Shama: U Treads Water in Football Ticket Sales; attendance will likely be similar and perhaps less than a year ago

[PMWinSTP]

No but it would be nice if they got creative and did something with that 3rd level. A club, restaurant, craft beer room or something that would at least bring people into the stadium.

My guess is they look at it every year and are waiting for the season ticket base to grow before doing anything major on that second mezzanine level as far as concessions. Maybe something like an upscale beer tent playing off what you would have at a county fair in MN?

 

[MaxyJR1]

The game experience continues to decline with inumerable TV time outs, poorly manned and overly expensive food and beverage venues, security rules that seem irrational, and not having the stadium filled with loud and raucous fans.
In truth, the professional soccer experience in MN has captured many possible Gopher fans.
Then, as mentioned above, the availability of large TVs which actually show more of the game than you can see as a fan in the comfort and convenience of your home..

Staying steady and seeing a bump for big games has pretty much been the norm. I assume only the Vikings have a better season ticket base in a town with 5 Major Pro teams.

 

[swelna]

I wonder how many people dropped their tickets due to the economic downturn? Season tickets might be the first to go for a lot of families if money gets tight.

 

[Dakota2]

I'll say this for soccer. the people who attend those matches really see themselves as part of the action. almost constant singing, drumming, chanting, etc through the entire match.

compare that to other sports where the video board has to encourage fans to "get loud" or "make noise."

now, soccer is about 19,000 fans - less than half of a typical Gopher football crowd, but they fill the place at or very near capacity every match.

in all honesty, I would say the in-stadium atmosphere for a Loons match is better than a Gopher football game right now. (probably helps they have a beer hall connected to the stadium.........)
and a soccer match is over in 2 hours, unlike college football with 3-1/2 hour games.

The Gophers should be asking themselves, how can we connect with a younger fan base and how can we get that same level of enthusiasm among our fans?

If it's fun why is two hours better than three?

 

[Gopherchase]

With this year‘s subpar home schedule I have decided to catch two away games both Penn State and Wisconsin looking forward to that. There has been some commentary about the in game experience being watered down TV timeouts and the like I’m not sure about that thinking back to last year‘s Wisconsin game even before the field swarm was about as much fun as a guy could have. I enjoy all the games even the shitty opponents and have kinda learned to eat before the game either in a tailgate or somewhere else because yeah the food and the lines for same are a bit untenable.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Are we sweating attendance before anyone has attended anything?

 

[MGGopher]

Non-story, IMO. There's not many programs with robust attendance regardless of circumstances. MN ain't one of them, but I do know this:

Team is good = people will come. Team is good and playing another good team = even more people will come. I guarantee if the team crushes in the non-con then wins at MSU and is ranked, that PU game will be packed if not sold out. That's just how it works in MSP.

 

[fmlizard]

I'm a MNUFC season, Gopher season and 4 pack ISU ticket holder. All of which combined is probably still less than 1 viking season ticket!

I can't imagine who buys NFL tickets. I was looking at Bucs - Ravens on a random Thursday and the bare-bones get in is over $200. For anything lower bowl sideline it is $500/ticket minimum. As we know that buys a whole season of Gopher football.

I went to a Bears game a few years ago and face value on my upper deck corner ticket was $275. I got that one free from a corporate friend. It was freezing and the Vikings got crushed.

I don't have kids and I make a top 5% income, and NFL is just too much for me. Who's buying this stuff? I can't imagine even the well-above-average family going to a game, unless you make NFL season tix the priority for most of your discretionary spending.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

If it's fun why is two hours better than three?

easier to sustain the enthusiasm over a shorter period of time, and

don't have to commit such a big chunk of the day - leaves time for other activities/family stuff.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

I can't imagine who buys NFL tickets. I was looking at Bucs - Ravens on a random Thursday and the bare-bones get in is over $200. For anything lower bowl sideline it is $500/ticket minimum. As we know that buys a whole season of Gopher football.

I went to a Bears game a few years ago and face value on my upper deck corner ticket was $275. I got that one free from a corporate friend. It was freezing and the Vikings got crushed.

I don't have kids and I make a top 5% income, and NFL is just too much for me. Who's buying this stuff? I can't imagine even the well-above-average family going to a game, unless you make NFL season tix the priority for most of your discretionary spending.

Every once in a while I'm at a Vikings game I wonder the same thing.

"You guys all paying these prices!?!!?"

