How will the dramatic ticket increase impact your season ticket purchase?

How will the dramatic ticket increase impact your season ticket purchase?

  • We will pay whatever the U asks and will keep the same seats.

    Votes: 51 31.7%

  • We will scale our group back, or split season tickets now.

    Votes: 29 18.0%

  • We will drop season tickets and puchase on the street for $15 a game.

    Votes: 56 34.8%

  • We will spend our money elsewhere

    Votes: 25 15.5%
  • Total voters
    161
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We may try to move our tickets into the non-donation areas, but if we can't, we'll have to drop them. Sucks.
 

Write to Teague - we can see a modest increase in ticket prices - but don't wreck the good vibes for our Gopher program by increasing prices in such outlandish ways!
 






I am not in the camp that this increase was a mistake...had to happen. I don't understand why the U would announce the 2016 and 2017 increases before the 2015 ticket purchase period. They basically have created two negatives...one is that people who know they can't afford the 2017 prices will be dropping before 2015 and two, they have locked themselves into the second and third increases when ultimately they want some flexibility if the increases don't go well or if something happens next year and Kill and Co take a dump.

My guess is that the increases in donations is tied to some type of funding (bonds) for the new facilities and they need to show that they are going to increase revenue to get the U to support selling the bonds.

What I am hoping is that within the next week they announce the "breaking ground" date on the football practice facility and the full funding of the entire project with a timeline for completion. Would take the sting off a little bit.

Wont help those that can't afford the cost of attending games, but that is what happens. People make choices, can't afford everything they want and life goes on. There are other options than season tickets and we all know that if they ticket sales drop way off and the Gophers don't perform, there will be $20 tickets laying on the ground outside the stadium. If the Gophers win, then the U will get its money and some of us will only be able to attend one or two games per year.

But the drama and personalization by some of you is a bit over the top. Maybe this is a mistake, maybe not...time will tell. Best of luck to the Gophers in their bowl game...hoping for Outback so I can go!
 

On a positive note, this should end the sit vs stand debate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

While I get where the U is headed, how this is handled and when is inconsistent with the realities of what's been going on in the stadium. Add to the cost of tickets in this chart, that I drive up from Des Moines for the games which already adds another $350-500 to the price of my tickets, and the increase of $150 year one to $500 year three and I just can't afford it. And looking at the way the stadium breaks down, it's clear if I can't afford it then I can have one other option, move to really crappy seats, which I won't be able to do because even with the donations I've made in the past - -what I can afford -- I've ended up in group 9 or 10 for re-seating.

The biggest problem I see with this is that it will expand, not reduce the current problem. A good portion of the seats are in the hands of scalpers. This will only increase with this move, which in turn means a stadium full of opposing fans.

Doing this over 3 years time just doesn't make sense at this point -- not from a need standpoint -- from a demand and market standpoint. The Gophers will overcome this, but it will take awhile.

I will still come to games, but probably pick one or two, pay more for the seats than I should, but still save $1,000 over what I'd have to pay to keep the seats.
 



caliGopher said:
While I get where the U is headed, how this is handled and when is inconsistent with the realities of what's been going on in the stadium. Add to the cost of tickets in this chart, that I drive up from Des Moines for the games which already adds another $350-500 to the price of my tickets, and the increase of $150 year one to $500 year three and I just can't afford it. And looking at the way the stadium breaks down, it's clear if I can't afford it then I can have one other option, move to really crappy seats, which I won't be able to do because even with the donations I've made in the past - -what I can afford -- I've ended up in group 9 or 10 for re-seating.

The biggest problem I see with this is that it will expand, not reduce the current problem. A good portion of the seats are in the hands of scalpers. This will only increase with this move, which in turn means a stadium full of opposing fans.

Doing this over 3 years time just doesn't make sense at this point -- not from a need standpoint -- from a demand and market standpoint. The Gophers will overcome this, but it will take awhile.

I will still come to games, but probably pick one or two, pay more for the seats than I should, but still save $1,000 over what I'd have to pay to keep the seats.
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I'm pretty sure there will be so many seats open that you will be able to get tickets for much less than the season ticket price....
 

caliGopher said:
The biggest problem I see with this is that it will expand, not reduce the current problem. A good portion of the seats are in the hands of scalpers. This will only increase with this move, which in turn means a stadium full of opposing fans.
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I don't think we'll see more opposing fans. It's not like lack of accessible tickets is what is keeping us from having more opposing fans. Iowa/UW/Nebraska fans have always and will continue to get tickets as long as they want them. The Iowa game wasn't sold out this year, the Nebraska games the last two times they were at TCF Bank Stadium weren't sold out. There are always tickets available for fans that want them, and rarely are they above face value. Having more readily available tickets won't increase the amount of opposing fans, it will just decrease the amount of Gopher fans which is a shame.

