Purdue Attendance

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gopherdudepart2 said:
Granted I have only been late to kickoff twice in the last 5 years since we have been in the bank but from what I have seen there are quite a few tailgate groups in St Paul that are still eating and drinking and playing bean bag toss up until about 10:45 AM. Then they make a quick clean up and make there way over to the shuttle busses. There has been a huge walk up to the shuttle busses at 10 minutes to 11:00 AM the two times I have been late and both times I arrived late, parked late because I had appointments that made me run late car related.
I like the Pre-game festivities and think the Gophers have one of the best Pre-game arrangements on the field with the Band, Goldy and the cheer squad and dance team before kick off, if you are missing it you are missing something nobody else in the Big 10 does as well as the Gophers.
The St Paul tailgators seem to have gotten in to a routine where they show up at 10 minutes to 11:00 AM for the shuttle over at least that is my observation.
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Makes sense. Maybe they need to put a time clock with minutes remaining to KO!! :rolleyes: At least the long lines at the gates are no longer an issue. Sure don't miss Maturi!! Oh well.

My pre-game is taking in the band on the mall then on to the MAC for a cold one except certain games when I leave at 6am for the 3:45 minute drive to TCF for the 11am starts.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
This one always baffles me. Why can't/or don't people get to the game on time? The upper deck away side between the 30's (210/211, I think those are correct) has been less than half full at KO all season. What else are people doing when they know they have a game to get to?? Mowing the lawn, walking the dog, or sleeping in? I know there are always first timers who have no idea where to park or even where TCF is actually located or their GPS leads them astray. Same with leaving the game early to "beat the crowd." Sorry, but I don't get it.

A bunch of Slackers if you ask me, and it makes me wonder how they can keep a job.

Students? OK, they want to get 15 minutes more of sack time then rush off to TCF. I can buy that one.
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Most of the tailgates around the stadium are plenty full at kickoff time. I usually wander in right at 11 (or 2:30 or whenever) and the lots behind me are still full. Plus when people do enter, they like to make bathroom runs, buy a beer and food, before eventually making their way to the seats. The concourse is pretty packed all first quarter.

For big time games though, people get to their seats quickly. Particularly afternoon or later games. Vs Iowa last year was filled to the brim at kickoff.
 

Swaggerson said:
Perhaps the students could show up prior to kick off and welcome the team to the field?
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I entered via the student gate last week and they were handing out tunnel passes to the students; so at least some of the student weren't in their seats because they were inside or just outside the tunnel.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
Granted I have only been late to kickoff twice in the last 5 years since we have been in the bank but from what I have seen there are quite a few tailgate groups in St Paul that are still eating and drinking and playing bean bag toss up until about 10:45 AM. Then they make a quick clean up and make there way over to the shuttle busses. There has been a huge walk up to the shuttle busses at 10 minutes to 11:00 AM the two times I have been late and both times I arrived late, parked late because I had appointments that made me run late car related.
I like the Pre-game festivities and think the Gophers have one of the best Pre-game arrangements on the field with the Band, Goldy and the cheer squad and dance team before kick off, if you are missing it you are missing something nobody else in the Big 10 does as well as the Gophers.
The St Paul tailgators seem to have gotten in to a routine where they show up at 10 minutes to 11:00 AM for the shuttle over at least that is my observation.
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Yup, I agree. I think the solution is obvious, ban tailgating. Note, I know this is what you are suggesting and neither am I. I agree with you this is part of the issue. People used to complain that we didn't have good tailgating but now it is too good that people don't want to leave! Full disclosure, I'm not a tailgater.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I just ordered tickets, and there wasn't much to choose from. Hope that's a good sign. Win the next 2 and the Iowa and Ohio State games certainly should have a good chance be sellouts.
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If Ohio State and Iowa aren't sell outs, then there is just no hope.
 


afurry91 said:
If Ohio State and Iowa aren't sell outs, then there is just no hope.
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I just looked out of curiosity, and the only sections that have much of anything for the Iowa game are in the upper deck corners on the student section side. The OSU game has a few more available than the Iowa game right now.
 

