Gophers have 780 more non-student season ticket holders than 2022.

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U Season Ticket Sales at Best Total in P.J. Fleck Era​

The University of Minnesota had sold 25,317 public season football tickets as of last week, a record total during the coach P.J. Fleck era. With the seven game Golden Gophers season not beginning until August 31, aditional public season tickets will be sold and further surpass last year’s total of 24,551.

This year and in the past Sports Headliners requested and received ticket sales information from the University through the discovery process. In Fleck’s first three seasons with the Gophers of 2017-2019, the totals for public season tickets (not including student season tickets) were in the 21,000 to low 22,000 range. This year is the third consecutive year where totals will exceed 23,500 at the 50,905-seat capacity Huntington Bank Stadium. (Note: the public couldn’t attend games during the COVID season of 2020).

The Gophers have the fourth best winning percentages for nonconference and league games among Big Ten teams dating back to the 2019 season, as pointed out this summer by Lindy’s Sports in its Big Ten football preview. The Gophers trail only Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa with their .696 percentage in all games and .618 against Big Ten opponents.


Go Gophers!!
 

I tried to find some season-ticket figures for previous years for purposes of comparison.

could not find a full list - but apparently the season-ticket sales were roughly 27,800 in 2015.

I also found a story that over 29,000 season tickets were sold in the Metrodome in (I think) 2008.

anyone else have any info on this?
 

I try to keep a running list but sometimes the numbers get changed. Here is what I have:

2013: 33,284 (Gophers host Iowa, Wis, Nebraska and finish 8-5. Optimism creeping up for Kill)
2014: 33,385 (host Iowa and Ohio State. Team makes NYD bowl. Price increase announced at end of season)
2015: 27,885 (1st year of increase. Kill suffers health issues and leaves team.)
2016: 22,706 (2nd year of increase. Claeys one and only year. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is cancelled. Fleck hired at end of season)
2017: 22,990 (Fleck's first season)
2018: 21,682 (Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot)
2019: 21,689 (host Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Magical year)
2020: COVID
2021: 23,636 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,794)
2022: 23,443 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,551)
2023: 25,317
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I try to keep a running list but sometimes the numbers get changed. Here is what I have:

2013: 33,284 (Gophers host Iowa, Wis, Nebraska and finish 8-5. Optimism creeping up for Kill)
2014: 33,385 (host Iowa and Ohio State. Team makes NYD bowl. Price increase announced at end of season)
2015: 27,885 (1st year of increase. Kill suffers health issues and leaves team.)
2016: 22,706 (2nd year of increase. Claeys one and only year. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is cancelled. Fleck hired at end of season)
2017: 22,990 (Fleck's first season)
2018: 21,682 (Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot)
2019: 21,689 (host Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Magical year)
2020: COVID
2021: 23,636 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,794)
2022: 23,443 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,551)
2023: 25,317
Click to expand...

do you have any numbers going back to the Metrodome years? I'm sure a lot got sold when Holtz was there.
 


I don't know if Gopher Pass is included which assumed they are, Standing room only for Thursday so would guess if they sell 1,200 of them would have over 52,000 gate attendance/sold.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I try to keep a running list but sometimes the numbers get changed. Here is what I have:

2013: 33,284 (Gophers host Iowa, Wis, Nebraska and finish 8-5. Optimism creeping up for Kill)
2014: 33,385 (host Iowa and Ohio State. Team makes NYD bowl. Price increase announced at end of season)
2015: 27,885 (1st year of increase. Kill suffers health issues and leaves team.)
2016: 22,706 (2nd year of increase. Claeys one and only year. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is cancelled. Fleck hired at end of season)
2017: 22,990 (Fleck's first season)
2018: 21,682 (Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot)
2019: 21,689 (host Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Magical year)
2020: COVID
2021: 23,636 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,794)
2022: 23,443 (This is what was initially reported. Later articles listed the total as 24,551)
2023: 25,317
Click to expand...
It's crazy to see the drop caused by the scholarship seating. We still haven't come close to making up for it.