Go Gophers!!
 

Gopher024 said:
On a positive note, this should end the sit vs stand debate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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People will be able to lay down in the bleachers, do jumping jacks, run stadium stairs between quarters to get a quick cardio workout in. This is a major buzzkill with all the positivity the team brought this year.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
Curious, who was seriously considering attending the bowl game and is now saying no way in light of the new ticket prices? I really question not only the dramatic increase in price but the timing. It sure changed my New Years plans!
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Funny, I told my wife this morning that I don't even want to go to a bowl game now. I consider myself a pretty loyal fan and it feels like I just got kicked in the nuts. Like everyone, we all have our own personal budgets. I can't justify to myself paying that much money to watch Eastern Illinois, San Jose State, etc. I have continued to buy season tickets to support the U even though I could/can get free tickets through the Football Coaches Association. I told my wife this morning this will be the last year we have season tickets.
 



We are dropping our extra ticket and as much as I love the entire game day experience....not sure I can convince my wife that it's worth almost doubling the cost over the next 3 years. I've complained for years about the U screwing Season Ticketholders with their 'week of the game' fire sale on tickets. That may be the only way I can afford to go and I'm guessing there will be lots of extra tickets.
 


GopherinPhilly said:
I am not in the camp that this increase was a mistake...had to happen. I don't understand why the U would announce the 2016 and 2017 increases before the 2015 ticket purchase period. They basically have created two negatives...one is that people who know they can't afford the 2017 prices will be dropping before 2015 and two, they have locked themselves into the second and third increases when ultimately they want some flexibility if the increases don't go well or if something happens next year and Kill and Co take a dump.

My guess is that the increases in donations is tied to some type of funding (bonds) for the new facilities and they need to show that they are going to increase revenue to get the U to support selling the bonds.

What I am hoping is that within the next week they announce the "breaking ground" date on the football practice facility and the full funding of the entire project with a timeline for completion. Would take the sting off a little bit.

Wont help those that can't afford the cost of attending games, but that is what happens. People make choices, can't afford everything they want and life goes on. There are other options than season tickets and we all know that if they ticket sales drop way off and the Gophers don't perform, there will be $20 tickets laying on the ground outside the stadium. If the Gophers win, then the U will get its money and some of us will only be able to attend one or two games per year.

But the drama and personalization by some of you is a bit over the top. Maybe this is a mistake, maybe not...time will tell. Best of luck to the Gophers in their bowl game...hoping for Outback so I can go!
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Could not have said it better. +1
 

Informed Mrs. Billd last night of the change.

She noted that she does not have season tickets to the Guthrie (yet)...and she's correct.

Looks like there will be a "theatre surcharge" as well at the Billds for our two seats.

Really though, we're now Zone 3 and will see between now and 2017if we can get similar Zone 4 seats around the same yard line.

It will be interesting to watch the shuffling around over the next 3 years. I suspect they will need a similar approach used for the original seating assignments when TCF first opened to manage the fruitbasket turnover across the stadium.

Still, the hook is set deep so we'll figure out a way.

In the meantime, we've got a bowl game coming up...
 

In the non-donation area on the 20 yard line. Don't know what I would do if I was in the donation area.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
I don't understand why the U would announce the 2016 and 2017 increases before the 2015 ticket purchase period. They basically have created two negatives...one is that people who know they can't afford the 2017 prices will be dropping before 2015 and two, they have locked themselves into the second and third increases when ultimately they want some flexibility if the increases don't go well or if something happens next year and Kill and Co take a dump.
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Agree 100%. The 2015 is not near as big of deal and IMO is a fair ask at this point for a fanbase who wants us to be better, keep Kill, improve facilities, compete, etc. If all goes well and ticket sales are strong with every reason to believe that continues, go ahead float a 2016 increase a year from now. And so on. They still have the flexibility now, but all the bad publicity for increases which may or may not come to full fruition. Weird.


DougMN said:
I've complained for years about the U screwing Season Ticketholders with their 'week of the game' fire sale on tickets.
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This I don't get and have never gotten and flies in the face of the main complaint about the announced increase. It seems that the primary argument against the announced increase is that there is not sufficient demand to sell out at current prices, so it seems counter-productive to raise prices in that case. Make sense. For me, gameday atmosphere pays long-term dividends that the AD is ignoring right now in favor or short-term financial gain.

