Ticket Sales?

[Go Gophers Rah]

According to theis article: http://gazetteonline.com/sports/2009/12/14/mediacom-may-carry-insight-bowl-game-for-iowa-state-fans
Iowa State has sold "over half of" its allotment of 10,000 tickets as of yesterday. That would mean anywhere from 5,001 to 5,800 - or else they would have said "nearly 6,000" - instead of "over half of".

I have not seen any reports, nor heard any speculation regarding our ticket sales.

According to this article: http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1017118, Minnesota sold out our alottment last year (although some cynics on this board have suggested that the U bought them, but did not fill them). I can't find any ticket sales info for the 2006 Insight Bowl, but having attended the bowls in 2004, 2005 and 2006, I can attest that it was our best attended of those 3 years and had at least 18,000 Gopher fans and maybe as many as 25,000. Of course many of these were probably Arizona residents with Minnesota ties.

Anyway - has anyone heard anything on the status of ticket sales?

 

[ruppertflywheel]

I think it has been pretty quiet at the U

We went the last couple of years, but couldn't justify going out this year because of a. the expense of flights to Phoenix and b. the opponent being Iowa State. It is a great venue and we had a blast out there. I would still think we would get a pretty good crowd because of the snowbirds.

 

[howeda7]

I think MN will have it's share of fans there, but honestly, why would you pay face value through the U when you can probably scalp tickets at the stadium for half price?

 

[Rog]

Our ticket sales

I understand that our ticket office has sold about 500 so far.

many reasons but the this will be the 3rd time in 4 years to the Insight bowl and Phoenix.

All the negative talk here and the media surely hasn't helped either.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I think MN will have it's share of fans there, but honestly, why would you pay face value through the U when you can probably scalp tickets at the stadium for half price?

because the tickets are only $55 face and those which are sold through the U of M count towards the U of M's ticket sales which in turn improves minnesota's standing in the eye's of various bowl reps around the country. tickets purchased outside of the U of M's ticketing system do not count towards the U of M's ticket sales totals and only hurt the program at bowl selection time in the future. buying a ticket from a scalper before the game (or through craigslist, ebay, stubhub, etc.) to save a couple bucks does nothing to help the U of M because they will never get credit for that ticket sold through a third-party channel.

people who say they are fans and supporters of the football program but refuse to purchase their bowl game tickets through the U of M (just to save a couple bucks) are only hurting the program's future bowl prospects because the U of M does not get credit for those ticket sales. ticket sales through your official ticketing outlets is a big factor that various bowl reps take into consideration when selecting teams for non-BCS bowl games.

part of the reason that iowa state was picked over missouri (even though missouri had a better record than isu) is because of the number of tickets that the isu program sold through THEIR outlets for the 2000 insight bowl. missouri was passed over because their fans have a reputation (fair or not) just like our fans have that they refuse to travel in great numbers to mid-tier or lower bowls.

iowa state and their athletic department are even asking their fans who do not plan on making the trip (or can not afford to fly/stay down there) to the insight bowl to purchase a ticket on behalf of the isu program (that counts towards their official sales) which will then be donated to a local charity in phoenix/tempe so a deserving child can attend the insight bowl game on behalf of isu in their school colors. the tickets purchased/donated on behalf of isu by those who can not attend in person are also tax deductible. is this idea something the U of M has ever considered asking its fans to do when they know they are not going to get a "sell-out" for a bowl like the insight or music city bowl?


for those who are going to the insight bowl it would be great to try and by your tickets through the U of M ticket office to support and help build up the gophers football program.

 

[Jike Spingleton]

I think MN will have it's share of fans there, but honestly, why would you pay face value through the U when you can probably scalp tickets at the stadium for half price?

Because your being cheap hurts the program by not giving the U credit for selling the tickets.

 

[Firejumper]

I think MN will have it's share of fans there, but honestly, why would you pay face value through the U when you can probably scalp tickets at the stadium for half price?

Why would you fly to Phoenix when you can walk to Phoenix ??

 

[FireDaveLee]

I'd respond to Howeda7's post, but a good handful of people already beat me to it.

