TCF Attendance

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Rog

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Just watched the tape on the Syacuse game and it made me wonder why the game was a sell out.

This was the situation.

We were undefeated with 3 wins (admittably non conference games)

It was a night game (the only one all year)

Good weather

student promotion on ticket sales

My question is:

If the situation is "right" do we have ability to fill the stands?

Are there more Gopher fans out there who are willing and able to make the next step and buy tickets?

If so, how do we make them solid fans who will buy season tickets?

Your thoughts.
 

It was a sell out because the tickets were 10 bucks with no special promotional code to type in.
 


Rog said:
Just watched the tape on the Syacuse game and it made me wonder why the game was a sell out.

This was the situation.

We were undefeated with 3 wins (admittably non conference games)

It was a night game (the only one all year)

Good weather

student promotion on ticket sales

My question is:

If the situation is "right" do we have ability to fill the stands?

Are there more Gopher fans out there who are willing and able to make the next step and buy tickets?

If so, how do we make them solid fans who will buy season tickets?

Your thoughts.
Click to expand...

There have been a few other times when the situation is/was "right". Besides the usual sellouts when the Hogeyes and Wisky fans invade, the 03 Michigan game and TCF opener come to mind. Add NDSU to the mix as well.

The fan base will only consistently show if and when the Gophs can demonstrate the ability to win big and often. Stay tuned.
 

As far as the student section is concerned I think the unique thing about the Syracuse game was how the student body in general was talking about football much more than usual the week leading up to it (and subsequently the week after the game). There was definitely some positive momentum building....then we lost to Iowa.
 


The warm weather makes a big difference. Doesn't always lead to a sellout, but more casual fans are willing to spend an afternoon at the stadium on a nice day. As it gets colder, casual fans are much less likely to pull the trigger on buying tickets. I think it will be tough selling tickets to mid to late November games until those games mean something.
 

Cheap ticket deals helped attendance for the Syracuse game, but people still had to show up. It was a fantastic atmosphere for the Syracuse game, I just wish we could have that more often. When we get a Big Ten title or a division title, that might make people have more faith in the Gophers.
 

BMEnGopher said:
There was definitely some positive momentum building....then we lost to Iowa.
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Got crushed by a horrible Iowa team.

TCF wil sellout again onsistently when the program rises to he level it was at from 2002-2006 at the Metrodome. It wil not take a Rose Bowl team to sellout TCF. But it has to be a team that has a realistic chance of being .500 in the Big Ten every year. Slugging it out with Indiana, Illinos and Purdue to avoid being last place, and struggling to beat MAC and FCS team is a disasterous prospect in this market. There are just too many alternatives when he product isn't compelling.
 

+1

Goldmember said:
Got crushed by a horrible Iowa team.

TCF wil sellout again onsistently when the program rises to he level it was at from 2002-2006 at the Metrodome. It wil not take a Rose Bowl team to sellout TCF. But it has to be a team that has a realistic chance of being .500 in the Big Ten every year. Slugging it out with Indiana, Illinos and Purdue to avoid being last place, and struggling to beat MAC and FCS team is a disasterous prospect in this market. There are just too many alternatives when he product isn't compelling.
Click to expand...
 



I went to the Viking game today. I've got to say this is always going to be a challenge. When you look at the drunk weirdos with painted faces, died Mohawks, and $200 worth of the latest jersey, and you get the sense that some of them have mortgaged their house to pay for their season tickets, it make you wonder if we'll ever have the same level of dedication among the fans. Don't get me wrong, I don't want our fans to look & act like that, but say what you will, they are all in.
 

badgergopher said:
I went to the Viking game today. I've got to say this is always going to be a challenge. When you look at the drunk weirdos with painted faces, died Mohawks, and $200 worth of the latest jersey, and you get the sense that some of them have mortgaged their house to pay for their season tickets, it make you wonder if we'll ever have the same level of dedication among the fans. Don't get me wrong, I don't want our fans to look & act like that, but say what you will, they are all in.
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For me this is why I love going to gopher games over vikings games. A more sober more mature audience IMO. AD guy has said a major priority of the offseason was creating a better atmosphere at the Bank. Now I dont want TCF to turn into the dome but I think getting more butts in seats is step one. If I was king I would lower prices and try to get as many new fans there as possible because I think alot of them will come back. I sure did...
 

badgergopher said:
I went to the Viking game today. I've got to say this is always going to be a challenge. When you look at the drunk weirdos with painted faces, died Mohawks, and $200 worth of the latest jersey, and you get the sense that some of them have mortgaged their house to pay for their season tickets, it make you wonder if we'll ever have the same level of dedication among the fans. Don't get me wrong, I don't want our fans to look & act like that, but say what you will, they are all in.
Click to expand...

