ESPN College GameDay: National Brand Exposure for the Gophers

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DanielHouse

DanielHouse

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ESPN announced College GameDay will be traveling to Minneapolis for the first time ever. After Saturday's 38-22 win over Northwestern, the stage is now set for a major rivalry game against the Wisconsin Badgers. This year, Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a Big Ten West Championship will be at stake. The game will also have major implications for each team's future bowl aspirations.

Minnesota continues to shatter the record books, while bringing national attention to the University’s brand. The Gophers have won 10 regular season games for the first time since 1905. Minnesota’s football program has also never posted seven Big Ten victories in a season.

Now, College GameDay is the latest “first" Minnesota will check off the list. Two weeks ago, the Gophers were prominently featured on the College Football Playoff Rankings Show and head coach P.J. Fleck was interviewed. The program's brand has been touching millions of homes, which is tremendous for recruiting efforts. Last month, ESPN announced GameDay averaged more than 1.9 million viewers per show, which is second-highest average ever. Next Saturday, Minnesota will have a chance to showcase storylines and the campus.

It will also be interesting to see where ESPN decides to place the set. Will they be in the middle of campus or near the stadium? There are a few different places where they could logically fit a large group of people and have a nice backdrop.

The network will also need to select a celebrity guest picker. There are many potential candidates with University of Minnesota ties. A few that come to mind:

Tony Dungy, Dave Winfield, Eric Decker, Paul Molitor, Bud Grant, Lindsay Whalen, Ric Flair and Pete Najarian.

I want to hear your thoughts about a campus location and celebrity guest pickers you would add to the list. Comment below!
 
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Either in front of Mariucci with the stadium as the backdrop or in front of Northrop with the mall as the backdrop for a location.
Brock Lesnar as the guest picker.
 


Not that it would happen, but it would be cool to have it at the heart of Dinkytown where 4th and 15th meet like they did at Beale St in Memphis a couple weeks back. It would require shutting down too many roads though.

My vote is for the mall right in front of Northrop.

I’m sad Herb isn’t around to see this. He would have been the perfect guest picker. I think Sid would be really cool. Brock Lesner would be the most entertaining.
 

Would like it to be at the stadium somewhere with the stadium in the background and Oak St closed off.

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Every time someone mentions Pete Najarian I laugh. Nobody under the age of 40 knows who Najarian is
 

Those of you in Minny need to show up...we put up a big fuss about getting Gameday so the crowd for all three hours better be flippin' huge. Cheap talk and all that.
 

Not sure I've ever seen any connections between Grant and the U other than the fact that he played here. For being in the same city he certainly kept the U at arm's length.
 




so, what happens if there is a significant snowstorm? Do they move the TV show indoors?

having it outdoors in a snowstorm might make for a 'cool' visual (pun intended) but electronic equipment and wet conditions tend to not mix well. Not to mention high-priced on-air talent that may not want to freeze their butts off.

I just think it would be ironic if, after all of the lobbying and pleading to get GameDay to MN, they wound up having to move in indoors due to bad weather. I don't know if that is the type of national attention the program wants - especially if recruits are watching from warm-weather areas.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
so, what happens if there is a significant snowstorm? Do they move the TV show indoors?

having it outdoors in a snowstorm might make for a 'cool' visual (pun intended) but electronic equipment and wet conditions tend to not mix well. Not to mention high-priced on-air talent that may not want to freeze their butts off.

I just think it would be ironic if, after all of the lobbying and pleading to get GameDay to MN, they wound up having to move in indoors due to bad weather. I don't know if that is the type of national attention the program wants - especially if recruits are watching from warm-weather areas.
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I hadn't thought of it before put putting the set on the floor of Williams and then filling the place up would be pretty cool.
 


Ironically, they had a pretty decent snowstorm when they went to Western Michigan 3 years ago. I don't think what they're forecasting now would stop them.

 




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