Attendance

[BilldGopher]

4 Home Games in a Row...

+1

My yard is suffering from 4 straight opportunities to spend a Saturday at TCF. The "honey-do list" is pretty much "honey-don't" until next weekend.

Go Gophers! Beat Bucky!

 

[MrGopher]

I'm getting concerned that there won't be enough Gopher fans at the Iowa game to pull off an adequate "Fire Brewster" chant.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear an "Extend Brewster" or some such chant from the pigeye fans.

 

[Silvio]

It might be wise for the Governor and some key legislators to do a probe re: the shrinking attendance numbers in the new stadium that the legislators helped approve bonding authority for. IF the support for the on campus stadium is collapsing in just the 2nd year of operation, perhaps the President of the University and the athletic director, as well as the Board of Regents should be asked the tough questions relating to this collapse.

With the vikings pushing hard for a billion dollar stadium, public opinion of the underutilization of the new University of Minnesota Stadium might become a difficult topic for our elected officials.

In economic times such as the one the state of Minnesota is currently facing, knowing just WHY the president of the U and the athletic director are sitting idly by as attendance in TCF BANK STADIUM sharply declines is very troublesome and may discourage any further investment in sports stadiums.. It is, indeed, a very dangerous symptom of potential problems that may be haunting the athletic department and the future of sports stadiums at the University of Minnesota and within the state of Minnesota.

Yes, the biggest concern in government is micro managing the actual attendance of college football games.

 

[tikited]

Try having watched this team in person get totally outclassed against USD and N Ill. then tell me my decision to mow the lawn and pick weeds in great weather wasn't better use of my time than watching this team in nice weather. The money is gone, thats irrelevant, and the $10 per ticket I would have gotten is not worth my time to sell.

Weak. Donate the tickets at least.

 

[imthewalrus]

The thing about falling Gopher attendance in a new stadium and the legislature is the fact that it will be that much harder for the billionaire owner of the vikings to get the state to pony up anything to support a brand new viking stadium. Then, wilfster will sell the vikings and they will move out of state. Actually, that would be a very good thing! NO stadium for the vikings. No state money for a vikings stadium. Just look at the terrible attendance at the new Gopher stadium. Drive the vikings out of town forever! Wehn number 4 is through, the vikings wil high tail it for LA or Mexico or who knows where///and who cares. NO state money for the vikings.

 

[RodentRampage]

The thing about falling Gopher attendance in a new stadium and the legislature is the fact that it will be that much harder for the billionaire owner of the vikings to get the state to pony up anything to support a brand new viking stadium. Then, wilfster will sell the vikings and they will move out of state. Actually, that would be a very good thing! NO stadium for the vikings. No state money for a vikings stadium. Just look at the terrible attendance at the new Gopher stadium. Drive the vikings out of town forever! Wehn number 4 is through, the vikings wil high tail it for LA or Mexico or who knows where///and who cares. NO state money for the vikings.

Attendance at TCF could have NO impact whatsoever on whether the Vikigns get a new stadium. No one would be able to use the attendance at TCF against the Vikings without being laughed out of the legislature. Whether or not it is a good idea to build a new stadium for the Vikings - and have them ask for yet another stadium in a few decades - is a different matter.

Who cares if the Vikings leave? You may not, but an awful lot of Minnesotans do care. Even if the U was capable of driving the Vikings out of the state, this would not win us more fans, if the Vikings leaving was perceived as being the U's fault, this would not go well for the U.

 

[disco]

It's supply and demand. Same reason why I was able to get 10th row Wolves tickets with a face value of something like $70 each, for $13 apiece last season on stubhub. If you put a rotten product out, people are less likely to want to go see it.

The stadium is beautiful, but that experience only goes so far. Even the Wild are going to start having attendance problems for the first time this season, because the team isn't that good and has shown no improvement, despite the X being the best hockey arena in the league. The difference with the Wild is they had an extended honeymoon period because the NHL was gone for ten years. The Gophers are the same bad team they always were, only in a shiny new building.

