The empty stadium

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theTurning said:
It's a bad team folks.
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Bull####! I've said before, one of Kill's biggest challenges is to change the culture of the entire program, including many of our pathetic so-called fans. Kill recognizes the importance, and has already begun to bond with the students. My guess is that in the offseason, he will personally work at finding ways to get more students to the games next year.

I cut my Thanksgiving weekend with the extended family short, and drove back 170 miles, so our group could get to the game and show our support. The weather was a non-factor, and those fans that attended had a great time!
 

Thanks BHgrapper

BHgrappler said:
Bull####! I've said before, one of Kill's biggest challenges is to change the culture of the entire program, including many of our pathetic so-called fans. Kill recognizes the importance, and has already begun to bond with the students. My guess is that in the offseason, he will personally work at finding ways to get more students to the games next year.

I cut my Thanksgiving weekend with the extended family short, and drove back 170 miles, so our group could get to the game and show our support. The weather was a non-factor, and those fans that attended had a great time!
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+1 - It is nice to see a few people understand what is taking place here with Jerry Kill. Go Gophers!
 

I'll never understand the obsession some Gopher fans have with what other fans choose to do or don't do.
 

It seemed to me that once the Gophers to the 20 point lead into half time that a lot of people left. When the game started there was a decent but small fan base at the game, but after half time it was totally different. The only thing the weather affected all day was tailgating, but the regular die hard fans at the fairgrounds were there like every other week.
 


The Gophers won and all the angst is about attendance at the game? Enjoy the win. Seems like most of us at the game did. I will say that the " no booze for spenders" and the "give the students 10,000 seats" mandates were the dumbest possible moves by the legislature.
 

maroon and gold said:
BTW, how does the attendance per game for the first three years at TCF stack up against the last three years at the Dome?
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I've actually tracked attendance since 1998 (I like stats like that and like to look at the trend lines). Here are the numbers from my spreadsheet, using the online box scores as my source; so these are tickets sold, not necessarily attendance. Dome capacity: 64,172. TCF capacity: 50,805.

2006---DOME---MASON-----52,207---(81.35%)
2007---DOME---BREWSTER---51791---(80.71%)
2008---DOME---BREWSTER---48,958---(76.29%)
2009---TCFB----BREWSTER---50,805---(100%)
2010---TCFB----BREWSTER---49,513---(97.46%)
2011---TCFB----KILL--------47,714---(93.92%)


1998....41642.3
1999....45440.9
2000....47352
2001....43485.3
2002....41784.6
2003....44148.3
2004....47573
2005....49024.5
2006....52206.5
2007....51791.1
2008....48957.9
2009....50805
2010....49513.3
2011....47713.7

2008-2011 AVE: 47,245.6
 

Maybe the stadium is too big! I know that the seats are too narrow in cold weather. But thanks to "no shows" I was able to expand a little.
 

highwayman said:
I agree completely. Having an outdoor stadium and late season (COLD) home games is going to be a huge advantage over time. We beat Iowa in 2010 and Illinois yesterday because the opponents didn't want to be here, and played that way for large chunks of the game.

It took only a couple of years for Minnesota football fans to get pussified in the luxurious MetroDump. It will take several years for the average bandwagon-jumping fan to embrace the cold-weather games. Michigan State is next year's victim--I hope for 30 degrees and sleet.

Those of us that never miss a game and own a long sleeve shirt and a pair long underwear and a hat already get it.

The student thing will take time. Various U administrations actively tried to destroy the football program. I was a student from 1977-1979, and the student council had members that were campaigning to eliminate football. Presidents like Moos, Magrath, Keller and Haselmo hated the football program, as it could undermine their own self-perceived popularity. It will take time--a popular guy like Kill, a self-deprecating and supportive President like Kaler, and a pro-active and dynamic new AD to pull it off. A new culture needs to be built.
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The only businesses interested in our demographic are AARP, the people that make Depends, and the fine folks at Washburn-McGreavey.

I know we're all looking for the 6-run home run. We're only going to increase attendance and interest by hitting ALOT of singles.

BTW, does anybody pay attention to our cheerleaders anymore? Do they ever lead a cheer? Do we even have a cheer besides that inane ... "And that's another Golden Gopher first down!"
 



I wonder how many old timers were lost when we moved into TCF? I know we had several older people in our section that wern't going to attend the late season games if the weather was bad. You wonder if these are the same people that fish outside when it is 0 degrees? Yesterday we had
many open seats in section 143. Most were held by older people that I had seen at the other games.
 