It also helps the Vikings cause that at every home game you can probably rely on AP running for 150+ yards. Same is true for all NFL teams. A lot of people will drop a lot of cash to watch the top football talent in the country, even when you can already watch the game on TV for "free."

Once the Gophers become consistently competitive again we will have the same kind of pull. It's is another reason why people will go to watch the Badgers, Michigan, and OSU. They have this sense that they are watching (in their minds) the top talent in college football. Plus they can typically expect a win. WEen if a win is doubtful, they are oblivious to that fact and believe they can beat anybody. It's just another bit of icing to add to the school spirit mentality.
 

Goldmember said:
Got crushed by a horrible Iowa team.

TCF wil sellout again onsistently when the program rises to he level it was at from 2002-2006 at the Metrodome. It wil not take a Rose Bowl team to sellout TCF. But it has to be a team that has a realistic chance of being .500 in the Big Ten every year. Slugging it out with Indiana, Illinos and Purdue to avoid being last place, and struggling to beat MAC and FCS team is a disasterous prospect in this market. There are just too many alternatives when he product isn't compelling.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think this is especially true of the students. Going into next year, no one on the "traditional" four year college plan will have seen a team that has had a better conference winning percentage than 25%. A big step would be getting us to a point where there are no games on the conference schedule that fans point to and say "that one's going to get ugly, I think I'll stay home".
 



Rog said:
If so, how do we make them solid fans who will buy season tickets?
Click to expand...

Win Big Ten games.

Not going into OT against one of the worst teams in the country and doing better than barely beating a mediocre MAC team would have helped fan interest for the Syracuse game too.
 

mckerney said:
Win Big Ten games.

Not going into OT against one of the worst teams in the country and doing better than barely beating a mediocre MAC team would have helped fan interest for the Syracuse game too.
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Thanks wren. I am glad to see you are out of rehab.
 

Call me crazy, but I don't call a high of 55 on Sept. 22 (overnight low of 32 that night) with 20-mph winds "good weather". Duluth had snow that morning - its earliest measurable snowfall in 17 years. People showed up for this game in spite of the weather, not because of it.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Call me crazy, but I don't call a high of 55 on Sept. 22 (overnight low of 32 that night) with 20-mph winds "good weather". Duluth had snow that morning - its earliest measurable snowfall in 17 years. People showed up for this game in spite of the weather, not because of it.
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I agree dpod. After win perceived by many to be "closer than it should have been" against UNLV, we overcame a slow start to beat WMU and hammered a UNH team, and that was enough to get the fan base excited and think we might be competitive. Then the next week we got annihalted by a pretty bad Iowa team and it reminded everyone that we aren't there yet. If we can get back to a point where we are a legitimately competitive B1G team and sustain that, I think we can pick up some real fan momentum.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Call me crazy, but I don't call a high of 55 on Sept. 22 (overnight low of 32 that night) with 20-mph winds "good weather". Duluth had snow that morning - its earliest measurable snowfall in 17 years. People showed up for this game in spite of the weather, not because of it.
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Yes, it was colder that night than normal. I'd still argue that wearing a sweatshirt and light jacket when it's 55 is much different than bundling up when it's 30 degrees on November 24.
 

Hates Monikers said:
Yes, it was colder that night than normal. I'd still argue that wearing a sweatshirt and light jacket when it's 55 is much different than bundling up when it's 30 degrees on November 24.
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Yes, it is, but I remember it being much chillier than expected when I landed on the plane and my wife picked me up with just a sweatshirt. The casual fan could easily have used that as an excuse, especially cuz it only got colder as the game went on. Despite barely beating UNLV, slightly struggling against WMich, and soundly beating a team no one had heard of, there was momentum. Win the Iowa game, the NW game is full (despite the crummy weather, and esp with it being HC). Win that darn NW game and the season looks totally different at 6-0 to a fan.

But I still say if we lose the Wisconsin game and are 6-1, we still have attendance problems vs Purdue. This team has had too many disappointments and seasons start out 5-1, etc for fans to buy in to it all. Look at hockey this year/last year and basketball this year. And that's not our heartbreaking football team.
 

