Strib Article On Gopher Sports Attendance #'s

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GoGophers2005

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Did I miss this post on gopher hole? Not sure why the Strib is so possessed in talking
Everything negative going into the bowl game.
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/184050091.html

I do think the U needs to adjust their tailgating policies and put them in line with what a Viking tailgater can do. What is everyone else's thoughts on what the U can do (outside just winning) to improve ticket sales. Happy Holidays to all the Gopher Holers.
 

They sure do like to stress anything negative at the U.
 


GoGophers2005 said:
I do think the U needs to adjust their tailgating policies and put them in line with what a Viking tailgater can do. What is everyone else's thoughts on what the U can do (outside just winning) to improve ticket sales. Happy Holidays to all the Gopher Holers.
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Not sure what this means.

Now...could they do more? Yes. Are they more restrictive than the Vikings? No.

Don't know what you are alluding to. The U has better "policies" (really City of Minneapolis ordinances) for tailgating than the Vikings. Lots of closer places to tailgate at the U. Also, the Maroon, Gold, and Lot 37 are sold out and have been every season. If you count the Fairgrounds, there are more tailgating spots.
 



I'll be rather honest about this being as young as I am, I know what schools everywhere are going through with sagging attendance. Our generation has grown up with the idea of using technology as being superior and we enjoy instant gratification. Therefore most kids would rather just watch the games on TV or online so then there's no wasted time and you get a "better" view. I go to UND and those football games are often desolate with tons of empty seats in the student section. Basketball is even worse. Hockey doesn't even fill the student section for some of the lesser series and that program has a huge tradition of excellence. The problem is that most of the kids don't really care about being there in person.

Is there a way to fix it? That's the tough part. The issue is that you have to either 1. appeal to the kids that could care less about being there by making it a fun/exciting/"worthwhile" experience or 2. you have to find the people who do want them to be there and make more tickets available to them at a good rate. How exactly you can do this, I don't know. But that's just my inside perspective. I mean if Duke can't sell out its basketball tickets right now, obviously something bigger is going on nationwide.
 

upnorthkid said:
I'll be rather honest about this being as young as I am, I know what schools everywhere are going through with sagging attendance. Our generation has grown up with the idea of using technology as being superior and we enjoy instant gratification. Therefore most kids would rather just watch the games on TV or online so then there's no wasted time and you get a "better" view. I go to UND and those football games are often desolate with tons of empty seats in the student section. Basketball is even worse. Hockey doesn't even fill the student section for some of the lesser series and that program has a huge tradition of excellence. The problem is that most of the kids don't really care about being there in person.

Is there a way to fix it? That's the tough part. The issue is that you have to either 1. appeal to the kids that could care less about being there by making it a fun/exciting/"worthwhile" experience or 2. you have to find the people who do want them to be there and make more tickets available to them at a good rate. How exactly you can do this, I don't know. But that's just my inside perspective. I mean if Duke can't sell out its basketball tickets right now, obviously something bigger is going on nationwide.
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Good observations. I think there is something that has shifted with students today. Academics are a bigger emphasis now than they ever have been IMHO. The pressure to get done in 4 years or less has increased drastically since I was in school (fueled by schools trying to improve their rankings and also by the cost of attendance to students). This makes the rest of the "college experience" secondary to a group of students. In addition, I think your points about technology are accurate. It seems to me that being connected to each other through physical proximity and experiencing the same event in person are less important to students now than staying connected through social media, etc.
 

highwayman said:
Not sure what this means.

Now...could they do more? Yes. Are they more restrictive than the Vikings? No.

Don't know what you are alluding to. The U has better "policies" (really City of Minneapolis ordinances) for tailgating than the Vikings. Lots of closer places to tailgate at the U. Also, the Maroon, Gold, and Lot 37 are sold out and have been every season. If you count the Fairgrounds, there are more tailgating spots.
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No firepits....which is ridiculous for November games
No charcoal grills
No glass bottles
7am tailgate for 11am games

Vikings tailgate can do all of the above. Firepits and charcoal are my biggest pet peeves.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
No firepits....which is ridiculous for November games
No charcoal grills
No glass bottles
7am tailgate for 11am games

Vikings tailgate can do all of the above. Firepits and charcoal are my biggest pet peeves.
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I agree on the charcoal and the firepits would be great.

As for glass bottles, I have drank out of glass bottles for every tailgate I've done outside of TCF , which is about 90% of the games since the stadium opened. My solution? I have a soft bottle coozy that wraps all the way up almost to the top of the bottle. Nobody could tell if it's plastic or glass.

As for starting earlier than 7am, I think there might be some pressure to allow it if there were lines of people to get in at 7:00. There aren't.
 




Is it the cost of the tickets? My kid attends the University of Northern Colorado. While they have had a poor football team the last few years, the students attend because it costs nothing but your student ID.
 

Denver_Gopher said:
Is it the cost of the tickets? My kid attends the University of Northern Colorado. While they have had a poor football team the last few years, the students attend because it costs nothing but your student ID.
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they do this at north dakota for football as well. it doesn't work still as there are many empty seats.
 

upnorthkid said:
they do this at north dakota for football as well. it doesn't work still as there are many empty seats.
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That is because at UND, students that do come to the games are so hungover, they greet the empty seats next to them, reminding them that they just met last night. BTW, I am not lazy, I start my sentences with a capital letter, but I guess ya don't haffta in NorDaKota. :)
 



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