How badly did the Gophers lose yesterday? Maybe I only dreamed that the Gophers won 27-7, perhaps in reality it was the Gophers who were dominated. You would think that from reading this thread. I saw a number of pretty empty stadiums this weekend. If the Gophers win, then people will decide it is worthwhile to get back from their Thanksgiving weekend in time to get back to the Gophers game.

There were a combination of factors that led to poor attendance; the weather, Thanksgiving weekend, the team only had two wins, and the final game wasn't a rivalry game, as it had been in previous years. With all that together, and people just weren't motivated to cut their Thanksgiving weekend short.

The people leaving early in a win is something that has always baffled me, but people have done this for a long time here, to "beat the traffic". Just stay to celebrate with the band and there will be no problem beating the traffic.
 

began11 said:
Win more and they will fill the joint. Very simple!
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No other way to put it, thin crowd did not surprise me at all, holiday, weather, state of the program etc. It comes down to winning. Nobody knows that more than Kill.
 

imthewalrus said:
Re the weather conditions: This is OUR kind of November home game advantage! This kind of weather will someday help the Gophers win a couple late season November Big Ten games that will place the Gophers in the BigTen Championship game. It will be part of the "everything falling right" scenerio that we will need to pull it off. Illinois will want NO part of playing in Minneapolis after the end of October. This is two novembers in a row where the Gophers held up better to the "weather" than the opposition did. Last year it was iowa. This year it was Illinois.

The Minnesota Gophers NEED to be a team that November Big Ten Games were built for. A Big Ten Team that can win when the snows fall, the winds blow, the temperature drops and the cold rains challenge the players and the fans. Big Ten Teams that win in the elements in November have a shot at doing something special.

TCF BANK STADIUM is starting to show us that our Gophers DO recall how to thrive in the rain, wind, cold and snow and when too many fans wimp out due to the weather! And THAT is a very good thing!

; 0 )
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+1. well said.
 



Attendance was 60,000 at yesterday's Tennessee/Kentucky game, neither of whom will be playing in a bowl game this year. Apparently, nobody explained to those people that you shouldn't support a struggling team on a holiday weekend.
 

Attendance was 60,000 at yesterday's Tennessee/Kentucky game, neither of whom will be playing in a bowl game this year. Apparently, nobody explained to those people that you shouldn't support a struggling team on a holiday weekend.

That's your example? It was a rivalry game at the home of the underdog where that underdog, Kentucky, had a chance to beat their tormentor for the first time in over 25 years. Which they did by the way.


http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=313300096
 

GopherVotary said:
we used to say "if you build it, they will come."

at least we can always come up with an excuse.
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man, you really add nothing to this board do you? your posts are usually weak, unimportant, not filled with any "new" information to share with fellow gopher fans, and are ALWAYS filled with attempts at biting sarcasm. all you basically seem to do here is look for opportunities to try and tell others "i told you so". perhaps move on and find a new hobby already?

sorry for all the hate, but i just personally find you to be tiresome most of the time.

have a nice sunday! :)
 

That's right, it was too cold!!!!! Or some other excuse!!!!
 

The capacity of Kentucky's stadium is 67,606. But if they sold only 60,000 tickets - remember, everyone reports paid attendance, not actual attendance - that means 7,606 tickets were not sold. So much for the idea that every other stadium in the country sells out. But there are always some no shows, what was the actual attendance? And as was pointed out, Kentucky and Tennessee is a rivalry game, while Minnesota and Illinois is not. If the Gophers had played a rivalry game in the final game, as we usually did, attendance would have been better.

And what does Tennessee and Kentucky have to do with anything? Only if it had been claimed that no teams have good attendance on Thanksgiving weekend would that be relevant.
 

Fan Base

I was there and will always be there and we can go on and on about our fanbase but when you consider a program that has not one a conference championship in 44 years and is 2 and 8 I really don't think we do that bad. What would be the attendance at a similar school that hasn't won in 44 years? I do hope one day I can see the place packed as it is a very loud stadium when there are 25,000 yelling.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

This entire thread is baffling to me. We've had horrible, crappy football for the better part of 50 years. A few good seasons (and good players) sprinkled in here or there, but even in those there were heartbreaking losses that made most fans shake their heads (Wisky and Mich at the Dome to name 2). An entire generation or two has grown up on average at best Gopher football. The casual fan is just not going to buy a ticket to watch a 2 win team play an Illinois team who have lost 5 in a row on a holiday weekend in what was forcasted as poor weather.