I purchased 2, so I know that the U has at least sold that many. If I had to guess, I'd say the U will be lucky if they sell 2,500 when it's all said & done.

 

[Rickman55]

The University and Creative Charters need to provide cheaper ways to get the bowl game. Why not have flights that leave on the day of the game and come back that night or the next day. Creative Charters has done this for regular season games. I would love to go, but can't afford the price Creative Charters is asking.

 

[howeda7]

I do understand the reasons to purchase through the U, I was merely pointing out a reason the ticket sales might be low. Personally, ensuring you have seats in the 'Gopher' section alone would make it worth the extra cost.

But not all of the snowbirds and others will see it that way. It hardly warrants the scolding reaction in this thread. I hardly think someone who wants to come to the game and buy thier tickets for $20 instead of $50 is a horrible person, especially if they're buying 3-4 tickets. Saving $100 might be more important to some people then the marginal perceved gain to the U for selling 3,000 tickets instead of 2,000. Be glad they come at all and our cheering the team on.

 

[howeda7]

iowa state and their athletic department are even asking their fans who do not plan on making the trip (or can not afford to fly/stay down there) to the insight bowl to purchase a ticket on behalf of the isu program (that counts towards their official sales) which will then be donated to a local charity in phoenix/tempe so a deserving child can attend the insight bowl game on behalf of isu in their school colors. the tickets purchased/donated on behalf of isu by those who can not attend in person are also tax deductible. is this idea something the U of M has ever considered asking its fans to do when they know they are not going to get a "sell-out" for a bowl like the insight or music city bowl?

That is actually an excellent idea. The U should look into this. There might be many people willing to participate.

Is the U obligated to buy the tickets in thier alotment and eat the loss? Or if not obligated will they do this anyway? If not, the extra money you are spending goes to the Insight Bowl, the only gain to the U is the future perception of thier ability to sell tickets. You could certainly see where even a person who wants to support the U might feel thier money would be better spent paying market value for the tickets and donating the money they saved to the Williams fund or another scholarship effort, rather then handing it to the Insight Bowl committee.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

That is actually an excellent idea. The U should look into this. There might be many people willing to participate.

The U is doing this.

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail I received earlier this week:

CHANCE TO HELP OUR STUDENTS GET TO TEMPE!

The Golden Gopher fan base has a reputation of not traveling to bowl games as well as some other schools. We are trying to do everything we can to change this in the future and start a culture of young people supporting Gopher football.

In an effort to start a new traditions and allow student season ticket holders to travel to the bowl game, we are looking for 14 individuals or organizations to help fly our student fans to Tempe with donations of $3000 each. We need to identify willing donors by 5pm on Tuesday the 15th in order to accomplish our goal of flying 70 students to Phoenix on the official alumni tour plane.

Each student would still be responsible for their hotel cost, game ticket and ground transportation.

We know that some of you have the memories of the 60's, 70's, or 80's when you were students, the time has come to help pass that experience on to the students of today.

I contributed to a similar fund in 2006 (though certainly not $3,000). I would guess that they would accept any amount that a person is willing to donate.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

For the 2003 Sun Bowl the University had a program to buy tickets through them and then donate them to soldiers stationed in the El Paso area. I donated a ticket via this method.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I do understand the reasons to purchase through the U, I was merely pointing out a reason the ticket sales might be low. Personally, ensuring you have seats in the 'Gopher' section alone would make it worth the extra cost.

But not all of the snowbirds and others will see it that way. It hardly warrants the scolding reaction in this thread. I hardly think someone who wants to come to the game and buy thier tickets for $20 instead of $50 is a horrible person, especially if they're buying 3-4 tickets. Saving $100 might be more important to some people then the marginal perceved gain to the U for selling 3,000 tickets instead of 2,000. Be glad they come at all and our cheering the team on.

