How to improve attendance at TCF and get Minnesota more behind their Golden Gophers

[JoeDirt]

A couple seasons ago I tried getting a Sioux Falls Gopher viewing party going on here at a local bar. I wanted to spread the word for the club so I had two huge Gopher Football banners made up by the local beverage distributor. The banners were high quality and the only stipulation was that it had the Budweiser logo on them. Not a big deal, especially because I paid nothing. The "U" should be able to have a thousand huge banners made to distribute to local establishments for a next-to-nothing cost.

 

[station19]

The Vikings and Gophers compete(in the same state/city) for butts in the stands, media and fan attention, merchandise sales etc...100% fact. If people want to debate how much they compete, fine. To say they don't compete would be blindly illogical.

There are 3.5 million people within a hour's drive of downtown MPLS. When I lived there I would rarely go to Vikings games because the atmosphere sucked compared to college football. I'm not the only one that preferred one or the other. Are you telling me the state of MN can't manage to bring 110,000 people downtown on a game day weekend (two days) yet Iowa, with less than half the population, can manage to fill up both stadiums on the same day? I really, honestly, believe that if you put a winning team together that sorts itself out. Someone said there isn't anything to do in Iowa and that's why the Cyclones fill up their stadium. Hate to tell you but 10 years ago there were 15k less people at every game. For some reason those 15k people came out of the woodwork (were doing something else) but suddenly showed up when the team started winning. And yes, 6-7 isn't winning, but it's much better than 95% of our history.

You might want to read my post more closely.

 

[Gopherprof]

Someone said there isn't anything to do in Iowa and that's why the Cyclones fill up their stadium. Hate to tell you but 10 years ago there were 15k less people at every game. For some reason those 15k people came out of the woodwork (were doing something else) but suddenly showed up when the team started winning. And yes, 6-7 isn't winning, but it's much better than 95% of our history.

That was me, and your response does nothing to disprove that. Basically what you're saying is that Iowa State used to be so horrible that even in a place where there's almost nothing to do, people chose "nothing" over watching Iowa State get demolished. Now they are below-average with the chance of the occasional upset, and that's enough to move the dial.

The problem is that doesn't fly in Minnesota. Comparing Iowa State to Minnesota makes absolutely no sense because it's night and day in every single respect. I've long said that 99% of these threads can basically be wrapped up by "the team needs to win more". But 6-7 isn't going to do it in a place like Minneapolis where your entertainment dollar can get you so much more. It works in Ames because there really isn't much else to do.

 

[TexasAggie11]

I think giving businesses free Gopher banners to hang and free window decorations would be a great investment. It wouldn't cost the U too much, and bars that took advantage of it would be able to draw in Gopher fans.

Go a step further and have someone from the U spot check local bars and restaurants. Those prominently displaying a Gopher banner get entered into a weekly drawing. The winning establishment gets some of the coaching staff and players to come eat lunch there on a Tuesday and do a little Q&A session with any fans who want to show up. The businesses would be smart to hang up the banners knowing that they get free advertising and a large lunch crowd one day for doing so, and it costs the U nothing more than a few lunches.

 

[e.bigelow]

Here's one more tailgate map that the Gophers might appreciate... Texas Tech:

Eight month payment plan for a $129 ticket. Surprised there's no layaway option.

Hahahahaha! Nice! Too funny!