Let me see on a game day there are shall we say 40,000 people attending a gopher game. I can only estimate how many watch at home, but for the sake of this lets say TV brings in 80,000. Radio, people in cars traveling, working 10,000 state wide. That's 130,000 people who aren't on their radar. Are they using first generation radar? Or is it a catch 22 for your friend. They don't offer extended coverage, nobody likes or dislikes it, nor fits into the reading patterns, so it doesn't get on their radar. Your friend surely would try something, anything to increase circulation? They couldn't stand to say sell 50% of a fan base or say 65,000 more copies. And this is where the Star Tribune is too far inside the box. If they offered it, and circulation increased, it would see more interest in the Gophers. Possibly more tickets purchased, and more papers sold.
You got your study, I have Pew Research that states the highest correlation in readership is age. The highest percentage of readers are 65 years old. Second is education, to include high school graduate, college graduate, post graduate. But since 1999 all circulation has seen declines. Sunday have stabilized.