But if you believe that, then why complain about selling the tickets at market prices? The reason they have to do that is so many STH scalp/sell seats that the secondary market is constantly flooded for low-demand games so low-demand games also come with a flood of supply. It isn't the U who is creating this low market for their tickets, it is the market which includes a lot of STH who are sellers.
 

caliGopher said:
While I get where the U is headed, how this is handled and when is inconsistent with the realities of what's been going on in the stadium. Add to the cost of tickets in this chart, that I drive up from Des Moines for the games which already adds another $350-500 to the price of my tickets, and the increase of $150 year one to $500 year three and I just can't afford it. And looking at the way the stadium breaks down, it's clear if I can't afford it then I can have one other option, move to really crappy seats, which I won't be able to do because even with the donations I've made in the past - -what I can afford -- I've ended up in group 9 or 10 for re-seating.

The biggest problem I see with this is that it will expand, not reduce the current problem. A good portion of the seats are in the hands of scalpers. This will only increase with this move, which in turn means a stadium full of opposing fans.

Doing this over 3 years time just doesn't make sense at this point -- not from a need standpoint -- from a demand and market standpoint. The Gophers will overcome this, but it will take awhile.

I will still come to games, but probably pick one or two, pay more for the seats than I should, but still save $1,000 over what I'd have to pay to keep the seats.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm going to do. I'll come to the big division conference games Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin and maybe a crossover game if it's a good opponent.

But I'll pass on paying $75 to see some directional school come in here and lose by 40.
 

I have 4 seats in lower bowl Zone 4. 15 year season ticket holder and life long fan who attended 3-4 games a year before buying season tickets. I'm done. I can afford the increase, but I refuse to pay it. The demand is simply not present to justify these prices. I'll be money ahead going back to picking a few games a year to attend.
 

We currently have 4 season tickets in Section 239, but with two family members possibly moving this coming Spring...we will go down to 2 season tickets.
 

Currently have 3 tickets in Section 244. One has been used by my son who is a sophomore at the U. He usually enters the stadium and then makes a mad dash for the student section. Never had to pay the "donation" before. I think we'll go down to 2 tickets, buy him a student season ticket and be money ahead, at least for the first year. The increases in 2016 and 2017 could be the breaking point.
 

other folks in my group are all dropping out, so rather my wife and I go by ourselves we'll unfortunately drop as well; that was half the fun being with your group and the comraderie...and my wife and I could do that by ourselves at home

I'll probably go to a couple games buying off the street or from the box office with their game specials, but i'll be a little sad because the U forced us into this position of becoming non-season-ticketholders

maybe if they compromised and throw in bench cushions or something? just hard to justify $250/seat in sec 133 sitting on an aluminum bench spending half the game watching the scoreboard anyways
 

Woody has accomplished two things that I thought previously impossible: 1. He has diminished my enthusiasm about Gopher Football and
2. He has made Joel Maturi look competent.
 

I'm dropping my 2 seats in Section 105 and then I'll buy tickets on the secondary market. Been a season ticket holder for 12 years. I usually can't make it to 2 or 3 games a season Easy decision. It'll be nice to sit in other locations in the stadium.
 

The U knew this was going to be a sh!tshow. Why not soften the blow and include this in the communication:

"We understand that as supporters of Gopher football we are asking more from you. This is not lost on us. As part of our genuine appreciation for your continued support, with each ticket/donation you make, you will also receive a $5 voucher to food for each game."

While that isn't a huge amount, it is a gesture. It gets you a soda or a hot dog for gosh sakes and it wouldn't cost the U that much.
 

I honestly wonder if the U would have been better served just going to the 2017 prices right away. I think a lot of the anger stems from watching the price go up each year had they just gone to the max price right away it still would have been mass chaos but might have eliminated a lot of the anger people feel about knowing they will soon not be able to realistically afford their tickets anymore.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I honestly wonder if the U would have been better served just going to the 2017 prices right away. I think a lot of the anger stems from watching the price go up each year had they just gone to the max price right away it still would have been mass chaos but might have eliminated a lot of the anger people feel about knowing they will soon not be able to realistically afford their tickets anymore.
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I'm convinced their intent was to get people hooked with lower upfront costs. Many here have even said they're fine with the first year increase, but won't go past that. If 2015 is a successful season, many of them might reconsider and think, "Well, it's just another $xxx for 2016." Then the same could happen between the 2nd and 3rd year.
 

I dropped my tickets a few years ago as a protest to Maturi's continued employment. Since he has been gone, I've gone back and forth on getting 2 tickets again... this next year with a good non conference game and Wisconsin + Nebraska at home I would've purchased 2 season tickets. Rather than pay $1,000+ for 2 season tickets to 7 games, I'll pay $150 for 2 tickets to 2 games, and watch the rest of the comfort of home
 

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