Please help me understand? What draws you to the NFL/Vikings?

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Spoofin said:
I can't help. CFB is my favorite sport. NFL football ranks near the bottom. I hope the Vikings win, but don't even watch most games.


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Everything spoofing said.
 

Dean S said:
I could tell you the team logos of half the NFL, as they are all expansion teams or have moved.
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Only two expansion teams in the last 20 years, and only three teams have moved in that time. Five isn't half of 32, last I checked.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Summary: I know there are fans of both on this site. One reason I'm asking the question my daughter and I were fishing the Walleye Whamma Tournament in Babbitt last week. We both had
" Row the Boat " t- shirts on and several people asked what it meant. One lady though my daughter was a member for the U rowing team. Another reason is we stopped at Tanks Bar in Babbitt afterwards for a beer. They already had Viking schedules up and were promoting a Viking Bus trip for the first pre-season game. I asked him if I brought him a Gopher schedule would be put it up?
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I found that much of the promotion of Vikings at bars is because of beer promotions. Bars get beer cheaper if they promote the Vikings with Budweiser or whatever brewery is tied to the pro team. I don't think the U can compete with those marketing campaigns from beer sponsors. The U would need a beer sponsor to give deals to the bars.
 

My Dad had season Gopher FB and BB season tickets since the 50's. He bought Vikings tickets when they came here in 61'. I grew up coming to the TC on Saturday for the Gopher game and staying overnight to watch the Vikings games. We loved the games @ the old Met stadium. We would stay after the games to get autographs and I still have the autographs of the purple people eaters and all the stars of the 70'/ 80's. I will never forget watching Carl Eller coming out of the locker room in a full length mink coat and dancing on top of the hood of a car. I do not understand why people on this board bitch about Viking fans. I cheer for all things MN. and have taught for the U for the last 20 years so I always want them to win.
 

joshvanklomp said:
Only two expansion teams in the last 20 years, and only three teams have moved in that time. Five isn't half of 32, last I checked.
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This is the most DPO response from someone other than DPO I have ever seen.


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oldauggie said:
Not much interests me about the Vikings or the NFL any more. I did go to a game last year vs the Giants on a business deal and the pre-game intro was outstanding but the NFL games bore me. The players are too good, paid too much and the owners are too quick to move teams which breaks the heart of loyal fans. Basically the Vikings lost me in 1998 when Anderson kicked it wide left and then the NFL sealed the deal with me last year when owners re-started this crazy shuffle of moving teams. The Colin Kapernick antics did not help either.
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I agree - I can't believe how he has been blackballed for exercising his first amendment rights while the league looks the other way with countless domestic abusers.
 

Nothing draws me to the NFL. It's too much of a business. I'll watch it now and then because it's the best athletes in the world. The level of play is sick at times.


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My true passion is Gopher football but I love the Vikes and always will.
 

When you finally realize that every professional sport is about entertainment and money and not about winning games. At that moment you will change your mind and see the NFL for what it is. A huge marketing, money making machine that makes the owners of each team a lot of money.
 



GopherHomer said:
I agree - I can't believe how he has been blackballed for exercising his first amendment rights while the league looks the other way with countless domestic abusers.
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Please. Looks at all the examples of less than ideal players from a public relations standpoint. Domestic abusers. Adrian. Michael Vick, man's best friend abuser was welcomed back with open arms. If his ability exceeded his PR baggage someone would take him. Maybe he's asking for too much money, and the front office doesn't want to deal with all the associated headaches for a backup.
 

The Vikings were not very good when Warmath had his great teams, so I never switched to the Vikings, having been taken to Gopher games by my dad when 8, 9 years old. I followed the Vikings, especially when living away from Minnesota on the East Coast and later in the South, but pro football does not have to re-group as players leave or graduate, doesn't have the colorful history of college ball, doesn't have the spirit of college ball, and the players are actually TOO good, which is why there isn't much of a running game in the pros. Play for pay doesn't appeal to me, either - and the constant change of coaches in the pros detracts from the game. I love the traditions at MN, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame, LSU, Alabama, the history, the pageantry, marching bands, rivalries, etc - and the surprises that come with new talent, including as early as the freshman year.
 