 

[Law_Abiding_Gopher]

it wasn't

Try having watched this team in person get totally outclassed against USD and N Ill. then tell me my decision to mow the lawn and pick weeds in great weather wasn't better use of my time than watching this team in nice weather. The money is gone, thats irrelevant, and the $10 per ticket I would have gotten is not worth my time to sell.

The game was an 11:00am kick off. Plenty of time for weeding afterwards, or perhaps Sunday as the Queens did not play.

 

[imthewalrus]

Can the state of Minnesota afford to do any more "bonding" to help build a....

billionaire owner a sports stadium like the nfl demands? The state of Minnesota is most likely about bankrupt and can't even keep up with infrastructure needs like keeping bridges from falling down durning rush hour. The legislators had best NOT fund any more boondoggle sports stadiums for billionaire owners. We don't have money for anything in this state...just the same way most states don't have money for diddly. I'd say that the sad, ugly truth about what the Gopher stadium has turned into in just the second season will be brought up over and over and over again. Every time the U of M runs to the legislators for more money...they will hear about TCF BANK STADIUM's sad plight. And then go back to the campus with a lot less than they were asking for. Yes, the tickets are sold this year, but the future is not too far away. I have heard how Nebraska fans like to buy up season tickets for iowa state and some of the less competetive Big Twelve schools that don't sell out their season ticket allotments. You can bet that iowa and wisky fans can and will do that as well... Those "home games" that really aren't home games because of too much red or black are really depressing and de-spiriting.

Don't get me wrong, I love the new stadium and am happy that the U FINALLY committed to something and now has some skin in the game. They can NOT just walk away from the attendance problem at the new stadium. The old president...the new president, the board of regents, the academic faculty, all the other coaches and, of course the students are STUCK having to make it work. The old ball and chain is tied to the University of Minneota ever since ground was broken for the stadium.

The legislators WILL be watching to see how this all turns out, you can "...take that to the bank..." ; 0 )

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Are you kidding me? Check Sportscenter ... Their entire crowd was color coordinated! Each section alternated between yellow and black.

I am betting that each seat had a shirt on it for the fan to wear.

That's how you do a (fill in your color) out.

 

[Seany]

I am betting that each seat had a shirt on it for the fan to wear.

That's how you do a (fill in your color) out.

It didn't. They provided no shirts for fans to wear, and I watched that game and can attest to that fact, as fans in each section were wearing a variety of t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and other apparel, but all in color coordination with the fans around them in their particular section.

That was just a case of an excellent job of marketing, ya know. A nationally televised prime-time game and their Homecoming game, and the Hawkeyes posted that on their website, how they wanted fans to wear gold or black depending on which section they were sitting in, and they made that explicitly clear as to who should wear what colors where, breaking it down by section and color so as to be unmistakeably clear, and the fans responded to that and wore their colors by section, and that's what ya got.

It was a beautiful display, and all it made me do was wish we could get that kind of solidarity going.

 

[mplsbadger]

They better lower the prices next year. Keeping the donation requirements artificially high will only accelerate the departure as the few that continue to pay realize that they could buy better single game seats for less money.

Below are the Wisconsin giving levels. Notice anything? Seats at midfield require 1/2 the donation asked by the U. This at a school with 80,000 seats where the renewal rate is about 97% and you have to give $1,000 with just for thright priveledge to buy new end zone season tickets.

--------

Is there an expectation that I maintain my giving level after I secure season tickets?

We encourage you to remain an active donor to Wisconsin Athletics. In addition to having a remarkable impact on the lives of our student-athletes, you receive priority for a host of ticket, parking and special event benefits based on your annual giving level. Recommended minimum annual contributions for the opportunity to order seats in certain sections are as follows:

Football Seating
Sections E, T and FF - $250 each
Sections D, F, S, U, EE and GG - $200 each
Sections C, G, R, V, DD and HH - $150 each
Sections B, H, Q, W, CC and II - $100 each

 

[GopherLady]

They better lower the prices next year. Keeping the donation requirements artificially high will only accelerate the departure as the few that continue to pay realize that they could buy better single game seats for less money.