As for no shows ... I'm a 10 yr season ticket holder who did not attend yesterday and my ticket went unused. Didn't go to New Mexico St. either. If that is a criminal act, so be it. My opinion is that my season ticket contribution to the U is a significant investment on my part and I can do whatever the heck I want. Is the alternative of me not buying the seat going to help the cause at all? I tried for a solid week to basically give the seat away.

I applaud you all who have made every game and drive long distances to do so. I think its great. I live 15 minutes from TCF and feel no remorse about spending the day with my two kids instead of going to the game. You that go to every game are better fans than I am, no doubt about it and we need that core to grow. But unless you want to come drag me out of my house (can you change a diaper for me while I'm here?) I think we should all just focus on how to get those unsold seats filled (winning games) instead of biatching about those who are no shows.
 

jags1998 said:
This entire thread is baffling to me. We've had horrible, crappy football for the better part of 50 years. A few good seasons (and good players) sprinkled in here or there, but even in those there were heartbreaking losses that made most fans shake their heads (Wisky and Mich at the Dome to name 2). An entire generation or two has grown up on average at best Gopher football. The casual fan is just not going to buy a ticket to watch a 2 win team play an Illinois team who have lost 5 in a row on a holiday weekend in what was forcasted as poor weather.

As for no shows ... I'm a 10 yr season ticket holder who did not attend yesterday and my ticket went unused. Didn't go to New Mexico St. either. If that is a criminal act, so be it. My opinion is that my season ticket contribution to the U is a significant investment on my part and I can do whatever the heck I want. Is the alternative of me not buying the seat going to help the cause at all? I tried for a solid week to basically give the seat away.

I applaud you all who have made every game and drive long distances to do so. I think its great. I live 15 minutes from TCF and feel no remorse about spending the day with my two kids instead of going to the game. You that go to every game are better fans than I am, no doubt about it and we need that core to grow. But unless you want to come drag me out of my house (can you change a diaper for me while I'm here?) I think we should all just focus on how to get those unsold seats filled (winning games) instead of biatching about those who are no shows.
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OMG-You live 15 minutes away and you don't even go for at least a half? You are part of the problem if you need to be dragged out of the house. WOW!
 


Much more preferable seeing a seat in front of us empty yesterday than watching the same seat occupied this year by the most obnoxious dickhead from North Dakota imaginable during the NDSU game. Then later in the season, the same seat was filled by a typical jerk from Wisconsin. (Hard to label him the most obnoxious because the bar is set so high.) I enjoyed not having to stand in line for nearly an hour to catch the shuttle because of all the NDSU folks or having to go through a concourse filled with red.
 


tap said:
OMG-You live 15 minutes away and you don't even go for at least a half? You are part of the problem if you need to be dragged out of the house. WOW!
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Are you joking or serious? Please tell me you are joking. You say go "WOW" because I choose not to go to the game for a half (so I guess you advocate leaving early ... how wimpy is that?) and stay home to spend time with my kids? Really? Is this the argument you want to make? Sheeesh.
 

jags1998 said:
Are you joking or serious? Please tell me you are joking. You say go "WOW" because I choose not to go to the game for a half (so I guess you advocate leaving early ... how wimpy is that?) and stay home to spend time with my kids? Really? Is this the argument you want to make? Sheeesh.
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So going to the Miami of Ohio game was more important than spending time with your kids? Sheeesh.
 

Maximus said:
So going to the Miami of Ohio game was more important than spending time with your kids? Sheeesh.
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That particular day, it was. I had the opportunity to go. Why can't a reasonable adult make a decision to go to a football game or not? This is the craziest thing of all-time. You all should start a topic secret police to investigate those who have a ticket to an event but choose not to go. take the Section, Row, and Number of every empty seat and launch the Fox-9 crew off on an investigation. Maybe get the I-Team on it.

When the team is a consistent winner ... and it would only need to be one good season imo, those of us who "only" choose to go to 4 or 5 games a year will come to 6 or 7 and those who aren't coming will rediscover how great Gopher fb can be. But until then, there will continue to be empty seats.
 

When we're 8-2 and not 2-8 going into the last game, the place will be rocking. I'm not going to judge anyone for going or not going to a game, but I hope folks who decided not to attend at least tried to give the tickets away.
 

Maybe it is just me but I have season tickets and if I wasn't going to go to all the games I would not have season tickets.
 

maroonfive said:
Maybe it is just me but I have season tickets and if I wasn't going to go to all the games I would not have season tickets.
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I have had season tickets for a decade now. Most years I know in advance I cannot make 1 or 2 games. I make certain my seats are not empty by giving the tickets to family, friends or business associates. It is worth it to me to know I will be at those 5-7 games a year and if I am not, my family will enjoy the game when I cannot make it.
 

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