Our Stadium

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I remember Memorial Stadium and I liked it.
People hated the Dome but it had comfortable seats, and decent sightlines and in November you were out of the weather.
What I did not like was the pumped-in noise to make up for the lack of crowd noise.
Camp Randell has uncomfortable bench seats, the steps are dangerous, railings were just put in, the concessions stands are dreadful, and the lines for the restrooms are long but the game day atmosphere from walking to the stadium and as the game goes on is unmatched, in my limited experience.
The Bank is very comfortable, and the steps are easy but the lack of elevation of the structure does not trap band or crowd noise and it is rarely filled.
The game day experience is lacking.
 

I've been to Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin and I prefer Minnesota to all of them...

I'm not going to deny they have great atmosphere and crowd is intense, but you also deal with cramped seating made worse by mid West waistline and cold weather gear. Iowa and Wisconsin in particular it can be impossible for everyone to sit in assigned section.


"Slide down"
"There is no room. I'm as cramped as you are"
 



noamfromm said:
Columbus has the blue jackets. College Park is essentially DC so if you count that it has 4
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My bad. Forgot about dc. Doubt the jackets can outdraw O$U though. But the vast majority don’t have pro to contend with.
 


salzie said:
It was. Final game there
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Yep. Second place probably goes to when the Bison horde came to town and women literally used the sides of buildings near the Dome for "relief efforts" absent other available means. Unfortunately witnessed this several times and still drinking to kill those particular brain cells.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I like keeping it at 50k. That's the right size for our program. Possibly, one day, we could outgrow it, if we have many great Fleck years of excellence.

But even then, would rather have a sold out 50k every time over averaging 55k in an 80k stadium.
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I would think there would be options to expand by 10 or 15k if they wanted too but maybe I’m wrong?
 

gopheraddict said:
The stadium was designed to be capable of supporting future seating expansion to 80,000. The 30,000 seats would be added above the second deck of the stadium from the end of the press boxes across to the northwest end of the venue, wrapping around the remainder of the horseshoe.
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No thanks. Perfect sized.
 

Plato said:
I remember Memorial Stadium and I liked it.
People hated the Dome but it had comfortable seats, and decent sightlines and in November you were out of the weather.
What I did not like was the pumped-in noise to make up for the lack of crowd noise.
Camp Randell has uncomfortable bench seats, the steps are dangerous, railings were just put in, the concessions stands are dreadful, and the lines for the restrooms are long but the game day atmosphere from walking to the stadium and as the game goes on is unmatched, in my limited experience.
The Bank is very comfortable, and the steps are easy but the lack of elevation of the structure does not trap band or crowd noise and it is rarely filled.
The game day experience is lacking.
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Wasn’t lacking last year against Wisconsin or against Iowa when Jerry beat them badly or the opener against tOSU last year. When we are good and we have a good match up the game day atmosphere is awesome.
 



gopher8 said:
I love our stadium. The thing I don't understand about the U is why we can't fill the damn thing up at 50K? Even when we're good we struggle to sell out. MSU was full this weekend, and yeah, can confirm their stadium is below average. We have one of the best B1G stadiums. Are our tickets just more expensive? I don't get it. I want us to someday be able to have a full house every week with consistency.

Genuinely curious what everyone's thoughts on this are.

go gophers!
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I agree 100%. I live in AZ and attended my first game ever at the Bank last weekend. I thought the stadium was awesome and couldn’t understand why it’s not sold out every week. Gotta think most people spend their money and weekends on the pro team.
 

Schnauzer said:
I appreciate the fact it is much more comfortable to watch a game at the bank compared to most other college stadiums that were built when people were seemingly half the size they are now.

You get really well acquainted with your knee caps at most other stadiums.
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Like Kinnick... it's so damn tight people just stand the entire game..
 

I think if they expand it’s going to be premium seats. Not enough money to be made adding cheap ones.
 




fair said:
I’ve always dreamt of getting the stadium expanding to compete with the big boys, but I just don’t think it will ever really make sense unless we ascend to blue blood levels of success for multiple years.
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It will never happen, unless people get over their obsession with the crappy professional team down the street. The product at the 'Bank is far superior to watch.
 


