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

[gopherbadgerman]

I am not a Vikings fan, but I go to one game a year with a group of my buddies. $350 for a tailgate spot and lower level seats. It is a full out party. Tailgate lots open six hours before kickoff and it is a madhouse. No one scoffs at the $22 dollar drinks in the stadium either. The crowd is wild and it is a party.

I usually go to 1-2 gopher games every year, the atmosphere is totally different. We tailgate, but it is much more subdued and not a wild atmosphere in the stadium. Also not nearly as loud (45k vs 65-70K people makes a difference.) I graduated from MN in 1998 and the atmosphere is 500% better than it was back then, but its not an all out party IMO.

Not saying one is better than the other, just different. And the NFL is a bigger animal to be sure.

I do think another 10-11 win season with a couple big wins would do wonders for the Gophers, the baseline interest is definitely higher than it was 10-15 years ago, and a lot of people are waiting for a breakthrough.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

I am not a Vikings fan, but I go to one game a year with a group of my buddies. $350 for a tailgate spot and lower level seats. It is a full out party. Tailgate lots open six hours before kickoff and it is a madhouse. No one scoffs at the $22 dollar drinks in the stadium either. The crowd is wild and it is a party.

I usually go to 1-2 gopher games every year, the atmosphere is totally different. We tailgate, but it is much more subdued and not a wild atmosphere in the stadium. Also not nearly as loud (45k vs 65-70K people makes a difference.) I graduated from MN in 1998 and the atmosphere is 500% better than it was back then, but its not an all out party IMO.

Not saying one is better than the other, just different. And the NFL is a bigger animal to be sure.

I do think another 10-11 win season with a couple big wins would do wonders for the Gophers, the baseline interest is definitely higher than it was 10-15 years ago, and a lot of people are waiting for a breakthrough.

I can't see the U itself trying to foster anything close to what you described for the vikes games, but it would be cool if fraternity row would help out. Let us alum come and drink beer out in the front yard and listen to music for an hour or two before stumbling half-drunk to the game to yell and scream.

If any of the leftovers from maturi's pancake breakfast days don't like it then they can sell their tickets and move on in life and watch from home.

 

[disco]

If any of the leftovers from maturi's pancake breakfast days don't like it then they can sell their tickets and move on in life and watch from home.

The Washburn-Mcreavy crowd.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

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.

Sid. Probably better if the U had never let him in the front door.

 

[upnorthkid]

I can't see the U itself trying to foster anything close to what you described for the vikes games, but it would be cool if fraternity row would help out. Let us alum come and drink beer out in the front yard and listen to music for an hour or two before stumbling half-drunk to the game to yell and scream.

If any of the leftovers from maturi's pancake breakfast days don't like it then they can sell their tickets and move on in life and watch from home.

this is what WI and MI both do.

 

[Word]

In the fall. What else?

Twins goes into early fall. They're terrible

OK the Loons. Regular season extends into the mid-fall, sure. So you're saying we're losing college football fans ... to pro soccer? With a 20k stadium and plenty of season ticket holders already?

Entertainment money is entertainment money. Doesn't matter what time of year. If you spend your budget in summer on the Twins or save for the Wild (or in the case of Gopher football the most direct competitor is the Vikings) then you won't have money for Gopher football. I didn't go to a Wild game last year for the first time in a while because I had allocated that money to Twins, MN United, Gopher Football, and Gopher hockey. Money is not infinite.

 

[BBJones]

The Washburn-Mcreavy crowd.

Laugh now, but your day will come.

 

[disco]

Laugh now, but your day will come.

Enjoy your pancake breakfast.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I can't see the U itself trying to foster anything close to what you described for the vikes games, but it would be cool if fraternity row would help out. Let us alum come and drink beer out in the front yard and listen to music for an hour or two before stumbling half-drunk to the game to yell and scream.

If any of the leftovers from maturi's pancake breakfast days don't like it then they can sell their tickets and move on in life and watch from home.

I think th U does enough and has at least tried different things over the years. I always say it is what you make of it. I have two tailgates I can attend on gameday and get to the stadium a good 1 1/2 hours before kickoff. I have also just showed up with a 6-pack of good craft beer or a nice bottle of whiskey and joined a tailgate. Most are more than happy to have a random person join. Malcolm Yards has become a good meeting place as well, full of fans before and after games.

 

[Ope3]

Entertainment money is entertainment money. Doesn't matter what time of year. If you spend your budget in summer on the Twins or save for the Wild (or in the case of Gopher football the most direct competitor is the Vikings) then you won't have money for Gopher football. I didn't go to a Wild game last year for the first time in a while because I had allocated that money to Twins, MN United, Gopher Football, and Gopher hockey. Money is not infinite.

