Shooter: Gophers football, amid dwindling attendance, offering season tix at $35/game

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Don't sleep on the Penn State game. With a backloaded and relatively soft schedule next year the Gophs might be favored in every game prior to that one, meaning our guys could realistically be 8-0 in November. Which would make that game possibly the biggest in the modern history of the program.
 

fmlizard said:
Don't sleep on the Penn State game. With a backloaded and relatively soft schedule next year the Gophs might be favored in every game prior to that one, meaning our guys could realistically be 8-0 in November. Which would make that game possibly the biggest in the modern history of the program.
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You're right. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the schedule.

If the Gopher coaching staff football team can continue to build on what we saw over the last third of 2018, we could be in for a memorable 2019.
 

fmlizard said:
People would be camping in the cold on Wednesday outside the ticket office to buy up SDSU tix!
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LOL...I do think it definitely would have helped with marketing and boosting ST sales.
 

RememberMurray said:
You're right. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the schedule.

If the Gopher coaching staff football team can continue to build on what we saw over the last third of 2018, we could be in for a memorable 2019.
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Gameday contender?

Waiting for the wet blanket posting...
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
As a huge Gopher football fan, who lives in the metro and has the means to get season tickets--I agree with this STRONGLY. What is offered to me as an attendee that I can't get at home? I LOVE going to games but the gameday experience largely sucks.

Tailgating is expensive, spread out and inconsistent. Plus, I don't have friends or family who go to games so if I did my own tailgate it would be my wife and I just drinking in a parking lot. Cool!

Other teams do different stuff. Oregon has a HUGE, PUBLIC, FREEELEEEE TAILGATE. You can buy beer, food, etc. but there is music, TVs to watch other games, people milling about. When I was there for Oregon vs. Nebraska we spent about $60 on food and beer. Had a blast. Watched some games. Way more fun than a bar as it was outdoors and open. Could the U do this? Yes. But they won't.

Sadly the Gophers pre-game is closer to Northwestern than it is to Michigan or Nebraska. And I'm not paying a premium for that.
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Man, that's one of the funniest things I have read on here for awhile. (What was that movie with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway?)
 



John Galt said:
The vibe would be pretty much exactly the same.
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I think you're underestimating it some. I think there would have been more interest in-season and that would have grown even more with the win at Wisconsin and the bowl game.
 

Word said:
I think you're underestimating it some. I think there would have been more interest in-season and that would have grown even more with the win at Wisconsin and the bowl game.
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The only difference is that P-Win would be demanding 11 wins next year.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Man, that's one of the funniest things I have read on here for awhile. (What was that movie with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway?)
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I think you're talking about "Barfly." probably the best movie ever to feature a fight scene in an alley between Mickey Rourke and Frank Stallone.
 




If I'm not mistaken, that's Charles Bukowski (the real-life writer Rourke's character is based on) sitting at the bar at the end of that clip.

Favorite Bukowski quotes:

"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

"I don't hate people. I just feel better when they aren't around."

JTG
 


Pete smith said:
I am thinking that someone already mentioned that to increase attendance, just quit televising home games. Problem solved.
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I’ve asked this numerous times now - what are viewership numbers for the Gophers? Up, down, sideways?
 



Pompous Elitist said:
I’ve asked this numerous times now - what are viewership numbers for the Gophers? Up, down, sideways?
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Does this help? https://www.statista.com/statistics/748033/college-football-tv-ratings/ (search Minnesota)

The far right number is "viewers in thousands"
September 9, 2017 Minnesota vs. Oregon St. (Big Ten, Pac-12) (FS1) 0.24 410
September 30, 2017 Maryland vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.33 511
October 7, 2017 Minnesota vs. Purdue (Big Ten) (ESPN2) 0.39 586
October 28, 2017 Minnesota vs. Iowa (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.42 769
November 4, 2017 Minnesota vs. Michigan (Big Ten) (FOX) 1.7 2,850
November 11, 2017 Nebraska vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.39 659
November 25, 2017 Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (ABC) 1.5 2,599
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I’ve asked this numerous times now - what are viewership numbers for the Gophers? Up, down, sideways?
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Does this help? https://www.statista.com/statistics/748033/college-football-tv-ratings/ (search Minnesota) This is for 2017 though.