I would hope we had consistent sellouts and/or a consistent wait list for season tickets for at least 5+ years before even considering expansion.
 

It may be over inflated prices, but regardless of the reason - there are thousands of unsold tickets for every home game this year despite another 2019 (or better) style season brewing. It's hard to imagine any expansion to the stadium when nationally attendance has been in decline, and locally the needle doesn't move much for a B1G title contender. Even winning consistently over many seasons doesn't seem to be a recipe for building the kind of attendance that would call for expansion.

The 80K potential will NEVER happen, my opinion. At best, if it made financial sense perhaps a modest expansion of 10K seats to bring overall capacity to 60K. I realize that the original plan was to always leave the west side open and preserve the campus and downtown views, with any new seats being placed in a third deck around the north and east rim. But, if the realization that 80k will never happen, I do wonder if it would be more cost effective to simply close the bowl on the west side.
 

There is one part of the equation that has changed from the bad days and that is "Winning + Students = Future Butts-in-the-Seats."

There is no doubt that having a competitive FB program and enjoying while attending school can cement the experience if it's not already there. This is the hope for replacing us old folks when our time comes to move on from the in-person gameday experience.

The change here really started with Jerry and PJ is nurturing it further. The shift away from being a commuter campus is also a big help.

This won't necessarily get us to 80,000 but if the disposable income is there it can at least keep the 50,000 sustainable.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I would think there would be options to expand by 10 or 15k if they wanted too but maybe I’m wrong?
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Sure, you can always do anything with enough willpower and money. But how would a 10k expansion look, architecturally?

If the main way to expand was to build a 2nd deck on the side opposite the press box/suites, and it was only for 10k ... it would be too skinny? Or too short? I don't know
 

Gopherchase said:
Wasn’t lacking last year against Wisconsin or against Iowa when Jerry beat them badly or the opener against tOSU last year. When we are good and we have a good match up the game day atmosphere is awesome.
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This. That Penn State 2019 was amazing from the word go. Hoping for something similar this year....maybe against the Hawks when we get Floyd returned to us
 


Gilthorp57 said:
It will never happen, unless people get over their obsession with the crappy professional team down the street. The product at the 'Bank is far superior to watch.
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I think there are a lot of people who are like me and my cousin. We are both big Gopher and Viking fans, support both, love both teams, etc. I have Gopher season tickets and he has Viking season tickets. He has said more than once that he has just as much fun at Gopher games but it isn't worth getting season tickets because there are only 2-3 good games a year. With the Vikings you could go to a game against the lowly Jaguars and still see a player like Trevor Lawrence, who 2 years ago was one of the biggest players in NCAA.

It is hard to argue with people who choose to spend their money on a Vikings game over a Gopher game... it is just their opinion.
 

MNHerb said:
I have been to every Big 10 stadium and Minnesota is the best by far for comfort, great views and getting around.
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I have been to every Big 10 stadium with the exception of Rutgers (I've even been to USC & UCLA's when they climb aboard, so already got those checked off). You nailed it. The comfort level is easily tops. I can be up to the concourse, get something, & back down most likely before the TV timeout is over. At Nebraska, I never even attempted to go down from my seats the whole game. The amount of leg room...there's not even a close competitor.

As for the current setup, I did like the extra seats that were in the end zone when the Vikes were here those few couple of years; kind of closed it off a little & made it look bigger. But I also get the appeal of the open plaza. There's not much I'd really change, other than keep up with some updates (escalators perhaps, like Mariucci, look at new scoreboard system on the closed end that wraps around a bit more, etc.).

