restructuring the student section

[>'.'<]

Okay so hear me out. I've been a student in the student section since the opening of The Bank and I love our stadium, but we need to be realistic about our student fanbase.

The students of the U of M have it ingrained in their heads to leave after either half time or 3rd quarter. I hear it all the time regardless of the score. Students constantly say, "I'm leaving after half time" or "I dont wanna stay for the whole game."

One reasons why students don't care too much to come to the games is they're not having enough "fun" to make it worth while. I think we need to shrink the upper deck of the student section from 4000 seats to 2000 seat or lower. The atmosphere in the lower vs the upper deck of the student section is seriously night and day. The lower bowl is rowdy and has a ton of fun, while the upper deck is empty and has virtually no cheering. Shrinking the upper deck would create a tighter packed student section, making a much better atmosphere for the students and make them want to come back. If and when our students start CONSISTENTLY pack the student section, then we can talk about making the section larger again. This needs to happennnn or not. just my opinion and insight.

 

[LesBolstad]

Re: not having fun

What else are you going to do on a 40 degree late October day? Stay in the dorm and slap the sausage? Our students are a bunch of pussies and I am embarrassed to be an alumni when I see a student turn out like that.

 

[tikited]

Make it happen. I agree with you.

 

[tikited]

What else are you going to do on a 40 degree late October day? Stay in the dorm and slap the sausage? Our students are a bunch of pussies and I am embarrassed to be an alumni when I see a student turn out like that.

I agree with you.

 

[westcoastgopher11]

I don't like the student section being cut in half between the upper and lower deck. I would stretch the student section to include 115, 117, 133, 135 and take them out of the 2nd deck. You might have a good shot of selling some lower cost season tickets if you made 219-231 or so seatbacks or maybe benches with backs. 2 level student sections don't work well a lot of places because everyone tries to squeeze close to the front.

 

[Schnauzer]

I don't like the student section being cut in half between the upper and lower deck. I would stretch the student section to include 115, 117, 133, 135 and take them out of the 2nd deck. You might have a good shot of selling some lower cost season tickets if you made 219-231 or so seatbacks or maybe benches with backs. 2 level student sections don't work well a lot of places because everyone tries to squeeze close to the front.

Considering I sit in 135 and have never missed a game in TCF Bank Stadium history, I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with your plan to eject me from my seat.

 

[highwayman]

Football marginalized by administration for 50 years.

In the dome for 27 years.

Crap home play in a new stadium for three.

Give it three more seasons to purge this class. Old Jer is 8-5 at The Bank.

It takes time.

I agree, reduce student tickets, change the structure or give away ALL student tickets in 2013.

 

[MrC]

What else are you going to do on a 40 degree late October day? Stay in the dorm and slap the sausage? Our students are a bunch of pussies and I am embarrassed to be an alumni when I see a student turn out like that.

And you know, they will continue to do what they want regardless of what you think.

The key is to understand what their interests and motivations are. What anyone thinks they "should" care about is irrelevant.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Football marginalized by administration for 50 years.

In the dome for 27 years.

Crap home play in a new stadium for three.

Give it three more seasons to purge this class. Old Jer is 8-5 at The Bank.

It takes time.

I agree, reduce student tickets, change the structure or give away ALL student tickets in 2013.

They will never give away all tickets. Programs that do that never have a full student section. People will claim them and not show up. The people that actually want them will be out of luck. Lower the price but free tickets is not the answer.

 

[Cayman]

They will never give away all tickets. Programs that do that never have a full student section. People will claim them and not show up. The people that actually want them will be out of luck. Lower the price but free tickets is not the answer.

Do programs that do that actually give away tickets, or do they just let anyone in for free with a student ID? The U has done a few volleyball games this year that were free for students, you only had to show them your ID to get in, it seems like that's a pretty easy way to avoid people claiming free tickets and not showing up.

 

[station19]

Fill the student section with mannequins in gold t-shirts. Have a few of them with bobble-head features.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Do programs that do that actually give away tickets, or do they just let anyone in for free with a student ID? The U has done a few volleyball games this year that were free for students, you only had to show them your ID to get in, it seems like that's a pretty easy way to avoid people claiming free tickets and not showing up.

I know that when I attended NDSU for 2 years before transferring here that you had to claim the tickets each week. I went to a couple games as something to do and the student section was rarely full. I think homecoming was the only game I went to that was full. That team is a national title contender for the 2nd year in a row and they still have trouble filling the student section.