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

I always post the season ticket numbers when they are announced. However; last year they announced 23,636 season tickets sold, not the 24,794 that Shama quotes. So maybe they added 1k more season tickets holders as the season got closer? Don't know. But here's the list:

2013: 33,284
2014: 33,385
2015: 27,885 (1st year of increase; Kill retires mid-season)
2016: 22,706 (2nd year of increase; Claeys first year)
2017: 22,990 (Fleck first year)
2018: 21,682
2019: 21,689
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636 24,794
2022: 23,443

As you can see....23.4k is actually pretty good. It's the 2nd highest total since Kill left. If the University is able to add a few hundred as we get closer to the start of the season like they did last year then maybe we end up around 24k. But I'm plugging these numbers into my spreadsheet. Will revisit it again next August as I always do.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

My dad and mother have had Gophers season tickets for ~20 years. They are a little older than Boomers....born in 41 and 44. But this season they gave them up. It was just too difficult to navigate the steps and deal with the elements later in the year.

I suspect many more in that generation will follow shortly. As others mentioned, we have an older base.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I always post the season ticket numbers when they are announced. However; last year they announced 23,636 season tickets sold, not the 24,794 that Shama quotes. So maybe they added 1k more season tickets holders as the season got closer? Don't know. But here's the list:

2013: 33,284
2014: 33,385
2015: 27,885 (1st year of increase; Kill retires mid-season)
2016: 22,706 (2nd year of increase; Claeys first year)
2017: 22,990 (Fleck first year)
2018: 21,682
2019: 21,689
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636 24,794
2022: 23,443

As you can see....23.4k is actually pretty good. It's the 2nd highest total since Kill left. If the University is able to add a few hundred as we get closer to the start of the season like they did last year then maybe we end up around 24k. But I'm plugging these numbers into my spreadsheet. Will revisit it again next August as I always do.

I wonder if the "donations" offset the loss of 11,000 fans. Pretty shocking when you see it laid out like that and can clearly see where the new fee structure had a massive impact above and beyond anything else in the number of season tickets sold.

 

[fmlizard]

I wonder if the "donations" offset the loss of 11,000 fans. Pretty shocking when you see it laid out like that and can clearly see where the new fee structure had a massive impact above and beyond anything else in the number of season tickets sold.

Fell off a cliff, though attendance hasn't fallen as much as the season ticket numbers.

One theory that I also experienced first hand - pre-donation, the season ticket was a positive expectation bet for fans who could only make some games. I usually made net profit on games I could not attend pre-2014. (I lived in Chicago at this time)

Once donation was instituted in 138, prices doubled and it became a better move for part timers to go game-by-game. So I canceled my season tickets to avoid losing money on games I couldn't attend. I ended up going to about the same number of Gopher games either way.

 

[Dakota2]

easier to sustain the enthusiasm over a shorter period of time, and

don't have to commit such a big chunk of the day - leaves time for other activities/family stuff.

First point is false. Enthusiasm is a product of game circumstances. Some leave early when the team is losing. No real football fan goes to a game with a time limit for walking out regardless of what is going on down on field.

As to your second point, for most fans, Gopher game day is an event. They don't make plans for other activities.

 

[Dakota2]

My dad and mother have had Gophers season tickets for ~20 years. They are a little older than Boomers....born in 41 and 44. But this season they gave them up. It was just too difficult to navigate the steps and deal with the elements later in the year.

I suspect many more in that generation will follow shortly. As others mentioned, we have an older base.

I am an example of the point you are making. I had two seats for 36 years. No physical problems but I live in Florida winters, leaving mid or late October. I was missing the last two or three home games and usually the best games. Things change in life.

 

[Gilthorp57]

Maybe young fans, but I don't know. As far as older people go...I personally know close to ten people that attend Loons games. Believe me, none of them were ever going to attend a Gopher football game, let alone a Gopher basketball game, a Vikings game, a Twins game, or any other mainstream sporting event driven by money. Since I first started socializing and/or working with these people I have pretty much heard every disparaging, stereotypical comment about athletes, rich owners, obnoxious fans, the greed, the money, how universities should not be supporting athletics, and so on. These people were more fans of arguing over the latest overrated IPA, frisbee golf, The Renaissance Festival, the latest iPhone, and when the next Star Wars or Marvel movie was going to be released.

Then pro soccer gains popularity in the U.S.A, and for reasons only they can explain, it is immune to all of problems they see in mainstream sports. They feel they've got some pure form of entertainment that is far more superior to that of the lowly football fan...sorry, American football fan, and the baseball and basketball fan, and the rest of us are too stupid to figure it out. As my dad used to say "They think their shit don't stink". I know, I know...not all soccer fans are this way. But the ~10 that I know are. But hey, if that's what they're into, I'm not going to stop them from wearing a scarf in the middle of summer.

Anyway, I don't think there is much of crossover between soccer fans and footb...DANG IT!, American football fans. And I don't know of any Gopher football fans or heard of any Gopher football fans that are bailing out to buy Loons tickets.

