Actual Gopherhole Bowl Ticket Sales

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Go Gophers Rah said:
Lets keep track of how many tickets have been purchased by Gopherholers.

It might make it easiest to follow if we keep running total, such as...


GoGophersRah: 4
Grand Total Gopherholers: 4


so just add your username, your number of tickets purchased and update the cumulative grand total.
Click to expand...

5 right here dude.
 




IDFM said:
Stupid question, How many Gopher fans do you realistically expect at the game in Orlando since some people are buying from third party vendors, from the bowl game and from the athletic department?
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I like dumb questions and believe all should be answered with an equally dumb if not stupider answer. If fact, I think we should have a poll or thread like Doc’s predict the score. Anyway, your guess is as good as mine. Since I’m good at being wrong, I’m going to take a stab and say 55,000. Here are my main reasons for this WAG prediction followed with some additional kneejerk thoughts on this matter:

Although Minnesota is hungry to be in a New Year’s Day bowl and the recession is over, this is offset by a number of factors namely our distance from Orlando, our suspect history of fan travel, and Mizzou not being overly excited about playing us. I also don’t think there is a lot of appeal from the locals for this one but we will capture some MN snowbirds and perhaps a few MN vacationers who actually think Orlando is a nice place to visit despite there being at least a million miles of beautiful white sand beaches in the sunshine state.

Of course, there are lots of other factors that make predicting attendance tricky. If you look strictly at average attendance over the last 15-years, you would expect approximately 62,600 fans. However, the attendance has fluctuated significantly over this time from about 56K to 70K. Here's the last 15-years:

1/1/2000 Michigan St. 37, Florida 34 .................................................................62,011
1/1/2001 Michigan 31, Auburn 28 .....................................................................66,928
1/1/2002 Tennessee 45, Michigan 17 .................................................................59,693
1/1/2003 Auburn 13, Penn St. 9 ........................................................................66,334
1/1/2004 Georgia 34, Purdue 27 (ot) ..................................................................64,565
1/1/2005 Iowa 30, LSU 25 ................................................................................70,229
1/2/2006 Wisconsin 24, Auburn 10 .....................................................................57,221
1/1/2007 Wisconsin 17, Arkansas 14....................................................................60,774
1/1/2008 Michigan 41, Florida 35.........................................................................69,748
1/1/2009 Georgia 24, Michigan St. 12 ..................................................................59,681
1/1/2010 *Penn St. 19, LSU 17 ...........................................................................63,025
1/1/2011 Alabama 49, Michigan St. 7 ...................................................................61,519
1/2/2012 South Carolina 30, Nebraska 13 .............................................................61,351
1/1/2013 Georgia 45, Nebraska 31 .......................................................................59,712
1/1/2014 South Carolina 34, Wisconsin 24 …………………………………………………………...........56,629

There are also things like weather, economy, team proximity, team rankings/records, fan saturation with a particular bowl, venue, etc. all come into play. So with these additional things in mind, here are some random if not mindless thoughts:

Weather – anybody’s guess. I’m assuming so-so weather. If it is a perfect sunny warm day, add a couple thousand to my guess. If it is cold and rainy, subtract a few thousand. Bad weather drives more people away than good weather attracts them.

Economy – something I know very little about but nevertheless factor into my WAG. The good news, the Great Recession is over and Florida makes the perfect present for X-mas or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year. Gas prices are at recent all-time lows which make this trip more financially doable assuming you have the time and flying might otherwise keep you from traveling. However, travel, both flights and hotels, for Orlando this time of years is very expensive (damn the Disney patrons!). Although we have more to spend, most things with the noted exception of gas are more expensive than during non-peak travel times. It occurs to me that I’m going nowhere with this mysterious thing they call the economy. As a result, I’m going to conclude it helps more than it hurts but not enough to make much of a difference in attendance.

Team proximity – in several of the past years, there was a team playing in this bowl that was relatively nearby (e.g., Georgia, Florida, South Carolina) but not always. The game that strikes me as being similar to 2015 proximity-wise was the 2007 matchup that pitted the skunks against the pigs (curse Bielima!). The attendance for that recession time game was almost 61K. The recession aside, skunks and pigs are notorious for invading other territories with huge hoards and causing great upheaval while leaving behind unfathomable messes. Unfortunately, I don’t see it in the cards that MN and Mizzou fans, which are much more agreeable types than the aforementioned scallywags, descending on Orlando in such great numbers.

Team rankings/records – I think this is very important since it’s all about the match up, right?!? The good news is that we’re both CFP ranked at #16 for Mizzou and #25 for MN. The bad news is that we’re not ranked all that high compared to previous teams that have played in this bowl even if it was called the Capital and host of other names over the decades. Last year had 10-2 South Carolina and 9-3 Wisconsin which had BCS rankings of #9 and #19, respectively but yielded only 56K fans (note: there are probably some good reasons for this relatively low fan turnout which is discussed further on). Here are the other teams that have played since 2010 with their records/final BCS rankings:

2013 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2) #7 and Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3) #16
2012 South Carolina (10-2) #9 and Nebraska (9-3) #20
2011 Michigan State (11-1) #9 vs. Alabama (9-3) #16
2010 Penn St. (10-2) #13 vs. LSU (9-3) #12

Contrast these records/rankings to Mizzou (10-3) #16 CFP and our beloved Gophers (8-4) #25. I just don’t see a lot of local fans getting too excited for this one. As I said at the outset, the good news is that we’re excited this game but Mizzou doesn’t seem to share it. Consequently, I’m beginning to think my 55K WAG may be optimistic given previous team records/rankings.