 

[>'.'<]

I don't like the student section being cut in half between the upper and lower deck. I would stretch the student section to include 115, 117, 133, 135 and take them out of the 2nd deck. You might have a good shot of selling some lower cost season tickets if you made 219-231 or so seatbacks or maybe benches with backs. 2 level student sections don't work well a lot of places because everyone tries to squeeze close to the front.

I think that's a great idea. But people like Schnauzer also have a valid point. Maybe the U can give extra incentives to make those season ticket holders move to the upper student section area?

 

[Parski1]

I don't like the student section being cut in half between the upper and lower deck. I would stretch the student section to include 115, 117, 133, 135 and take them out of the 2nd deck. You might have a good shot of selling some lower cost season tickets if you made 219-231 or so seatbacks or maybe benches with backs. 2 level student sections don't work well a lot of places because everyone tries to squeeze close to the front.

That may be one of the stupidest things I have heard...lets kick season ticket holders out of their seats and we can have a completely empty upper deck.

 

[westcoastgopher11]

That may be one of the stupidest things I have heard...lets kick season ticket holders out of their seats and we can have a completely empty upper deck.

As opposed to the overflowing one we have now?

 

[mntwinsfreak89]

What else are you going to do on a 40 degree late October day? Stay in the dorm and slap the sausage? Our students are a bunch of pussies and I am embarrassed to be an alumni when I see a student turn out like that.

When you generalize to such an extent you sound like an old tool bag. A group of about 20 students and myself are outside the gate 3 hours before gametime regardless of the weather/opponent/time/record. We are doing our best to create an atmosphere instead of just crying about it. I am embarrassed to be a student when I hear of alumni like you.

 

[Frod0]

Are you aware that the ticket prices went UP. They went from 15 to 20. Which may not sound like much but I can tell you it is when you're a broke college student who's not as big of a fan as you or I. When my friend told me I was quite surprised after all of the stuff they did to try to sell tickets to fill the stadium earlier this year. its just a dumb move on there part.

 

[popeyoung5]

What's the plan for the other 85% of the stadium that's not full. I'll be at the MSU game like the Illinois game last year with about 1/2 the total seats empty. I know, probably too cold for Minnesota natives that weekend. Until the other 38,000 non students seats are full I wouldn't throw the students under the bus.

 

[98VQueens]

I agree, reduce student tickets, change the structure or give away ALL student tickets in 2013.

I would give freshman free tickets for the entire season & require them to reserve a ticket the week of the game if they are attending. Packing the lower bowl with students and sell that portion of the upper deck to non-students for $10-20 until student demand increases.

 

[Firejumper]

They will never give away all tickets. Programs that do that never have a full student section. People will claim them and not show up. The people that actually want them will be out of luck. Lower the price but free tickets is not the answer.

Notre Dame does it. Students get football tickets with their tuition. Their student section is always full. The question is, would that even make a difference here?

 

[station19]

Notre Dame does it. Students get football tickets with their tuition. Their student section is always full. The question is, would that even make a difference here?

Are the tickets 'free', or are they 'included' in the price of tuition?

 

[Parski1]

As opposed to the overflowing one we have now?

Also....Season ticket holders pay the $$$ not the student season tickets.

 

[LesBolstad]

When you generalize to such an extent you sound like an old tool bag. A group of about 20 students and myself are outside the gate 3 hours before gametime regardless of the weather/opponent/time/record. We are doing our best to create an atmosphere instead of just crying about it. I am embarrassed to be a student when I hear of alumni like you.

We're happy for you and your friends; thanks for going to the game. I'm talking about the other 90% of student body that doesn't go; even though we have a fantastic on campus stadium a couple blocks from the dorms. You should be embarrassed for your fellow students, not me.

 

[lakesgopher]

We're happy for you and your friends; thanks for going to the game. I'm talking about the other 90% of student body that doesn't go; even though we have a fantastic on campus stadium a couple blocks from the dorms. You should be embarrassed for your fellow students, not me.

Get over it. Until we win on a regular basis the students won't show up

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

I would give freshman free tickets for the entire season & require them to reserve a ticket the week of the game if they are attending. Packing the lower bowl with students and sell that portion of the upper deck to non-students for $10-20 until student demand increases.