I'd rather watch paint dry

 

[Word]

I'll say this for soccer. the people who attend those matches really see themselves as part of the action. almost constant singing, drumming, chanting, etc through the entire match.

compare that to other sports where the video board has to encourage fans to "get loud" or "make noise."

now, soccer is about 19,000 fans - less than half of a typical Gopher football crowd, but they fill the place at or very near capacity every match.

in all honesty, I would say the in-stadium atmosphere for a Loons match is better than a Gopher football game right now. (probably helps they have a beer hall connected to the stadium.........)
and a soccer match is over in 2 hours, unlike college football with 3-1/2 hour games.

The Gophers should be asking themselves, how can we connect with a younger fan base and how can we get that same level of enthusiasm among our fans?

I'm a soccer fan and Loon fan, but I'd disagree with you about the atmosphere. The atmosphere at Loons games is very scripted and manufactured and is mostly just the general admission end of the stadium that does it. It honestly is just background noise and has little to do with the game being played. I think the crowds at English Premier League are more like what you're talking about as far as rowdiness.

I enjoy going to both but I'd take the atmosphere at Gopher football any day.

 

[Word]

I can't imagine who buys NFL tickets. I was looking at Bucs - Ravens on a random Thursday and the bare-bones get in is over $200. For anything lower bowl sideline it is $500/ticket minimum. As we know that buys a whole season of Gopher football.

I went to a Bears game a few years ago and face value on my upper deck corner ticket was $275. I got that one free from a corporate friend. It was freezing and the Vikings got crushed.

I don't have kids and I make a top 5% income, and NFL is just too much for me. Who's buying this stuff? I can't imagine even the well-above-average family going to a game, unless you make NFL season tix the priority for most of your discretionary spending.

Wild tickets are crazy too when you consider how many games they play.

 

[Some guy]

I can't imagine who buys NFL tickets. I was looking at Bucs - Ravens on a random Thursday and the bare-bones get in is over $200. For anything lower bowl sideline it is $500/ticket minimum. As we know that buys a whole season of Gopher football.

I went to a Bears game a few years ago and face value on my upper deck corner ticket was $275. I got that one free from a corporate friend. It was freezing and the Vikings got crushed.

I don't have kids and I make a top 5% income, and NFL is just too much for me. Who's buying this stuff? I can't imagine even the well-above-average family going to a game, unless you make NFL season tix the priority for most of your discretionary spending.

I feel like it is a lot of time companies and they are business expenses which discounts the price. And employees of said business get to use them.

I also feel like people spend more money on entertainment than me

 

[1994Convert]

Former season ticket holder here, a longtime passionate fan. We had tickets in the dome and then in the new stadium. We loved it. Our daughter attended games in the womb and then for her first few years until too big to sit on a lap. When they more than doubled season ticket prices six or seven years ago, we stopped.

This year I thought about it getting tickets again. I looked at three tickets in our old Section 212 for the Purdue game, but they were $660. It's just too much. My daughter went from being a big Gopher fan when she was little to not caring any more. I think that it's a problem for all major sports, that parents can't afford to take kids to games anymore. Sports in general are not grooming younger sports fans that would be willing to be season ticket holders in future decades.

 

[Word]

Former season ticket holder here, a longtime passionate fan. We had tickets in the dome and then in the new stadium. We loved it. Our daughter attended games in the womb and then for her first few years until too big to sit on a lap. When they more than doubled season ticket prices six or seven years ago, we stopped.

This year I thought about it getting tickets again. I looked at three tickets in our old Section 212 for the Purdue game, but they were $660. It's just too much. My daughter went from being a big Gopher fan when she was little to not caring any more. I think that it's a problem for all major sports, that parents can't afford to take kids to games anymore. Sports in general are not grooming younger sports fans that would be willing to be season ticket holders in future decades.

Look into the Gopher pass. Under $30 a game.

 

[minnyrules11]

Former season ticket holder here, a longtime passionate fan. We had tickets in the dome and then in the new stadium. We loved it. Our daughter attended games in the womb and then for her first few years until too big to sit on a lap. When they more than doubled season ticket prices six or seven years ago, we stopped.

This year I thought about it getting tickets again. I looked at three tickets in our old Section 212 for the Purdue game, but they were $660. It's just too much. My daughter went from being a big Gopher fan when she was little to not caring any more. I think that it's a problem for all major sports, that parents can't afford to take kids to games anymore. Sports in general are not grooming younger sports fans that would be willing to be season ticket holders in future decades.

Gopher pass only $200 for the year and no scholarship fee. Pick your seats a few days before the game. Sell any games you can’t make.