Fan saturation - I would think proximity to Orlando would play a big role in attendance. However, the last three games with less than 60,000 fans included two where Georgia played (2009 and 2013). That may seem like a surprise since the Bulldogs are just a stone’s throw away but it may have to do more with Georgia being burned out on this bowl. In 2004 Georgia played before 64,565 fans and the Bulldogs also played in this venue in the 80’s and 90’s. The same may be true of last year’s game which had South Carolina and wisky which had a 15-year low of 56,629. Wisconsin played in this bowl as recently as 2006 and 2007. South Carolina played in it just two years earlier (2012). I’m guessing fans can only take some much citrus in their diet or, if it was a local fan base issue, they can only stand their next door neighbors from GA or those skunks to our east which would be very understandable.

Venue - Although some may argue that with a recently remodeled stadium, it might attract additional fans but I doubt it. If this were the first event at the newly remodeled stadium, I’m guessing it might have attracted some additional locals but with so many events and especially inexpensive ones at this venue, it seems hard to imagine it will attract very many stadium curiosity seekers to this game. So like the economy, I don’t factor a lot in this one.

So with a bunch of flawed thinking and most certainly leaving out a number of important factors, I’m sticking with my WAG of 55,000.
 


Jeez, way to stay on thread, MNGoldenGophers1. :confused:
 






Great research MNGoldenGophers1 and thanks for all the time you put into it. Great job!

I used to do some research in response to these type of posts and found it a total waste of time.Not any more. GH-ers normally ignore the info and detailed stats and form their own opinion in spite of the facts.

My response today to the question would have been your best guess....................55,000!


MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I like dumb questions and believe all should be answered with an equally dumb if not stupider answer. If fact, I think we should have a poll or thread like Doc’s predict the score. Anyway, your guess is as good as mine. Since I’m good at being wrong, I’m going to take a stab and say 55,000. Here are my main reasons for this WAG prediction followed with some additional kneejerk thoughts on this matter:

Although Minnesota is hungry to be in a New Year’s Day bowl and the recession is over, this is offset by a number of factors namely our distance from Orlando, our suspect history of fan travel, and Mizzou not being overly excited about playing us. I also don’t think there is a lot of appeal from the locals for this one but we will capture some MN snowbirds and perhaps a few MN vacationers who actually think Orlando is a nice place to visit despite there being at least a million miles of beautiful white sand beaches in the sunshine state.

Of course, there are lots of other factors that make predicting attendance tricky. If you look strictly at average attendance over the last 15-years, you would expect approximately 62,600 fans. However, the attendance has fluctuated significantly over this time from about 56K to 70K. Here's the last 15-years:

1/1/2000 Michigan St. 37, Florida 34 .................................................................62,011
1/1/2001 Michigan 31, Auburn 28 .....................................................................66,928
1/1/2002 Tennessee 45, Michigan 17 .................................................................59,693
1/1/2003 Auburn 13, Penn St. 9 ........................................................................66,334
1/1/2004 Georgia 34, Purdue 27 (ot) ..................................................................64,565
1/1/2005 Iowa 30, LSU 25 ................................................................................70,229
1/2/2006 Wisconsin 24, Auburn 10 .....................................................................57,221
1/1/2007 Wisconsin 17, Arkansas 14....................................................................60,774
1/1/2008 Michigan 41, Florida 35.........................................................................69,748
1/1/2009 Georgia 24, Michigan St. 12 ..................................................................59,681
1/1/2010 *Penn St. 19, LSU 17 ...........................................................................63,025
1/1/2011 Alabama 49, Michigan St. 7 ...................................................................61,519
1/2/2012 South Carolina 30, Nebraska 13 .............................................................61,351
1/1/2013 Georgia 45, Nebraska 31 .......................................................................59,712
1/1/2014 South Carolina 34, Wisconsin 24 …………………………………………………………...........56,629

There are also things like weather, economy, team proximity, team rankings/records, fan saturation with a particular bowl, venue, etc. all come into play. So with these additional things in mind, here are some random if not mindless thoughts:

Weather – anybody’s guess. I’m assuming so-so weather. If it is a perfect sunny warm day, add a couple thousand to my guess. If it is cold and rainy, subtract a few thousand. Bad weather drives more people away than good weather attracts them.