+1

 

[KD6-3.7]

figure a way to make the upper deck student section free and continue to charge for lower deck.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

What else are you going to do on a 40 degree late October day? Stay in the dorm and slap the sausage? Our students are a bunch of pussies and I am embarrassed to be an alumni when I see a student turn out like that.

This was the first game this season that I was disappointed by the turnout of the student section compared to the rest of the stadium. The students stayed out in the rain much better than the rest of the crowd against NW.

This has nothing to do with them being a "bunch of pussies" and more to do with the culture of sports at the U due to how extremely bad our team has been over the last 40 years and how easily losing games makes fans lose interest. Students can only be excited about going to a game so much after losing 3 straight Big Ten games and playing a team that has no rivalry with us other than the fact that they're in conference.

 

[Gopherprof]

Are the tickets 'free', or are they 'included' in the price of tuition?

Our students already pay fees that cover some of the cost of the athletic department, so they are paying to fund sports whether they want to or not (a shock, I'm sure, to some of you that think the athletic department is fully self-funded).

I agree that you can't give the tickets away, but it's totally reasonable to let students in free with a student ID. If it fills up, leaving some students who come late out, all the better.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

Our students already pay fees that cover some of the cost of the athletic department, so they are paying to fund sports whether they want to or not (a shock, I'm sure, to some of you that think the athletic department is fully self-funded).

I agree that you can't give the tickets away, but it's totally reasonable to let students in free with a student ID. If it fills up, leaving some students who come late out, all the better.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The only fee students pay that is at all related to athletics is: (link)

"Stadium fee - The student stadium fee supports the construction costs of the on-campus football stadium that also serves the marching band, intramural and club sports, student activities, and other University functions (not assessed during summer term)."

So yes, students pay $25 a year to help cover the cost of the stadium, which wasn't funded by the athletic department by itself anyway. And yes, the stadium benefits the football program more than anyone else, but don't forget that the band and many other student organizations use it (as stated in the fee description). Some examples: career fairs in the DQ club room, robot shows in that room, and many other such events.

I'm confused how you can say the athletic department isn't fully self-funded. You can go online and look at the balance sheet of the AD and see its expenditures as a whole vs. its incomes. Income > Spending, therefore it runs in the black. And that is the case even though the AD doesn't retain any parking revenue from gameday operations for football, basketball, hockey, etc.

I don't think you can start giving tickets away for free as the standard practice. If (when) the team gets good, students will revolt if you begin charging for it because they will have become accustomed to just having them for free. Right now the AD is doing the right thing by trying to build a base of fans by getting them to experience the game with no investment. Kids know the team is bad, have heard from other students older than them not to expect a win. I've noticed a definite up-tick in trying to make the game atmosphere better for students so that when the team wins, we've got some good vibes on the team and fans.

 

[Gopherprof]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The only fee students pay that is at all related to athletics is: (link)

"Stadium fee - The student stadium fee supports the construction costs of the on-campus football stadium that also serves the marching band, intramural and club sports, student activities, and other University functions (not assessed during summer term)."

So yes, students pay $25 a year to help cover the cost of the stadium, which wasn't funded by the athletic department by itself anyway. And yes, the stadium benefits the football program more than anyone else, but don't forget that the band and many other student organizations use it (as stated in the fee description). Some examples: career fairs in the DQ club room, robot shows in that room, and many other such events.

I guess I was thinking of the stadium fee. It's been a while since I've been at the U. Nonetheless, $25 from every single student so that you can host a few events a year? Those couldn't have been done without a new stadium? C'mon. It's a $25 fee for the football team.

I'm confused how you can say the athletic department isn't fully self-funded. You can go online and look at the balance sheet of the AD and see its expenditures as a whole vs. its incomes. Income > Spending, therefore it runs in the black. And that is the case even though the AD doesn't retain any parking revenue from gameday operations for football, basketball, hockey, etc.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/spor...ollege-athletics-finances-database/54955804/1

The athletic department operates with about 8 million in average from school support. A lot of that support is pretty run-of-the-mill (the link explains the methodology), but there are schools (Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan) that receive and require no such school support at all.

I don't think you can start giving tickets away for free as the standard practice. If (when) the team gets good, students will revolt if you begin charging for it because they will have become accustomed to just having them for free.

So? Why is that a bad thing? Most of the students don't give a *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# about the football team now, so I'll take a revolt over total apathy. Also, many quality programs (like Notre Dame), don't charge anything for student tickets. It's not that abnormal, and in those places it's considered a benefit of being part of the student community.