It's interesting how the Gophers' downturn started at about the exact time that the Vikings started their run.

1967: Gophers 8-2, Vikings 3-8-3
1968: Vikings 8-6, Gophers 6-4
1969: Vikings 12-2 (SB), Gophers 4-5-1

Vikings made the playoffs 10 of 11 years beginning in 1968, while the Gophers wouldn't win 8 games in a season from 1968 to 1998.
 

joshvanklomp said:
It's interesting how the Gophers' downturn started at about the exact time that the Vikings started their run.

1967: Gophers 8-2, Vikings 3-8-3
1968: Vikings 8-6, Gophers 6-4
1969: Vikings 12-2 (SB), Gophers 4-5-1

Vikings made the playoffs 10 of 11 years beginning in 1968, while the Gophers wouldn't win 8 games in a season from 1968 to 1998.
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Interesting stats. That likely explains a lot. Thanks.


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MennoSota said:
I found that much of the promotion of Vikings at bars is because of beer promotions. Bars get beer cheaper if they promote the Vikings with Budweiser or whatever brewery is tied to the pro team. I don't think the U can compete with those marketing campaigns from beer sponsors. The U would need a beer sponsor to give deals to the bars.
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Agree to a point. In this bar it was a schedule from US Bank , which has a branch in town.
 

I don't think it has to be an either-or situation. I say this as someone who lives in outstate MN and rarely attends games in the TC, so I follow the teams on TV. If it was a question of affording tickets for one team or the other, my viewpoint might be totally different.

But, I see myself as a MN sports fan. I follow the MN teams - Vikes, Twins, Wild, Wolves (least favorite), Lynx, and the Gophers. I also pay some attention to the MIAC schools in FB.

As others have said, during FB season, Saturday is for the Gophers and Sunday for the Vikings. I just don't accept the notion that you have to choose one team over the other - or that following one team is somehow a show of disrespect for the other. It's like saying if you like steak, you can't like pasta. I say, if you like both, eat both.

There are aspects of both pro sports and college sports I enjoy, and aspects I don't like. But that is part of the grand bargain of being a sports fan. you enjoy the aspects you enjoy, and try to grudgingly accept the aspects you don't enjoy.

But, I will close with this. The Vikes have simply done a vastly superior job of marketing their team to the public. The Gophers (IMHO) have done a poor job of marketing their team to the public. The Vikes have the advantage of the NFL and it's year-round publicity machine. But that means the Gophers have to work harder to market themselves. You can't blame that on the Vikings. The Gophers have to accept the responsibility for their own failures in marketing and promotion.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I don't think it has to be an either-or situation. I say this as someone who lives in outstate MN and rarely attends games in the TC, so I follow the teams on TV. If it was a question of affording tickets for one team or the other, my viewpoint might be totally different.

But, I see myself as a MN sports fan. I follow the MN teams - Vikes, Twins, Wild, Wolves (least favorite), Lynx, and the Gophers. I also pay some attention to the MIAC schools in FB.

As others have said, during FB season, Saturday is for the Gophers and Sunday for the Vikings. I just don't accept the notion that you have to choose one team over the other - or that following one team is somehow a show of disrespect for the other. It's like saying if you like steak, you can't like pasta. I say, if you like both, eat both.

There are aspects of both pro sports and college sports I enjoy, and aspects I don't like. But that is part of the grand bargain of being a sports fan. you enjoy the aspects you enjoy, and try to grudgingly accept the aspects you don't enjoy.