The far right number is "viewers in thousands"
September 9, 2017 Minnesota vs. Oregon St. (Big Ten, Pac-12) (FS1) 0.24 410
September 30, 2017 Maryland vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.33 511
October 7, 2017 Minnesota vs. Purdue (Big Ten) (ESPN2) 0.39 586
October 28, 2017 Minnesota vs. Iowa (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.42 769
November 4, 2017 Minnesota vs. Michigan (Big Ten) (FOX) 1.7 2,850
November 11, 2017 Nebraska vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (FS1) 0.39 659
November 25, 2017 Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (Big Ten) (ABC) 1.5 2,599
 

Pete smith said:
I am thinking that someone already mentioned that to increase attendance, just quit televising home games. Problem solved.
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How would that impact revenue from TV money, broadcasting contracts, etc.?

Would it possibly be bad for recruiting? Kids watch the games on TV, so the Gophers would lost that means of exposing their brand.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious here. If so, feel free to correct me.
 

RememberMurray said:
How would that impact revenue from TV money, broadcasting contracts, etc.?

Would it possibly be bad for recruiting? Kids watch the games on TV, so the Gophers would lost that means of exposing their brand.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious here. If so, feel free to correct me.
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Sorry just got back from running an errand for my wife. I meant just don’t televise home Gopher games. Wouldn’t have any effect on recruiting. However it would effect shared revenue to a degree. Would be “less television sets” watching any one game. Game would still be shown all over the Big 10 network, just not in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Not a great home schedule, for teams that fans will care about.
- SDSU and GSU are or were FCS (I-AA) powers
- Penn St and Maryland are new blood in the Big Ten and on the other side of the conference geographically
- Big Ten purists may have some appreciation for Illinois, but it's not exactly an exciting opponent
- Nebraska is also new blood, but may hold a bit more interest for some

- Then of course there is Wisconsin
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Just a strange post, even by your standards.

Nebraska and Penn State are marquee attractions as helmet schools, and Wisconsin is our biggest rival. Having all three of them coming to Minneapolis makes it a GREAT home schedule.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
Nebraska and Penn State are marquee attractions as helmet schools
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Is that you Jim Delany??? Could anyone else, with a straight face, claim that Nebraska is a helmet school?? Dude, I'm not sure if you realize this ... but it's not 1997.

I don't consider Penn St to be a helmet school either. They're the Packers of the top 25 in college football. Large, ravenous ... but very much local ... fanbase. They do a fair amount of winning, but don't often win the big one.


And then finally .... it brings up an interesting question. If a legit helmet school DID come to Minneapolis, for some odd reason .... would TCF sell out?? I'm not too sure, frankly.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
Just a strange post, even by your standards.

Nebraska and Penn State are marquee attractions as helmet schools, and Wisconsin is our biggest rival. Having all three of them coming to Minneapolis makes it a GREAT home schedule.
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Glad to see someone else agrees that it's a pretty attractive home schedule, and that Wisconsin and Minnesota are, indeed, rivals in football.
 

Pete smith said:
Sorry just got back from running an errand for my wife. I meant just don’t televise home Gopher games. Wouldn’t have any effect on recruiting. However it would effect shared revenue to a degree. Would be “less television sets” watching any one game. Game would still be shown all over the Big 10 network, just not in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs.
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I'd be interested in hearing why it would't impact recruiting. Don't kids watch games on TV? Wouldn't we be losing that exposure?
 

Gophers_4life said:
Is that you Jim Delany??? Could anyone else, with a straight face, claim that Nebraska is a helmet school?? Dude, I'm not sure if you realize this ... but it's not 1997.