Interestingly, despite it being the first year of the increase and season tickets when way down, we averaged 52,355 per game in 2015, larger than the capacity today. The temporary seats were in the end zone for the Vikings that year.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
do you have any numbers going back to the Metrodome years? I'm sure a lot got sold when Holtz was there.
Click to expand...
This isn't season tickets, but here's average attendance during the 1980s. The Dome opened in 1982 and caused a big jump initially (and the Gophers were ranked in the top 20 early that year before the bottom fell out), and Holtz kept it going for a couple years. By the end of the decade we were right back where we started -- or worse.

1980 44,184
1981 43,035
1982 58,898
1983 48,735
1984 51,791
1985 60,985
1986 55,848
1987 53,131
1988 44,665
1989 39,607
1990 40,585
 

Hates Monikers said:
It's crazy to see the drop caused by the scholarship seating. We still haven't come close to making up for it.
Click to expand...
It really is. In 2-years we essentially gutted 1/3 of our season ticket base. Not even going 21-13 in conference games the past 4 seasons, a 617 win pct over multiple seasons not seen since the late 60's, has brought people back. It's one of the all-time blunders by the athletic department.

Let this be a lesson to every aspiring business owner. It's so much more difficult to bring in new customers than to retain your existing.
 





One thing about the late dome era having more season tickets ... it kinda messes with my head.

Because MAN the dome was REALLY empty a lot of games too.

I also wonder about being outdoor and generational differences being a big factor.

I used to sit in good seats at the dome and I was AT LEAST 1/2 to 1/3 the age of almost EVERYONE I saw around me. Once the move was made to TCF the demographics in roughly the same section changed dramatically.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
It really is. In 2-years we essentially gutted 1/3 of our season ticket base. Not even going 21-13 in conference games the past 4 seasons, a 617 win pct over multiple seasons not seen since the late 60's, has brought people back. It's one of the all-time blunders by the athletic department.

Let this be a lesson to every aspiring business owner. It's so much more difficult to bring in new customers than to retain your existing.
Click to expand...
They lost 1/3 the season ticket base but were charging substantially more, so I don't necessarily think it's an "all time blunder", especially over the long haul.

Overall attendance 2019, 2021 & 2022 is pretty close to what it was pre-scholarship seating, with that added revenue as well as substantially higher mark ups for single game tickets.

YearAtt.Gm.Largest CrowdAvg.
2009355,6357Seven Tied (50,805)50,805
2010346,5937Iowa (50,805)49,513
2011333,9967Miami (Ohio) (49,950)47,714
2012326,4567Syracuse (50,805)46,637
2013334,5817Wisconsin (53,090)47,797
2014335,0567Purdue (51,241)47,865
2015366,4847TCU (54,147)52,355
2016306,6977Iowa (49,145)43,814
2017310,5067Michigan State (47,541)44,358
2018265,4077Iowa (48,199)37,915
2019323,3307Wisconsin (53,756)46,190
20201,9533Iowa (771)651
2021322,9787Ohio State (50,805)46,140
2022315,1307Rutgers (49,368)45,018

In hindsight, I think the move would have been to introduce the scholarship seating but at at a much lower rate with a much more staggered increase.

A lot of fans saw that 3rd year increase, freaked and bailed right away. I held in for the first 2 years and was going to join those that fled in Year 3, but once it was frozen decided to stay in the boat.
 



Ope3 said:
They lost 1/3 the season ticket base but were charging substantially more, so I don't necessarily think it's an "all time blunder", especially over the long haul.

Overall attendance 2019, 2021 & 2022 is pretty close to what it was pre-scholarship seating, with that added revenue as well as substantially higher mark ups for single game tickets.

YearAtt.Gm.Largest CrowdAvg.
2009355,6357Seven Tied (50,805)50,805
2010346,5937Iowa (50,805)49,513
2011333,9967Miami (Ohio) (49,950)47,714
2012326,4567Syracuse (50,805)46,637
2013334,5817Wisconsin (53,090)47,797
2014335,0567Purdue (51,241)47,865
2015366,4847TCU (54,147)52,355
2016306,6977Iowa (49,145)43,814
2017310,5067Michigan State (47,541)44,358
2018265,4077Iowa (48,199)37,915
2019323,3307Wisconsin (53,756)46,190
20201,9533Iowa (771)651
2021322,9787Ohio State (50,805)46,140
2022315,1307Rutgers (49,368)45,018

In hindsight, I think the move would have been to introduce the scholarship seating but at at a much lower rate with a much more staggered increase.