But, I will close with this. The Vikes have simply done a vastly superior job of marketing their team to the public. The Gophers (IMHO) have done a poor job of marketing their team to the public. The Vikes have the advantage of the NFL and it's year-round publicity machine. But that means the Gophers have to work harder to market themselves. You can't blame that on the Vikings. The Gophers have to accept the responsibility for their own failures in marketing and promotion.
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The Vikings have certainly done a better job in "marketing" their product than the Gophers did. In the last 30 years the Vikings have won their Division 8 times and finished 2nd 11 times.

The Gopher haven't finished 1st and only finished 2nd once in 2014 during that 30 year period.

The Vikings have won 9 Playoff Games during that period. Probably the equivalent of a New Year's Bowl Game.

The Gophers have played 1 New Years Game. They lost that one.

While the Gophers aren't responsible for all the fans of other BSC teams living in or near the Metro area, they are responsible for their own failures in getting people to keep buying tickets again and again.

Marketing gets people to try a product. Their marketing and promotions have worked pretty well actiually. Tens of thousands of different people have gone to Gopher games over the last 30 years.

The problem is marketing can't get people to keep using a product if they don't like it. Winning is the only marketing that will truly work there.
 

Iceland12 said:
The Vikings have certainly done a better job in "marketing" their product than the Gophers did. In the last 30 years the Vikings have won their Division 8 times and finished 2nd 11 times.

The Gopher haven't finished 1st or 2nd even once during that 30 year period.

The Vikings have won 9 Playoff Games during that period. Probably the equivalent of a New Year's Bowl Game.

The Gophers have played 1 New Years Game. They lost that one.

While the Gophers aren't responsible for all the fans of other BSC teams living in or near the Metro area, they are responsible for their own failures in getting people to keep buying tickets again and again.

Marketing gets people to try a product. Their marketing and promotions have worked pretty well actiually. Tens of thousands of different people have gone to Gopher games over the last 30 years.

The problem is marketing can't get people to keep using a product if they don't like it. Winning is the only marketing that will truly work there.
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See, I think college sports is a different animal all together. I don't think it's just about winning. It's about school pride.

Winning certainly plays a part, as I outlined with what started in the late 1960s. I'm not old enough to say this for certain, but I believe the Gophers also haven't helped themselves. The later years of Memorial Stadium (not making needed updates?) and the ensuing move to the Metrodome probably diminished that school pride and the desire to attend games once the luster of the new digs wore out.

Looking at the Memorial Stadium website and some of its documents, it says 50 percent of student STHs said they'd be less likely to attend games at the Dome. Students of 1981 are the potential donors of today. That's a pretty significant number that may or may not have ever returned to Gophers games.

From one document:

Among all groups, there is considerable agreement that a move to the Dome would increase public attendance at the games and aid in the recruitment of student-athles. In the view of some, including many students, these benefits would be gained at the cost of school spirit, an impalpable but precious commodity to those who value it.
 

Not much draws me to the NFL anymore. I used to be a huge NFL fan, it is this super sanitized product with billionaires leaching money from taxpayers to subsidize their business... I'm supposed to get excited about these vikings tradition commercials after they threaten to leave for years?

CFB isn't perfect, but it is fun to watch the kids play / excel.
 

Raised a Vikings fan because that was what most of the family was. Both family's were Packer fans when they grew up, but most switched to the Vikings with the exception of a few hardcore older members of the family's stayed being Packer fans. These were the Super bowl years in the 1970's for the Vikings, a lot of big games with the Cowboys and Rams, I don't remember them because I was really young but all of them do especially older cousins. The fact that the Vikings could win against those big Metroplex teams in Dallas and Los Angeles mattered to people in flyover country.

Growing up my family didn't follow the Gophers much, the only time I remember even watching the games or the radio being tuned in to the Gophers was during the Holtz years, and the few or couple Gutekunst years after. I didn't get into college football or follow it much until I was in college and attended the U. Most of my time at the University was during the Wacker years so not a great football perspective from a won loss record. That said I have to admit, those passing offenses were some exciting football and of course Chris Darkins running the football and his postcards, just wished the team could have played some better defense. Wacker beat the Badgers though so kudos to him for that.