Below are the Wisconsin giving levels. Notice anything? Seats at midfield require 1/2 the donation asked by the U. This at a school with 80,000 seats where the renewal rate is about 97% and you have to give $1,000 with just for thright priveledge to buy new end zone season tickets.

--------

Is there an expectation that I maintain my giving level after I secure season tickets?

We encourage you to remain an active donor to Wisconsin Athletics. In addition to having a remarkable impact on the lives of our student-athletes, you receive priority for a host of ticket, parking and special event benefits based on your annual giving level. Recommended minimum annual contributions for the opportunity to order seats in certain sections are as follows:

Football Seating
Sections E, T and FF - $250 each
Sections D, F, S, U, EE and GG - $200 each
Sections C, G, R, V, DD and HH - $150 each
Sections B, H, Q, W, CC and II - $100 each

That's very interesting. I also notice that tickets are cheaper at WI - mine for this weekend is $49, and our Big 10 games are $60. Can I ask you how much parking options are there?

 

[mplsbadger]

That's very interesting. I also notice that tickets are cheaper at WI - mine for this weekend is $49, and our Big 10 games are $60. Can I ask you how much parking options are there?

I'm not really sure. I just googled the information on their seat premiums. There is not a lot of parking in Madison because it's on an isthmus so I doubt season ticket holders have many university options close to the stadium.

 

[Paulie Star]

I am betting that each seat had a shirt on it for the fan to wear.

That's how you do a (fill in your color) out.

My in-laws are from Iowa and they went to the game, they said that the newspaper days in advanced and on game day had printed in the newspaper which sections were suppose to wear black and which were to wear gold so if people wanted to participate they knew which color to wear. That’s the problem here when they ask for a “Gold out” not much notification besides who looks good in gold why not have a “Maroon” out. But pretty soon it looks like it will become dress as a seat night the way attendance is falling.

 

[RodentRampage]

My in-laws are from Iowa and they went to the game, they said that the newspaper days in advanced and on game day had printed in the newspaper which sections were suppose to wear black and which were to wear gold so if people wanted to participate they knew which color to wear. That’s the problem here when they ask for a “Gold out” not much notification besides who looks good in gold why not have a “Maroon” out. But pretty soon it looks like it will become dress as a seat night the way attendance is falling.

A gold-out looks more impressive. The problem is that it is t-shirts that tend to be gold, while the sweaters tend to be maroon. So, a gold out works better early in the season, when more people are willing to wear t-shirts to the game.

You're right, most people don't get the word about the gold outs. But even to the extent we do, there are a lot of people who seem to resent being asked to wear gold. Penn State even has a section where they spell out "S" with their shirts. A <insert color here> out is really impressive, it's a great way of selling the school.

Then there are the odd ducks who don't wear either gold or maroon, but wear random things like Vikings shirts. It's like they think "It's a football game, I should wear a football shirt. Ah, here's my Vikings shirt!" Or they wear their Twins shirt, which shows they really don't get it.

 

[TAW]

I'm not really sure. I just googled the information on their seat premiums. There is not a lot of parking in Madison because it's on an isthmus so I doubt season ticket holders have many university options close to the stadium.

WHERE you park depends on your donation level and whether you get any parking also depends on the level. However, once you get parking it is $15/game.

 

[Rosemountian]

If this season was being played at the dome there would have been fewer than 28k at the Northwestern game.

 

[GoAUpher]

Weak. Donate the tickets at least.

+1000 tikited.

stcgopher: you were too busy pulling weeds to send your tickets to a group like Tix for Tots? I didn't know falling off the bandwagon took so much time and effort...