Economy – something I know very little about but nevertheless factor into my WAG. The good news, the Great Recession is over and Florida makes the perfect present for X-mas or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year. Gas prices are at recent all-time lows which make this trip more financially doable assuming you have the time and flying might otherwise keep you from traveling. However, travel, both flights and hotels, for Orlando this time of years is very expensive (damn the Disney patrons!). Although we have more to spend, most things with the noted exception of gas are more expensive than during non-peak travel times. It occurs to me that I’m going nowhere with this mysterious thing they call the economy. As a result, I’m going to conclude it helps more than it hurts but not enough to make much of a difference in attendance.

Team proximity – in several of the past years, there was a team playing in this bowl that was relatively nearby (e.g., Georgia, Florida, South Carolina) but not always. The game that strikes me as being similar to 2015 proximity-wise was the 2007 matchup that pitted the skunks against the pigs (curse Bielima!). The attendance for that recession time game was almost 61K. The recession aside, skunks and pigs are notorious for invading other territories with huge hoards and causing great upheaval while leaving behind unfathomable messes. Unfortunately, I don’t see it in the cards that MN and Mizzou fans, which are much more agreeable types than the aforementioned scallywags, descending on Orlando in such great numbers.

Team rankings/records – I think this is very important since it’s all about the match up, right?!? The good news is that we’re both CFP ranked at #16 for Mizzou and #25 for MN. The bad news is that we’re not ranked all that high compared to previous teams that have played in this bowl even if it was called the Capital and host of other names over the decades. Last year had 10-2 South Carolina and 9-3 Wisconsin which had BCS rankings of #9 and #19, respectively but yielded only 56K fans (note: there are probably some good reasons for this relatively low fan turnout which is discussed further on). Here are the other teams that have played since 2010 with their records/final BCS rankings:

2013 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2) #7 and Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3) #16
2012 South Carolina (10-2) #9 and Nebraska (9-3) #20
2011 Michigan State (11-1) #9 vs. Alabama (9-3) #16
2010 Penn St. (10-2) #13 vs. LSU (9-3) #12

Contrast these records/rankings to Mizzou (10-3) #16 CFP and our beloved Gophers (8-4) #25. I just don’t see a lot of local fans getting too excited for this one. As I said at the outset, the good news is that we’re excited this game but Mizzou doesn’t seem to share it. Consequently, I’m beginning to think my 55K WAG may be optimistic given previous team records/rankings.

Fan saturation - I would think proximity to Orlando would play a big role in attendance. However, the last three games with less than 60,000 fans included two where Georgia played (2009 and 2013). That may seem like a surprise since the Bulldogs are just a stone’s throw away but it may have to do more with Georgia being burned out on this bowl. In 2004 Georgia played before 64,565 fans and the Bulldogs also played in this venue in the 80’s and 90’s. The same may be true of last year’s game which had South Carolina and wisky which had a 15-year low of 56,629. Wisconsin played in this bowl as recently as 2006 and 2007. South Carolina played in it just two years earlier (2012). I’m guessing fans can only take some much citrus in their diet or, if it was a local fan base issue, they can only stand their next door neighbors from GA or those skunks to our east which would be very understandable.

Venue - Although some may argue that with a recently remodeled stadium, it might attract additional fans but I doubt it. If this were the first event at the newly remodeled stadium, I’m guessing it might have attracted some additional locals but with so many events and especially inexpensive ones at this venue, it seems hard to imagine it will attract very many stadium curiosity seekers to this game. So like the economy, I don’t factor a lot in this one.

So with a bunch of flawed thinking and most certainly leaving out a number of important factors, I’m sticking with my WAG of 55,000.
Click to expand...
 

Clemson & Oklahoma are playing in the Rusell Athletic Bowl in the Citrus Bowl on Monday December 29.

Will we lose some of the local folks enthusiasm and tickets to the New Year's bowl given that the Gophers and Mizzou aren't rank as high?

Here's hoping that there is plenty of Gopher state/B1G snowbirds in the area who will take advantage of the Gopher's first time appearance in a New Year's bowl game in quite awhile. :)
 










8 in our group, putting GH total at 364
 





I've been a daily Gopherhole reader for years, but haven't posted until now. My two Gopher lads and I are making the roadtrip down, so bring the count to 374.
 

walkta said:
I've been a daily Gopherhole reader for years, but haven't posted until now. My two Gopher lads and I are making the roadtrip down, so bring the count to 374.
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Welcome and awesome news. Congrats! Here's to a great time for you and your boys. Ski-U-Mah!
 

walkta said:
I've been a daily Gopherhole reader for years, but haven't posted until now. My two Gopher lads and I are making the roadtrip down, so bring the count to 374.
Click to expand...

I've noticed a lot of new posters since the bowl announcement. It's great to see. The more people who post here, the better the site will be.

Sorry for the off topic post.
 

Adding one more to our group. Convinced a friend to book on one of the new Sun Country flights!

Gopherhole total: 375
 


I'm new here, but I'm technically a member so I'll throw myself onto the total.

Gopherhole total: 378
 

FINALLY figured out a way to get out of work and booked one of the new sun country flights. Just bought tickets for me and 2 others

Gopherhole total: 381
 

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