You will probably find most of my generation the X'ers were Vikings fans, completely ignored the Gophers, first because of the Vikings so called success they had growing up, they always had all of the Sports media hype and the NFL was much more available on free TV at the time compared to college. Then the Randy Moss Phenomenon hit town in 1998 and reinvigorated the Vikings hold on the media market and the Twin Cities and Minnesota fans. The fact that we have let Wisconsin get so far ahead of us in football has always irked me. They are the biggest rival from a tradition standpoint, but the fact they have beaten the Gophers 13 straight years has put that rivalry on the back burner.

There was a time in the Mason years we started to become really competitive with the Badgers, should have even beaten them twice more, then the Brewster years and things went haywire and in the toilet against them. The fact that Kill and staff and then Claeys never beat them hurt the program. They have become a conference measuring stick like Ohio State, Michigan, to me there is no doubt they are at the same level recruiting wise and success wise as those other two helmet schools.

I started following college football when Miami and Jimmy Johnson started beating everyone at the "U" in the 1990's and I really liked the rivalry's and how competitive the games were. Once a group of us started traveling to Big 10 road games, and saw how crappy the Metrodome really was for Gopher football, that is when I really got hooked on college football. Unfortunately for me all of my big Victory's and upsets by the Gophers have been on the road, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, most if not all memorable wins have been on the road for the Gophers.

This has been the biggest obstacle to sustained program success for Gophers football at home, the lack of beating the Badgers, and the lack of consistent winning at home against either ranked opponents or conference rivals. There were some big wins at home under Jerry Kill, so not all TCF experience have been bad, there have been some great games especially that first big upset of Iowa, or the Weber game against Michigan State where the QB lit it up on Halloween. The lack of sustained conference success at home has been a hinderance in building home attendance. Have to start winning more conference home games on a consistent basis.

College football is my go to watch especially Gophers football for being passionate about football. NFL football has become all about fantasy football, daily fantasy, and Sports betting. That part of it is where I follow the NFL, not so much caring about how the Vikings are doing these days. I think the gambling part, and following all that fantasy crap has lessoned the fun of the NFL.
still like it when the Vikes win, but it doesn't bother me if they lose, and I really have not for some time gone out of my way to spend any money on tickets. I went to 1 game last year and hated the view and how far away you are in the new stadium.
Like others have said it is a better watch the NFL on TV then in stadium, you don't get the ear blistering noise, the constant barrage of in stadium commercials, or all of the drinking, vulgar swearing and drunken stupidness that has become the NFL. To me the NFL has become part a pro wrestling sideshow, with the fireworks, and ear blistering stadium rock. You almost have to wear ear plugs to not come home with a splitting headache.
 

Was a vikings fan before gophers football fan. It's MN so I don't fault anyone for being a vikings fan at all. I will however fault you for being a packers fan in MN. For me I find a ton of things to interest me in the nfl. Even the draft is interesting to me much more so than other sports. The nba draft and lottery are plain dumb and a bore compared to the nfl draft. That said, i would rather watch the ncaa 4 team playoff than nfl playoff games.


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I grew up as a Vikings fan. The Vikings were on TV every week, while the Gophers were rarely on TV in those days. You picked up the paper, there would always be stories about the Vikings. One of the big things is everyone around you was a Vikings fan. I remember churches would change their schedule so that people could make it home for the Vikings game. Ask people to choose between the Vikings and God, and it's not so clear which way they would go. A stadium that is full can be pretty compelling too.

These days, I'd much rather go to a Gophers game than to a Vikings game. I like it when the Vikings win, but I don't care as much about Vikings games as I go about Gophers games. I'll go to GopherSports, and read the play by play list for games from years ago. I can't see myself doing that for the Vikings.
 

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