My other personal opinions:
- Kinnick > Camp Randall
- Horseshoe > Big House
- Penn State is difficult to get to, but I enjoyed it. Great people, even after we beat them. If it's an undefeated MN that beats an undefeated PSU, maybe they'll behave differently, but I doubt it. I heard stories how gracious they were in defeat in 1999.
- Nebraska was nice, but I think some of their niceness was they knew they were going to drill the Gophers ('12). Don't know how it is now.
-The rest: nothing special, but nothing really terrible. Maryland stadium is nothing special, but I enjoyed being able to spend an October weekend in DC when it wasn't super busy tourist wise.
 


I've been to most Big Ten stadiums but in recent years my kids have been getting older so it's been more challenging. Some of these stadiums have probably been updated since I last went. So take it with a grian of salt.

Wisconsin (2000, 2002, 2004): Fun atmosphere but the fans are losers. Last time I was there they were just finishing expanding in the endzone by the fieldhouse. They had frigging porta potties in the concourse.

Iowa (2001, 2009, 2012): The fans are into it more than any other stadium I've been to. The seats are so cramped together you can't help but stand the entire time. Don't leave your seat during the game. The concourse is cramped and the bathrooms will take you 30 min to take a leak. Fans were complete pricks in 2001....better in 2009 and 2012

Ohio State (2002): Just an amazing stadium. A must see for any college football fan. They won the national championship that year so they knew they had something special cooking. Fans were a mix. The students were a-holes but the growns ups we encounted on game day were very nice and talkative.

Penn State (2003, 2009): Best trip in the conference. 2003 was such a fun experience. 2009 was "ruined" a bit because a snowstorm blew in 2 days before the game and they closed all non-paved parking lots (which were reserved for donors). Hard road trip to make cause of the distance but I recommend it 100%.

Michigan (2004): The fans are piled on top of one another. By the end of the game your butt might be 4 numbers away from where your seat location is. This was before the renovations so there were no concourses. All concession stands and toilets (aka porta-potties) were outside the stadium. Overall it was a fun experience and the fans were nice but the stadium is overrated.

Illinois (2003, 2016, 2018): Probably the most underrated roadtrip and stadium in the conference IMHO. Illinois has a great setup for tailgating and milling around. The stadium is nicely renovated so it has an old-school vibe but still enough room to roam around. You used to be able to get tix for $7 on the secondary market. Those days appear gone now but I still recommend this trip.

Northwestern (2009, 2017): Both times I tailgated in the free lots down by Lake Michigan and then made the ~1 mile walk to the stadium. It's a beautiful neighborhood so I like that. It really feels like you are attending a game in the 1950's with your grandpa (or at least what I imagine that to be like). The stadium itself sucks but Evanston is beautiful on a fall afternoon.

Purdue (2008): Can't really comment too much. Stadium is kind of dumpy. We were staying with friends about an hour away and didn't really get a chance to take in much of the campus/atmosphere before hand.

Indiana (2007): Another underrated venue, much like Illinois. They've since renovated a lot so I want to get back there but just a ton of open parking surrounding the stadium means tailgating is very easy. I like their sightlines too.

Nebraska, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland.....all on my to-do list. Wish I could have made MSU or Nebraska work this year but alas, not this year.
 

gopher8 said:
I love our stadium. The thing I don't understand about the U is why we can't fill the damn thing up at 50K? Even when we're good we struggle to sell out. MSU was full this weekend, and yeah, can confirm their stadium is below average. We have one of the best B1G stadiums. Are our tickets just more expensive? I don't get it. I want us to someday be able to have a full house every week with consistency.

Genuinely curious what everyone's thoughts on this are.

go gophers!
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Since you asked....

1) I think football is better on tv. You know those threads that get started, "For those who watched on TV, was it really a catch..." or "...did he really stay in bounds?". Well, if you're watching on TV and you get to see all the replays and such.... So I prefer that, plus at the stadium there is NOTHING to do in-between plays. At home, I can see a replay, or if the replay isn't worth showing, then maybe I get a cool graphic with some interesting stats, etc. Basically, the TV viewing experience is kinda non-stop, minus halftime. In person, it seems more like 3-5 seconds of action, now I'm bored out of my mind for 30 seconds, then 3-5 seconds of action, 30 seconds of being bored to death, repeat. And with the networks needing to air more commercials, there will be more random stop-ages that will make the in-person experience even more boring.