A lot of fans saw that 3rd year increase, freaked and bailed right away. I held in for the first 2 years and was going to join those that fled in Year 3, but once it was frozen decided to stay in the boat.
Click to expand...
I agree, unfortuantley charging more and not everyone is there ... can be more profitable.
 



Ope3 said:
They lost 1/3 the season ticket base but were charging substantially more, so I don't necessarily think it's an "all time blunder", especially over the long haul.

Overall attendance 2019, 2021 & 2022 is pretty close to what it was pre-scholarship seating, with that added revenue as well as substantially higher mark ups for single game tickets.

YearAtt.Gm.Largest CrowdAvg.
2009355,6357Seven Tied (50,805)50,805
2010346,5937Iowa (50,805)49,513
2011333,9967Miami (Ohio) (49,950)47,714
2012326,4567Syracuse (50,805)46,637
2013334,5817Wisconsin (53,090)47,797
2014335,0567Purdue (51,241)47,865
2015366,4847TCU (54,147)52,355
2016306,6977Iowa (49,145)43,814
2017310,5067Michigan State (47,541)44,358
2018265,4077Iowa (48,199)37,915
2019323,3307Wisconsin (53,756)46,190
20201,9533Iowa (771)651
2021322,9787Ohio State (50,805)46,140
2022315,1307Rutgers (49,368)45,018

In hindsight, I think the move would have been to introduce the scholarship seating but at at a much lower rate with a much more staggered increase.

A lot of fans saw that 3rd year increase, freaked and bailed right away. I held in for the first 2 years and was going to join those that fled in Year 3, but once it was frozen decided to stay in the boat.
Click to expand...
A profit maximization model is short sighted when getting families to all the games have legs for decades

I am a season ticket holder. Why? Because my dad was. Why? Because his dad was.
Season ticket holders have legs for decades/generations.
But yes, we did sell a few extra 150 dollar tickets to some corn co-op guys from Iowa
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
One thing about the late dome era having more season tickets ... it kinda messes with my head.

Because MAN the dome was REALLY empty a lot of games too.

I also wonder about being outdoor and generational differences being a big factor.

I used to sit in good seats at the dome and I was AT LEAST 1/2 to 1/3 the age of almost EVERYONE I saw around me. Once the move was made to TCF the demographics in roughly the same section changed dramatically.
Click to expand...
I'm definitely thinking generational differences in fandom played a huge role. Fans that experienced glory years are getting older. The youngest of those fans are now in their 70s.
 

Some guy said:
A profit maximization model is short sighted when getting families to all the games have legs for decades

I am a season ticket holder. Why? Because my dad was. Why? Because his dad was.
Season ticket holders have legs for decades/generations.
But yes, we did sell a few extra 150 dollar tickets to some corn co-op guys from Iowa
Click to expand...
I do not dispute that in the future it's certainly possible that the diminished season ticket base could impact the Athletic Departments bottom line. Losing generational Gopher families is without doubt a concern, especially if they completely vanish and do not buy any single game tickets or packages.

My point was that based in response to "an all time blunder" the evidence we have is overall in the nearly decade since, is that not only was in not a blunder but a revenue enhancer.

Enough have stayed (including you and me) in combination with the single game inventory being able to be sold, it seems to have worked.

As for the future, I can not say. There's several other major factors that will influence obviously. Staying competitive in a landscape that changes daily with NIL and conference alignment are huge game changers.

A couple of other side notes, when the Scholarship program was instituted, a portion of the donation was tax deductible. Seems like it was misjudged as to how attractive that would be to retaining season ticket holders, and then code was changed all together eliminating that aspect.

If the program had not been instituted, the Season Ticket price I am guessing would be much closer to what it is in combination with the donation. Right now my ticket is $350 plus $300 donation. By now I would have to think it would have been in the $500 range regardless.
 

