BleedGopher
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per Megan:
The Gophers still hope football attendance reaches 100% capacity at TCF Bank Stadium this fall, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, "the reality of that is probably dwindling by the day as we get closer," associate athletic director Mike Wierzbicki said this week.
Wierzbicki, who heads Gophers external affairs, said the department is planning for various contingencies, including filling the stadium at 75%, 50% and 25% of capacity.
Somewhere between those final two percentages, the school would have to turn away some season-ticket holders for each game. And the department's "Gopher Score" loyalty program could determine that cutoff.
The department bases the ranking on factors such as the number of years a fan has held season tickets and the amount of money donated to the athletics department. The Gophers already use this system to determine access to bowl game ticket sales as well as season-ticket upgrades.
Wierzbicki, though, is cautiously optimistic it won't have to come to that.
"Hopefully, we're in a spot where we can take care of season-ticket holders and then still have the ability to leverage that Gopher Score system for single-game sales," he said.
In 2018, the Gophers sold 21,663 season tickets. That number was similar heading into last year's opener, and the team is on the same trajectory this year, despite the pandemic and economic downturn.
The Gophers have a lot to sell with quarterback Tanner Morgan, wide receiver Rashod Bateman and several other key players back from last year's 11-2 season.
If the Gophers again sell about 21,700 season tickets, that would represent 43% of TCF Bank Stadium's official capacity of 50,805.
"With the season we had last year and where the momentum is at, there's tons of positivity," Wierzbicki said. "So we were on pace … to sell our largest number of new season tickets than we ever have with Gopher football. And I think that we'll still hit that. … Last year, we finished renewals right around the 90 percent mark. That's kind of where we're trending at right now."
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
The Gophers still hope football attendance reaches 100% capacity at TCF Bank Stadium this fall, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, "the reality of that is probably dwindling by the day as we get closer," associate athletic director Mike Wierzbicki said this week.
Wierzbicki, who heads Gophers external affairs, said the department is planning for various contingencies, including filling the stadium at 75%, 50% and 25% of capacity.
Somewhere between those final two percentages, the school would have to turn away some season-ticket holders for each game. And the department's "Gopher Score" loyalty program could determine that cutoff.
The department bases the ranking on factors such as the number of years a fan has held season tickets and the amount of money donated to the athletics department. The Gophers already use this system to determine access to bowl game ticket sales as well as season-ticket upgrades.
Wierzbicki, though, is cautiously optimistic it won't have to come to that.
"Hopefully, we're in a spot where we can take care of season-ticket holders and then still have the ability to leverage that Gopher Score system for single-game sales," he said.
In 2018, the Gophers sold 21,663 season tickets. That number was similar heading into last year's opener, and the team is on the same trajectory this year, despite the pandemic and economic downturn.
The Gophers have a lot to sell with quarterback Tanner Morgan, wide receiver Rashod Bateman and several other key players back from last year's 11-2 season.
If the Gophers again sell about 21,700 season tickets, that would represent 43% of TCF Bank Stadium's official capacity of 50,805.
"With the season we had last year and where the momentum is at, there's tons of positivity," Wierzbicki said. "So we were on pace … to sell our largest number of new season tickets than we ever have with Gopher football. And I think that we'll still hit that. … Last year, we finished renewals right around the 90 percent mark. That's kind of where we're trending at right now."
Gophers loyalty program could determine who gets football tickets under contingency plans
The athletic department is preparing for scenarios with 75%, 50% and 25% capacity at TCF Bank Stadium.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