RochesterGopher said:
For me this is why I love going to gopher games over vikings games. A more sober more mature audience IMO. AD guy has said a major priority of the offseason was creating a better atmosphere at the Bank. Now I dont want TCF to turn into the dome but I think getting more butts in seats is step one. If I was king I would lower prices and try to get as many new fans there as possible because I think alot of them will come back. I sure did...
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I wish the Gophers simply had a full stadium policy. Lower ticket prices to whatever they need to be to fill the stadium. Same for the tailgate lots. Find a way to protect the season ticket holders amidst this.
 

Win and they will come....win......and they will come.


........and sell beer.
 

Goldmember said:
Got crushed by a horrible Iowa team.

TCF wil sellout again onsistently when the program rises to he level it was at from 2002-2006 at the Metrodome. It wil not take a Rose Bowl team to sellout TCF. But it has to be a team that has a realistic chance of being .500 in the Big Ten every year. Slugging it out with Indiana, Illinos and Purdue to avoid being last place, and struggling to beat MAC and FCS team is a disasterous prospect in this market. There are just too many alternatives when he product isn't compelling.
Click to expand...

Yes. I think what would inspire many fans is the possibility that UM CAN win any home game. No one expects that we WILL win every one, but the recent feeling is that we can't and won't win against some conference opponents even at home. During the period you reference, I think we felt there was a chance every Saturday. That feeling disappeared beginning with the Brewster administration. It's not back yet.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Yes. I think what would inspire many fans is the possibility that UM CAN win any home game. No one expects that we WILL win every one, but the recent feeling is that we can't and won't win against some conference opponents even at home. During the period you reference, I think we felt there was a chance every Saturday. That feeling disappeared beginning with the Brewster administration. It's not back yet.
Click to expand...

+1
 

Yeah, I agree that winning is the biggest thing. I will continue to bring friends to games and talk favorably about the program and the experience to everyone I can.

There are a lot of sheep that listen to kfan and kstp am, and unfortunately the gopher football program does not get much postive talk on those stations. I can't believe the number of people I talk to that just seem to repeat what they hear from Barrero and company. Not just about Gopher football, but about Joe Mauer being a stiff etc...

Lastly, I would love to see the City/Mayor of Mpls partner more with the University to make the game day experience truly outstanding.
 

nokomismod said:
There are a lot of sheep that listen to kfan and kstp am
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What is it about someone that makes them a "sheep" if they listen to one or both of these stations? Please explain, citing specific examples.

nokomismod said:
unfortunately the gopher football program does not get much postive talk on those stations
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Looking at your comment above (unless you're calling yourself a "sheep"), you don't listen to those stations. So how would you know?
 

Yes, thank you for asking for clarification. I listened to am1500 during the Twins season (follow the Twins and Gophers primarily), and while I don't mind critical conversations about the teams, game plans, strategy..., I grow tired with the amount of time spent talking about the Vikings non stop (Kfan and Kstp) even when they are struggling. When the Vikings were doing their latest push for a new stadium, the part time journalists that now host radio shows were basically shrills for the Vikings ownership.

When the Gophers started 4-0, both stations spent time discussing the team, and I was tuning in. As soon as a few losses occurred, Gopher talk became rare, but when it happened it was very negative. Things like they who cares if we are going to a bowl because it's a crappy bowl and no one will pay attention. I would like to see those same part time journalists/radio hosts promoting this Minnesota Gopher football team. Maybe they don't see it as writing their checks, but with some more discussion/promotion, I think their listeners would know more about the team and be excited for the games.

What I mean about the sheep thing? Check out the comments section on the startribune below a gopher football or twins article. So many negative posters all basically saying the same thing without adding a whole lot of value. Gophers stink, stadium sucks, it's cold, why did we build them a stadium? Maybe sheep isn't the write word. People who dwell on negativity and parrot the same negative comments they hear from guys like Barrero on Mauer, McHale, and Gopher football.
 

So if someone comments below a Star Tribune article, that means that they listen to KFAN and/or KSTP?
 

No it does not, but I believe the amount of negativity that is seen on the strib board is fed by negativity by the radio hosts.. I might be totally wrong, and I'm not asking for them to say everything is great and ignore the issues, but do you agree that when something controversial/negative happened with the football team this year, the hosts pounced (AJ situation and UNC cancellation), but gave very little time to covering the team on a day to day basis.
 

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