Correct. Also a good portion (half generally) of in game attendance is contingent on Season Ticket base.

Corporations, small business & individuals usually make that decision on an annual basis depending on their budget.

 

[WoodburyTim]

I was more trying to point out that Mpls has lots of citizens that do the cultural stuff and have no interest in sports, so that might account for why we have a larger population but less revenue.

If people in Des Moines and Lincoln also go to art stuff, great. I just think the people walking around an art museum in Lincoln will also be Husker fans, whereas I wouldn't suspect too many people at art events in Mpls are Gopher fans.

I could be wrong though, I was mentioning the above as a possibility.

There are parts of MPLS that have the high sophistication you speak of, but before we crown ourselves the cultural jewel of the Midwest, you can also just as easily see a guy taking a dump on 1st Avenue or borderline OD’ing on the light rail.

 

[PMWinSTP]

There are parts of MPLS that have the high sophistication you speak of, but before we crown ourselves the cultural jewel of the Midwest, you can also just as easily see a guy taking a dump on 1st Avenue or borderline OD’ing on the light rail.

Good grief.

 

[swede2]

Entertainment money is entertainment money. Doesn't matter what time of year. If you spend your budget in summer on the Twins or save for the Wild (or in the case of Gopher football the most direct competitor is the Vikings) then you won't have money for Gopher football. I didn't go to a Wild game last year for the first time in a while because I had allocated that money to Twins, MN United, Gopher Football, and Gopher hockey. Money is not infinite.

This assumes that entertainment dollars must be spent, burning a hole in one's pocket. Someone like me? If I'm not going to a football game, I'm not going to find some other venue to blow that $500 or $600, whether it be another sporting event, arts, theme park, etc.

 

[PMWinSTP]

This assumes that entertainment dollars must be spent, burning a hole in one's pocket. Someone like me? If I'm not going to a football game, I'm not going to find some other venue to blow that $500 or $600, whether it be another sporting event, arts, theme park, etc.

That's your entertainment dollar choice. Others choose the Vikings, or Twins, or MN United, or Wild, or Wolves, or Gopher hockey, or concerts, or....

 

[WoodburyTim]

Good grief.

Sorry didn’t mean to interrupt up the silly nose in the air circle J.

 

[Gopherchase]

I think a lot of the rationale on here is horseshit. PJ has had one top 25 team and but for one year we have gone to bad bowl games. Every chance we have had to get over the hump into a primetime type team we have failed under his watch. If we were stacking up a series of seasons similar to 2019 none of this discussion would be taking place. The stadium would be rocking every game and the profile would be much, much higher.. All that being said, I thought PJ was a much better game coach last year. Perhaps the tide has turned.

 

[swede2]

That's your entertainment dollar choice. Others choose the Vikings, or Twins, or MN United, or Wild, or Wolves, or Gopher hockey, or concerts, or....

And its your choice to go spend your dollars on something other than Gopher football or basketball. But I doubt that the 25,000 more fans Iowa or Wisconsin or Nebraska get would do likewise. Those folks are Hawkeye, Badger or Nebraska fans, not some casual dolt simply there to spend entertainment dollars. We've had 60 years of bad to mediocre product and we get a mediocre turnout in return.

 

[Word]

And its your choice to go spend your dollars on something other than Gopher football or basketball. But I doubt that the 25,000 more fans Iowa or Wisconsin or Nebraska get would do likewise. Those folks are Hawkeye, Badger or Nebraska fans, not some casual dolt simply there to spend entertainment dollars. We've had 60 years of bad to mediocre product and we get a mediocre turnout in return.

"We" lol.

But yeah, if the Gophers weren't so bad in the 70s-90s our attendance/built-in fan base would be bigger. We agree on that.

I will give Iowa and Nebraskans more credit than you though. If they had pro teams to support and their college teams had some bad years I think their attendance would drop.

 

[GopherGrit]

Entertainment money is entertainment money. Doesn't matter what time of year. If you spend your budget in summer on the Twins or save for the Wild (or in the case of Gopher football the most direct competitor is the Vikings) then you won't have money for Gopher football. I didn't go to a Wild game last year for the first time in a while because I had allocated that money to Twins, MN United, Gopher Football, and Gopher hockey. Money is not infinite.

OK, good point.

That said, I only buy this for people who buy season tickets. If you're choosing season tickets for the Wild because you love hockey, to the point where you're willing to sacrifice going to any football games, there are some people like that, sure.