I don't consider Penn St to be a helmet school either. They're the Packers of the top 25 in college football. Large, ravenous ... but very much local ... fanbase. They do a fair amount of winning, but don't often win the big one.


And then finally .... it brings up an interesting question. If a legit helmet school DID come to Minneapolis, for some odd reason .... would TCF sell out?? I'm not too sure, frankly.
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It might be a discussion worth it's own thread:

Which schools make the grade as true helmet schools, and which schools are not on that list...

...and why? What is the criteria we use to determine helmet school status?
 

Sorry to reply to my own post, but in that vein:

The Gophers played host to USC and TCU during the Kill era. Are they helmet schools?

Surely, Michigan and Ohio State are helmet schools, yes?
 

Ha! So I did an online search for "what is a helmet school?" and got hit that was a GopherHole thread from 2011!

Nothing new under the sun, I guess...

And yes, the thread quickly became contentious.
 

RememberMurray said:
Ha! So I did an online search for "what is a helmet school?" and got hit that was a GopherHole thread from 2011!

Nothing new under the sun, I guess...

And yes, the thread quickly became contentious.
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Quite the conversation you are having.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Is that you Jim Delany??? Could anyone else, with a straight face, claim that Nebraska is a helmet school?? Dude, I'm not sure if you realize this ... but it's not 1997.

I don't consider Penn St to be a helmet school either. They're the Packers of the top 25 in college football. Large, ravenous ... but very much local ... fanbase. They do a fair amount of winning, but don't often win the big one.

And then finally .... it brings up an interesting question. If a legit helmet school DID come to Minneapolis, for some odd reason .... would TCF sell out?? I'm not too sure, frankly.
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Being termed a "helmet school" is obviously subjective but even you (well, I'm sure you'll try) would have a hard time disputing the level of tradition, history, massive fan bases/stadiums etc at the disposal of both Penn State and Nebraska.

Here is an article that Stew Mandel revises every couple of seasons and I'd say it's a good starting point.

https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/college-football-program-pecking-order-3-0-dividing-all-66-bcs-teams-into-four-tier-hierarchy-052517
 

RememberMurray said:
I wonder if SDSU fans will make the journey to see their team play a B1G opponent.

Maryland, Nebraska and (especially) Illinois are games that, for this fan at least, represent golden (no pun) opportunities to redeem ourselves. Losing to those three teams last season... ugh.

Imagine what 2018 could have been if we win those three games. Even one or two of those!
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If it was NDSU, they'd pack the place. SDSU...not so much. If it is just about money, the Gophers could get NDSU without paying them a thing (they are desperate for FBS opponents) and TCF would be sold out for that game.
 

ProfessorBum said:
If it was NDSU, they'd pack the place. SDSU...not so much. If it is just about money, the Gophers could get NDSU without paying them a thing (they are desperate for FBS opponents) and TCF would be sold out for that game.
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I wonder if NDSU would really choose not to get paid... IIRC all their other B1G games they got paid.
 

The only way they'd do it for no payment would be as a home/home. Now a more interesting idea would be to play two games in two years, one at TCF as a Gopher home game, then the next year at US Bank stadium as an "NDSU home game", where we split the ticket sales with them 50-50 or some fraction. Something like that. Won't happen though.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
Being termed a "helmet school" is obviously subjective but even you (well, I'm sure you'll try) would have a hard time disputing the level of tradition, history, massive fan bases/stadiums etc at the disposal of both Penn State and Nebraska.
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Nope, not good enough to be a "helmet school". Otherwise, the term is meaningless. Minnesota has a huge national championship history/tradition, too, for example. You can't get past the era back when Nebraska beat the Gophers 80-0 or whatever it was. Those days are looooooooooong gone.

The true "helmet schools" of our current times are: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St, and probably a couple others.

And like I said -- the actual thing that is relevant for this thread -- if Alabama or Clemson played a game at TCF somehow, would it sell out??? Would Gopher football fans, UMN alumni, and general Twin Cities folks be that morbidly curious to buy a ticket just to see the best college football team in the land? I frankly am not sure.
 

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