How long will it be.....

[UpnorthGo4]

I agree with the bolded statement GBG, but only for college games. NFL games are atrocious to attend the actual game. I could just as well go to a Vikings tailgate lot, party, then watch the game in the nearest bar when I have gone to Vikes games.

But, for college football, the atmosphere is what make the experience in my mind.

Me, too.

 

[Maximus]

by waiting for a couple more years of success and a slower but longer implementation of price hikes which I think the traditional 'fun' college football fans would have tolerated.

Minnesotans have been waiting for a couple more years of success for over 50 years.

1967 BT title....under .500 by 1969.
6-2 in the BT in '73....next time over .500 in '86....two years later 0-6-2 in '88
5-3 in '99....miss bowl game by '01
5-3 in '03....fire coach after '06

Meanwhile the rest of the conference keeps getting farther and farther ahead and once the slower but longer implementation happens, the other schools have already made a couple of bumps.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

I'm starting to wonder if Mitch Leidner is behind the price increase. It sure took the heat off of him.

 

[Section209]

But, for college football, the atmosphere is what make the experience in my mind.

Couldn't agree more. The college game experience is far superior. My wife wasn't a huge football fan by any stretch when when we first got season tix. But she was really drawn in by the atmosphere and she's been just about rabid ever since. I can't help but wonder how the anticipated change in season ticket holder demographic is going to change that atmosphere.

 

[Johnny Olson]

It's much easier for Corporate buyers to replace Season Ticket Holders in a Hockey or Basketball arena.
Where talking thousands of seats for Football. Are there that many out there? I bet many of them are already in the suites and boxes upstairs.

 

[Gopher Bandanna Guy]

I agree with the bolded statement GBG, but only for college games. NFL games are atrocious to attend the actual game. I could just as well go to a Vikings tailgate lot, party, then watch the game in the nearest bar when I have gone to Vikes games.

But, for college football, the atmosphere is what make the experience in my mind.

Exactly how I feel. Even if it is better to watch the game on TV. The college atmosphere outweighs the better angles on TV. This is not the case for the Vikings. I can't make the same generalization for the rest of the NFL as I've never attended another NFL stadium.

I hear you fellas, I hear you. The NFL is essentially dead to me these days, but I will admit to having a hell of a good time at every game I've gone to at Ford Field. Decent seats help, but I still prefer to be present for the moments where the crowd rises or conversely, has the air sucked out of them. I'm just a live events guy. Of course, I'm the same guy who goes to baseball games alone when travelling on the road for work. Maybe I have a problem.

Sounds like based on your position that football watching at home can outweigh atmosphere for many (not college for you both), that live attendance is fighting an uphill battle. This is something I've heard more and more over the last year or two. It this is a real trend, then doesn't this make Teague's play even more of a gamble?

 

[tato2001]

It's much easier for Corporate buyers to replace Season Ticket Holders in a Hockey or Basketball arena.
Where talking thousands of seats for Football. Are there that many out there? I bet many of them are already in the suites and boxes upstairs.

When I buy Vikes tickets on the street, it's almost without fail the ticket owner name is "Anoka Metal Supply" or "Hutchinson Ford", or something to that effect. They prolly can't swing Vikes anymore, so Gophs it could be...

 

[e.bigelow]

I hear you fellas, I hear you. The NFL is essentially dead to me these days, but I will admit to having a hell of a good time at every game I've gone to at Ford Field. Decent seats help, but I still prefer to be present for the moments where the crowd rises or conversely, has the air sucked out of them. I'm just a live events guy. Of course, I'm the same guy who goes to baseball games alone when travelling on the road for work. Maybe I have a problem.

Sounds like based on your position that football watching at home can outweigh atmosphere for many (not college for you both), that live attendance is fighting an uphill battle. This is something I've heard more and more over the last year or two. It this is a real trend, then doesn't this make Teague's play even more of a gamble?

I love live football. But, every Vikings game I have been to has been a snooze fest. I went to two games the last year of the dome and have been to a game this year at TCF (coincidentally, against the Lions ). To compare it in direct contrast to the game before, the in game experiences were night and day. That Saturday, you had a VERY engaged crowd (Northwestern game, I believe) and a fun exciting game to watch. That Sunday, the game was an absolute bore. Hardly any crowd engagement, ridiculously annoying piped in music 90% of the time (I am 30 and enjoy newer music/hip-hop, pretty much most genres of music), and an awful "stunt-bicycle" halftime show. Not to mention, the product on the field was absolutely awful to watch. It was me, my girlfriend and my Dad, and my Father fell asleep through most of the second half! Don't get me wrong, I love the Vikings also (albeit, not as much as my alma mater) and the tailgating is always a blast, but the product on the field and the experience is serisouly lacking.

If that doesn't give you everything you need to know about the "in-game" atmoshphere of the NFL, I don't know what will. I am certainly very biased, but, others really enjoy NFL games live. I just fail to see or understand why.

 

[MGGopher]

Tell'em Steve Dave!

I lol'd.

One of the great movie lines. Right up there with, "kick his a$$, Sea Bass!"

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I doubt TCF ever sells out fully with season ticket holders. The Vikings can't even do it.

 

[cncmin]

It seems the elephant in the room here is that scholarship costs are going up because of the big fuss the national sports media made this year, and the resulting increases in funding for student-athletes. Wasn't the U one of the first institutions to climb on board with this? And were there not suggestions that revenue sport players might assume a larger stipend?

Most of the people posting on this board appeared to support bigger payments to athletes. But few (if any) suggested where that money would come from. Clearly it has to come from somewhere, and there are only 3 revenue sports for the U: football, MBball, and MHockey. Would this not be a logical choice for sports revenue increases?

I'm not saying the levels of increases make sense for ticket buyers. I'm saying that ends have to be met...somehow.

 

[forever a gopher]

It seems the elephant in the room here is that scholarship costs are going up because of the big fuss the national sports media made this year, and the resulting increases in funding for student-athletes. Wasn't the U one of the first institutions to climb on board with this? And were there not suggestions that revenue sport players might assume a larger stipend?

Most of the people posting on this board appeared to support bigger payments to athletes. But few (if any) suggested where that money would come from. Clearly it has to come from somewhere, and there are only 3 revenue sports for the U: football, MBball, and MHockey. Would this not be a logical choice for sports revenue increases?

I'm not saying the levels of increases make sense for ticket buyers. I'm saying that ends have to be met...somehow.

I would say the logic was that with the massive television deals with ESPN, BTN, etc. for college football and basketball, that some of that money would funnel down to the athletes that are essentially "earning" that money. If the athletes need more scholarship money out of my pocket, what are the schools doing with all of the TV money?