2) I don't want to stand in line/have to be searched. I go to the mall of america and I'm around thousands of people that haven't been searched. I'm not worried about it, but the complaining I see on hear about being searched and told you can't bring in your water bottle, well, that just makes me even less interested.

3) This should almost be 2.5, since it relates to #2. But I read complaints on here about running out of bottled water and other concessions. So let me ask you, how often would you keep going to the same restaurant if you had to wonder whether the stuff on the menu was actually available? Probably not long. Or if you could make it to the bathroom and back in under 15 minutes?

4) I don't want to sit in a chair and either a) have to squeeze in-between the others as I try to leave my row and go get food/beer/bathroom, nor do I want others doing that to me if I'm sitting at the end. Make the aisles WIDER so you can stretch out.

5) Unless you've been going to live sports for decades, you might not find a hard piece of plastic very comfortable to sit on. This one I just don't get. You'd never eat dinner or watch a movie at a place of business that made you sit on cheap, hard plastic seats, but somehow sports fans spend a lot of money and tolerate it.
 


MNfootballfan said:
I think there are a lot of people who are like me and my cousin. We are both big Gopher and Viking fans, support both, love both teams, etc. I have Gopher season tickets and he has Viking season tickets. He has said more than once that he has just as much fun at Gopher games but it isn't worth getting season tickets because there are only 2-3 good games a year. With the Vikings you could go to a game against the lowly Jaguars and still see a player like Trevor Lawrence, who 2 years ago was one of the biggest players in NCAA.

It is hard to argue with people who choose to spend their money on a Vikings game over a Gopher game... it is just their opinion.
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everyone has the right to be wrong, just look at the OTB
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
I agree 100%. I live in AZ and attended my first game ever at the Bank last weekend. I thought the stadium was awesome and couldn’t understand why it’s not sold out every week. Gotta think most people spend their money and weekends on the pro team.
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I think that's it but there are some gopher ticket options that are very affordable, season tickets for less than $300
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Since you asked....

1) I think football is better on tv. You know those threads that get started, "For those who watched on TV, was it really a catch..." or "...did he really stay in bounds?". Well, if you're watching on TV and you get to see all the replays and such.... So I prefer that, plus at the stadium there is NOTHING to do in-between plays. At home, I can see a replay, or if the replay isn't worth showing, then maybe I get a cool graphic with some interesting stats, etc. Basically, the TV viewing experience is kinda non-stop, minus halftime. In person, it seems more like 3-5 seconds of action, now I'm bored out of my mind for 30 seconds, then 3-5 seconds of action, 30 seconds of being bored to death, repeat. And with the networks needing to air more commercials, there will be more random stop-ages that will make the in-person experience even more boring.

2) I don't want to stand in line/have to be searched. I go to the mall of america and I'm around thousands of people that haven't been searched. I'm not worried about it, but the complaining I see on hear about being searched and told you can't bring in your water bottle, well, that just makes me even less interested.

3) This should almost be 2.5, since it relates to #2. But I read complaints on here about running out of bottled water and other concessions. So let me ask you, how often would you keep going to the same restaurant if you had to wonder whether the stuff on the menu was actually available? Probably not long. Or if you could make it to the bathroom and back in under 15 minutes?

4) I don't want to sit in a chair and either a) have to squeeze in-between the others as I try to leave my row and go get food/beer/bathroom, nor do I want others doing that to me if I'm sitting at the end. Make the aisles WIDER so you can stretch out.

5) Unless you've been going to live sports for decades, you might not find a hard piece of plastic very comfortable to sit on. This one I just don't get. You'd never eat dinner or watch a movie at a place of business that made you sit on cheap, hard plastic seats, but somehow sports fans spend a lot of money and tolerate it.
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I feel like this is just a rant lol

What do you do for fun?
 

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