Ope3 said:
I do not dispute that in the future it's certainly possible that the diminished season ticket base could impact the Athletic Departments bottom line. Losing generational Gopher families is without doubt a concern, especially if they completely vanish and do not buy any single game tickets or packages.

My point was that based in response to "an all time blunder" the evidence we have is overall in the nearly decade since, is that not only was in not a blunder but a revenue enhancer.

Enough have stayed (including you and me) in combination with the single game inventory being able to be sold, it seems to have worked.

As for the future, I can not say. There's several other major factors that will influence obviously. Staying competitive in a landscape that changes daily with NIL and conference alignment are huge game changers.

A couple of other side notes, when the Scholarship program was instituted, a portion of the donation was tax deductible. Seems like it was misjudged as to how attractive that would be to retaining season ticket holders, and then code was changed all together eliminating that aspect.

If the program had not been instituted, the Season Ticket price I am guessing would be much closer to what it is in combination with the donation. Right now my ticket is $350 plus $300 donation. By now I would have to think it would have been in the $500 range regardless.
Click to expand...
There are also less measurable things that go with having a week to week crowd.
Concessions, gear, passion, shortage of tickets making it a hot item, etc.

I don’t think it’s an all time blunder. Any time there are fewer than 40k butts in seats it’s evidence it was a least a small blunder.
My season ticket group shrinking growing from 14 to 20 when the stadium opened and now having shrunk to 6 is evidence it’s a blunder. Especially when I have empty seats around me for 4-5 of the 7 games every season.
 

Some guy said:
There are also less measurable things that go with having a week to week crowd.
Concessions, gear, passion, shortage of tickets making it a hot item, etc.

I don’t think it’s an all time blunder. Any time there are fewer than 40k butts in seats it’s evidence it was a least a small blunder.
My season ticket group shrinking growing from 14 to 20 when the stadium opened and now having shrunk to 6 is evidence it’s a blunder. Especially when I have empty seats around me for 4-5 of the 7 games every season.
Click to expand...
I agree with all of that, and there was attrition in my group as well. Also in the "less measurable category" perhaps with less passion some kids wound up attending college somewhere else all together resulting in lost tuition possibilities.

I am of the belief if they just dipped their toe in the Scholarship Seating model instead of doing a full on cannonball, it likely would have been more of a happy or at least content medium. Some would have balked and bailed, but that happens with any sort of price increase.
 

Ope3 said:
As for the future, I can not say. There's several other major factors that will influence obviously. Staying competitive in a landscape that changes daily with NIL and conference alignment are huge game changers.
Click to expand...
Thoughtful post overall - thanks!
This sentiment is what stands out to me most for the future of growing season ticket holders. The on the field product is the biggest determining factor - just win, baby.

Everyone loves a winner, and this market in particular is DESPERATE for a meaningful run. If by the grace of Ronny James Dio we somehow were to get to Indy, or (gasp)...take it all....that would have a huge impact.

A guy in 131 can dream.
 

Ope3 said:
I agree with all of that, and there was attrition in my group as well. Also in the "less measurable category" perhaps with less passion some kids wound up attending college somewhere else all together resulting in lost tuition possibilities.

I am of the belief if they just dipped their toe in the Scholarship Seating model instead of doing a full on cannonball, it likely would have been more of a happy or at least content medium. Some would have balked and bailed, but that happens with any sort of price increase.
Click to expand...
It also is a completely different price range now.
Scholarship seating has essentially made gophers tickets no longer a cheap family thing to do.

And that’s fine, as you said they’re probably more profitable. But it probably should’ve been more in the middle. Because for every dollar you gain by pricing out a family of 5 and instead selling it to a corporation that is 3 future fans not going to a game when they are 5-15 years old.
 

The thing that really agitated me was the multiple times the decline in season tickets was discussed in columns or dedicated articles and the scholarship seating plan was NOT listed as one of the reasons.
 

Some guy said:
It also is a completely different price range now.
Scholarship seating has essentially made gophers tickets no longer a cheap family thing to do.