My feeling/guess is that the number of such people would not be a significant impact on Gopher football ticket sales.

But to ever say anything more definitively than hypotheticals/guesses, we'd need a massive survey of Twin Cities sports ticket buying folks.

 

[GopherGrit]

That's your entertainment dollar choice. Others choose the Vikings, or Twins, or MN United, or Wild, or Wolves, or Gopher hockey, or concerts, or....

The part that's impossible to tease out is if they would have bought Gopher football (season) tickets if the thing they actually spent their money on wasn't available.

I don't think that's necessarily true. Especially not for concerts/arts buyers. Probably I don't believe it for other sports, as well. If Vikings somehow left, I could see football fans turning to Gopher somewhat.

But I'm just hypothesizing/guessing

 

[GopherGrit]

"We" lol.

But yeah, if the Gophers weren't so bad in the 70s-90s our attendance/built-in fan base would be bigger. We agree on that.

I will give Iowa and Nebraskans more credit than you though. If they had pro teams to support and their college teams had some bad years I think their attendance would drop.

KC Chiefs draw some fans from Iowa, and certainly Nebraska

 

[swede2]

The part that's impossible to tease out is if they would have bought Gopher football (season) tickets if the thing they actually spent their money on wasn't available.

I don't think that's necessarily true. Especially not for concerts/arts buyers. Probably I don't believe it for other sports, as well. If Vikings somehow left, I could see football fans turning to Gopher somewhat.

But I'm just hypothesizing/guessing

This. When I dropped my season tickets I didn't go buy Lynx season tickets.

I think you  might see some Vikings fans taking a greater interest in Gopher football but NFL Fandom seems to be another beast altogether.

 

[swede2]

KC Chiefs draw some fans from Iowa, and certainly Nebraska

My Iowa cousins are all Vikings fans and many of them live just as close to MSP as Iowa City. City and state boarders don't inhibit pro sports affinity. Some would have you think that KC only draws fans from KC. None from Overland Park KS or Columbus MO. Wierd that Wisconsin gets dropped from this conversation, too. Somehow a state with a similar population manages to fill Lambeau and Camp Randall on the same weekend, even with the Skunk's latest struggles. Must not be anything "to do" in Madison or Milwaukee.

 

[disco]

Somehow a state with a similar population manages to fill Lambeau and Camp Randall on the same weekend, even with the Skunk's latest struggles. Must not be anything "to do" in Madison or Milwaukee.

The Packers are a unique beast as far as pro teams go. They're the closest thing to college football that the NFL (or any major sport) has.

-Small town known specifically for this
-Draws support from a wide area (statewide)
-Generational fan base going back to the 1920s
-(and this is important) Can never, ever, ever leave.

Some other teams have 1-2 of these, but only GB checks every box. There's no real comparison.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

And packer fans wear Packer shorts/pants, Packer Shirt and a Packer hat - 365 days a year.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

Somehow a state with a similar population manages to fill Lambeau and Camp Randall on the same weekend, even with the Skunk's latest struggles. Must not be anything "to do" in Madison or Milwaukee.

It might help that the stadiums are like almost 2.5 hours apart, so I doubt there are too many people in position to do both and having to choose between the two.

Ours are practically neighbors and one has a significant tailgating and gameday experience over the other.

Plus I'm not actually sure the ol' Camp is getting sold out. Quick googling reveals some crowds below 60k even though they hold 76k.

 

[PMWinSTP]

This. When I dropped my season tickets I didn't go buy Lynx season tickets.

I think you  might see some Vikings fans taking a greater interest in Gopher football but NFL Fandom seems to be another beast altogether.

Did you just save that money or spend it in some other entertainment way?

 

[swede2]

Did you just save that money or spend it in some other entertainment way?

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.

 

[alchemy2u]

In the fall. What else?

Twins goes into early fall. They're terrible

OK the Loons. Regular season extends into the mid-fall, sure. So you're saying we're losing college football fans ... to pro soccer? With a 20k stadium and plenty of season ticket holders already?

Really? If you do not realize that there is so much more to do and spend your money on in the Twin Cities than there is in Lincoln, then it is not even worth a discussion. Also, only about 16% of the population is avid college/pro sports fans.

 

[Some guy]

Really? If you do not realize that there is so much more to do and spend your money on in the Twin Cities than there is in Lincoln, then it is not even worth a discussion. Also, only about 16% of the population is avid college/pro sports fans.

I don’t think most sports fans realize that on Super Bowl Sunday about 60% of the country doesn’t watch the game