And for what it's worth, I just talked two friends into the game on Saturday, so I picked up two more seats for them! Let's get everyone to bring a friend, and really get the place rocking!
 


Norsk_Gopher said:
Yup, I agree. I think the solution is obvious, ban tailgating. Note, I know this is what you are suggesting and neither am I. I agree with you this is part of the issue. People used to complain that we didn't have good tailgating but now it is too good that people don't want to leave! Full disclosure, I'm not a tailgater.
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I don't tailgate either, usually go out for breakfast before hand with our group. The early start times cause the late arrivers from the tailgating lot's, it's not a bad thing but a lot of those folks are missing out on a really cool Pre-game presentation by all of the folks involved in pre-game and the team entrance is always cool. We do have one of the better one's in the Big 10 if you have been on the road in the Big 10 you know what I am talking about. It's a shame more people do not make the extra effort to arrive 25 minuts before kick off, they would see that we have a pretty good deal going on in the stadium. No I am not advocating banning tailgating as you said arround the stadium and in St Paul it has improved 10 fold to the way it started out.
 



Tailgating is fun for fans. For some people, it's just as fun (or more so) than the game itself. And good for them! I don't begrudge anyone deciding to have another burger or down another Baileys or play catch a little longer and then show up at the end of the first quarter. It may not look as impressive as a full house at kickoff, but it's their ticket.
 

dpodoll68 said:
If we beat Purdue and Illinois, I would bet my life savings that Iowa will be a sellout.
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I was thinking that the Iowa game would already to sold out (just an assumption - both teams doing well/OK, a smaller stadium). But as reported here was no trouble buying two last night.
 

Urbandale said:
Tailgating is fun for fans. For some people, it's just as fun (or more so) than the game itself. And good for them! I don't begrudge anyone deciding to have another burger or down another Baileys or play catch a little longer and then show up at the end of the first quarter. It may not look as impressive as a full house at kickoff, but it's their ticket.
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Yeah, I like your tude Urbandale. We should just worry about what we can control and enjoy the experience.
 

TV timeouts have absolutely killed the flow of the game. That's a perfectly valid reason for people not to attend.
 



theTurning said:
TV timeouts have absolutely killed the flow of the game. That's a perfectly valid reason for people not to attend.
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TV timeouts (#1) and the Vikings' general lack of success over the past decade have almost ended my NFL interests. I used to make sure to head to the sports bar when I couldn't find the Vikings on TV. Now I hardly ever watch the NFL, period. The game is boring. A few plays, punt, long TV time out. FG, TV time out. TD, someone does a self-congratulatory over-the-top dance, TV time out. Kickoff, TV time out. Official review, TV time out. Time out, TV time out. Ice the kicker, TV time out. Ice the kicker again, TV time out. Injury, TV time out. Halftime, commercial, commercial, commercial, 1 highlight and the score from every game, some airheads make some juvenile jokes, and another huge series of commercials. Ick. At least the NFL was smart enough to keep their local Sunday games on the main networks...if they lost that exposure by going solely to cable, it might be the beginning of the end.

I know TV is a huge revenue source for college football and basketball, but they should think much about overdoing it like the NFL did.
 

For Northwestern- I thought stadium looked pretty full before kickoff with the exception of the student sections. The U should cut down on number of student tickets next year and when they become 'harder' to get- the students will flock in.
 

What I see is we're in a market area that you are competing against professional teams. Having lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Colorado, I've seen how that affects media coverage and general population awareness. Wisconsin had the Badgers, Northern Colorado had Colorado State, but the largest population area of Minnesota has the Vikings, Wild, and T-Wolves. One of those teams catches a winning record and the media is all over it.

However...the Vikings are crap, Wild & Wolves are just getting started. I have heard more media buzz regarding the Gophers this week than I have heard in a long, long time. They even had a Gopher Tailgate Forecast this morning. The Gophers are catching a media bid and it's going to eventually affect awareness and attendance. If we are 7-1 along with the Hawkeyes, the game will definitely be a sell-out with high extra demand. I'm looking forward to that!
 