And that’s fine, as you said they’re probably more profitable. But it probably should’ve been more in the middle. Because for every dollar you gain by pricing out a family of 5 and instead selling it to a corporation that is 3 future fans not going to a game when they are 5-15 years old.
Click to expand...
Agree, completely.

Furthermore, despite Big 10 schools getting a windfall of rising income from broadcasting rights, for season ticket holders the chances of a rollback in prices is really nil. Best hope is that price increases are delayed.
 

Here's a sobering thought (pun intended) as someone who started buying season tickets again in 1999.

On average I currently buy 2 beers per game and that cost I am sure exceeds what I had to pay just for my ticket to the HHH Dome back in Year 1.
 

Ope3 said:
They lost 1/3 the season ticket base but were charging substantially more, so I don't necessarily think it's an "all time blunder", especially over the long haul.

Overall attendance 2019, 2021 & 2022 is pretty close to what it was pre-scholarship seating, with that added revenue as well as substantially higher mark ups for single game tickets.

YearAtt.Gm.Largest CrowdAvg.
2009355,6357Seven Tied (50,805)50,805
2010346,5937Iowa (50,805)49,513
2011333,9967Miami (Ohio) (49,950)47,714
2012326,4567Syracuse (50,805)46,637
2013334,5817Wisconsin (53,090)47,797
2014335,0567Purdue (51,241)47,865
2015366,4847TCU (54,147)52,355
2016306,6977Iowa (49,145)43,814
2017310,5067Michigan State (47,541)44,358
2018265,4077Iowa (48,199)37,915
2019323,3307Wisconsin (53,756)46,190
20201,9533Iowa (771)651
2021322,9787Ohio State (50,805)46,140
2022315,1307Rutgers (49,368)45,018

In hindsight, I think the move would have been to introduce the scholarship seating but at at a much lower rate with a much more staggered increase.

A lot of fans saw that 3rd year increase, freaked and bailed right away. I held in for the first 2 years and was going to join those that fled in Year 3, but once it was frozen decided to stay in the boat.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the data. Would love to marry it to scanned ticket numbers. I am surprised at how often there are many open seats in my section (109).

Edit: hunting around in old threads, you find 37,703 for 2019 scanned ticket average, versus 46,190 for tickets sold.
 
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The absolute bottom of the barrel we experienced regarding tickets scanned was in 2018.

Final 2 home games were: 15,434 for Purdue and 15,160 for Northwestern.
 

there is a hard-core Gopher fan base, but there just are not enough of those people to sell out the stadium.

that leaves attendance dependent on visiting fans and the casual/curious fans in MN. and those casual fans are bandwagon-jumpers. If a team gets hot or generates some buzz, the casual fans will give it a try. but the casual fans are a fickle group. they don't have the same emotional attachment to the program that the hard-core fans have. and they are very price-sensitive. so they come and go.

I've seen this over the years with every major team in MN - pros and college. I remember when Gopher Men's hoops was the hottest ticket in town. today.....well, not so much.

the one team that seems to be immune is the Vikings - and even the Vikes had some down years before Moss came along in '98 and revitalized the fan base.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
there is a hard-core Gopher fan base, but there just are not enough of those people to sell out the stadium.

that leaves attendance dependent on visiting fans and the casual/curious fans in MN. and those casual fans are bandwagon-jumpers. If a team gets hot or generates some buzz, the casual fans will give it a try. but the casual fans are a fickle group. they don't have the same emotional attachment to the program that the hard-core fans have. and they are very price-sensitive. so they come and go.

I've seen this over the years with every major team in MN - pros and college. I remember when Gopher Men's hoops was the hottest ticket in town. today.....well, not so much.

the one team that seems to be immune is the Vikings - and even the Vikes had some down years before Moss came along in '98 and revitalized the fan base.
Click to expand...
You aren't incorrect so it only adds to my lament that the University seems so casual about retaining existing customers. I've pointed it out before, but when we went to the new stadium in 2009 the first year was sold out with season ticket holders. The University didn't even bother to have a waiting list. I know a few people that called to inquire and were turned away. The response was generally "try again next year". None of those people tried again the next year.
 

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