That's an awesome thing for the Twin Cities. The problem is that dilutes the importance of the Gophers as sports entertainment. Every dollar spent promoting the Gophers is drowned out by dollars spent on all our other pro sports teams. Unfortunately, those same cross border pro sports fans have local choices for college teams. That puts dollars into the pockets of pro sports teams that the Gophers do not have access to. An Iowa fan can easily be a Viking fan, but they are much less likely to be a Gopher fan. Those pro sports teams advertise with those dollars which directly hurts the Gophers. The U of M draws mostly alum and I don't see that changing. The Gophers are not a state institution the same way our competitors are. The Badgers are in a closer situation since Wisconsin has a lot of pro sports teams, but Wisconsin seems to put more effort behind being a Badger state. Wisconsin's state medical program is called Badger Care for god's sake! Talk about free advertising. I don't think we'll ever get that level of support from our state. Too many other distractions. Even in the Twin Cities, it seems like St. Thomas is not as far behind the Gophers in notoriety as they should be.

PROBLEM #3:
The Gophers had a LONG run of being not very good. If they were better more recently, that would certainly have helped, but I don't see that ever completely overcoming #2 above. We're blessed to have all these sports entertainment choices in the metro, but it hurts the Gophers. Yes, our population is larger than other surrounding metros, but not so much so that it overcomes all of our sporting choices. The Gophers being good IS helping with #1, but that will take time.

I love being a fan of the Gophers! They are a great comparative value and the tailgating and game day atmosphere is improving. I think their overall situation will continue to improve. Thank god we are in the Big Ten Conference and all the money that brings!!! I also think it's unrealistic to overestimate our upside. Some of the positives of the Twin Cities sports entertainment scene are a permanent negative for the Gophers.

Lol, I love the claim that we are the state of hockey. I am a die hard hockey fan but when the Wolves and Wild are winning the Wolves have way more interest. The same with Gopher basketball. They win and they leave Gopher hockey in the dust.

 

[Word]

Lol, I love the claim that we are the state of hockey. I am a die hard hockey fan but when the Wolves and Wild are winning the Wolves have way more interest. The same with Gopher basketball. They win and they leave Gopher hockey in the dust.

We are the state of hockey compared to all the other states. But basketball has more broad appeal here.