Looking at the seating chart for Saturday there are 1,000s of tickets left in the upper deck for Saturday's game vs Purdue. Although fans should need no reason to go to the game at this point, I find the lack of marketing and/or ticket discounts very disappointing. A 5-1 Gophers team should be playing in front of a 50,000+ person crowd and the emphasis should be on making sure our home field advantage is as strong as possible.

A $50,000 marketing campaign or a 50% discount on all upper level seats would ensure a great crowd for Saturday's game.
 

Sudsy Gopher said:
Looking at the seating chart for Saturday there are 1,000s of tickets left in the upper deck for Saturday's game vs Purdue. Although fans should need no reason to go to the game at this point, I find the lack of marketing and/or ticket discounts very disappointing. A 5-1 Gophers team should be playing in front of a 50,000+ person crowd and the emphasis should be on making sure our home field advantage is as strong as possible.

A $50,000 marketing campaign or a 50% discount on all upper level seats would ensure a great crowd for Saturday's game.
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There is a $30 promotion for some upper level seats but no real advertising to communicate it as far as I can tell.
 

Only 371 tickets left on Stubhub. Lots of promotion tickets left in the corners. Hope for a last minute push and strong walk up sales.
 

AuEGO4 said:
Only 371 tickets left on Stubhub. Lots of promotion tickets left in the corners. Hope for a last minute push and strong walk up sales.
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Thanks for this update. With only 371 tickets left on Stubhub, that is a good sign we should have a decent crowd. Hopefully, the media starts hyping the game and people find out about the promotion. Now is a good time to jump on the bandwagon!

Go Gophers!
 

I think a lot of the 371 number has to do with the fact that most UPS-delivered tickets were removed today due to the shortened shipping window at this point. I listed mine on Monday and it gave me the option to list them until 2pm Wednesday so that, if purchased, I could ship them in time for the game.

I know yesterday there were ~840 tickets listed, and while not impossible that we would've sold 500 tickets in a day, it's probably not likely.
 

Sudsy Gopher said:
. A 5-1 Gophers team should be playing in front of a 50,000+ person crowd and the emphasis should be on making sure our home field advantage is as strong as possible.

A $50,000 marketing campaign or a 50% discount on all upper level seats would ensure a great crowd for Saturday's game.
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I agree with all of this, and it is too bad that it is too late for a really great marketing campaign. This late in the game only discount programs will really move them and that is a damned if you do damned if you don't proposal. Discount and have STH complain that they are getting gouged, don't discount and have STH complain about gameday atmosphere and crowd.

Really all stemming back to the AD not aggressively marketing tickets year round as they should. Even if that is a total break even after factoring in parking/concession/ticket revenue it should still be done.
 

A co-worker just bought 4 for his family in Section 235, pretty far up the section. Hoping we can get to a minimum 50,000. I know it was a non-conference game, but didn't they sell $10 tickets for the Syracuse home game a couple years back?
 

Gopher07 said:
I think a lot of the 371 number has to do with the fact that most UPS-delivered tickets were removed today due to the shortened shipping window at this point. I listed mine on Monday and it gave me the option to list them until 2pm Wednesday so that, if purchased, I could ship them in time for the game.

I know yesterday there were ~840 tickets listed, and while not impossible that we would've sold 500 tickets in a day, it's probably not likely.
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That is great info thanks! I always get excited on Thursdays to see the major drop in tickets left.
 


Anybody less lazy than I have an update on tickets on gophersports.com?
 

Just looked - Didn't count each and every available "dot", but it appears there are around a thousand tickets left - give or take a hundred either way. Not too bad. Still early. should be near sellout tomorrow.

As an old geezer that has followed ALL sports (even the Twin Skippers bowling league), I am befuddled why our football Gophers aren't selling out at this point. What more do they have to do to get a few more thousand rears in those empty seats?
 


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