and that right there is the number one problem with a good number of people in the gophers fan base. it is ALWAYS about me, me, me....what can you do for me. it is rarely just simply about doing what you can as an alum and/or fan to support the program at bowl time like other fans of many programs are willing to do for their program. gophers fan better start "seeing it this way" if we ever want to get the benefit of the doubt from bowl reps. and some gophers fans wonder why we are perpetually getting "picked over" at bowl selection time (i.e. the alamo bowl picking over us on three different occassions) when the criteria is close or even. it is this stubborn mental refusal by a portion of the fan base to just simply support the program by making the trip and buying your tickets through the U of M that many bowl reps see when they are deciding whether or not to invite the U of M to their bowl.

no one is scolding anyone. no one is calling anyone a horrible person as you implied. just laying out the facts as to why it is imperative that fans buy through the U of M ticket office for the insight bowl so that the U of M gets credit amongst bowl reps for selling those seats.

so we are saying now that people should get a blue ribbon simply for making it to a bowl game in a nice area and a warm locale and we should all be so grateful that they showed up at all?! yeah, that is asking so much of them. especially in january of all months. i can not understand the stubborn mentality of portions of our fan base sometimes.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

The U is doing this.

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail I received earlier this week:


I contributed to a similar fund in 2006 (though certainly not $3,000). I would guess that they would accept any amount that a person is willing to donate.

that is cool, but it doesn't sound as attainable or as simple as what isu decided to do. sending something out to gophers fan as simple as: "can't afford to make the trip down to tempe, but still want to support your golden gophers football team? well, you can buy an insight bowl ticket through the U of M and it will be donated to a local phoenix/tempe charity for use by a deserving child who will also wear the U of M colors to the game. and all ticket donations are tax deductible! your ticket donation shows bowl reps that U of M fans are willing to support their program's ticket sales (even if they can't afford to travel this year) and it helps the reputation of the U of M fan base during future bowl selections."

that is something that many more people would be willing to do and also be able to do financially when compared to trying to get people to donate upwards of $3,000. if you can get people to donate towards that program that is great too. just saying it wouldn't hurt to consider both of them if i was at the U athletics office.

 

[howeda7]

and that right there is the number one problem with a good number of people in the gophers fan base. it is ALWAYS about me, me, me....what can you do for me. it is rarely just simply about doing what you can as an alum and/or fan to support the program at bowl time like other fans of many programs are willing to do for their program. gophers fan better start "seeing it this way" if we ever want to get the benefit of the doubt from bowl reps. and some gophers fans wonder why we are perpetually getting "picked over" at bowl selection time (i.e. the alamo bowl picking over us on three different occassions) when the criteria is close or even. it is this stubborn mental refusal by a portion of the fan base to just simply support the program by making the trip and buying your tickets through the U of M that many bowl reps see when they are deciding whether or not to invite the U of M to their bowl.

no one is scolding anyone. no one is calling anyone a horrible person as you implied. just laying out the facts as to why it is imperative that fans buy through the U of M ticket office for the insight bowl so that the U of M gets credit amongst bowl reps for selling those seats.

so we are saying now that people should get a blue ribbon simply for making it to a bowl game in a nice area and a warm locale and we should all be so grateful that they showed up at all?! yeah, that is asking so much of them. especially in january of all months. i can not understand the stubborn mentality of portions of our fan base sometimes.

You're not wrong on the general sentiment, but it really is more important that they show up, then who they buy the ticket from. If fans were going in droves and the game was going to be even close to a sell-out, the market value of the tickets on the street would be at least face value, leaving no reason not to get them from the U.

Second, while I'm sure the Insight Bowl committee cares whether the U can sell it's allottment, it also cares how many fans actually show up for the school. Having 10,000 fans there with only 3,000 of them buying through the U is certainly better then having only 5,000 who all loyally bought from the U's allottment.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

You're not wrong on the general sentiment, but it really is more important that they show up, then who they buy the ticket from. If fans were going in droves and the game was going to be even close to a sell-out, the market value of the tickets on the street would be at least face value, leaving no reason not to get them from the U.

1.) Second, while I'm sure the Insight Bowl committee cares whether the U can sell it's allottment, it also cares how many fans actually show up for the school.

2.) Having 10,000 fans there with only 3,000 of them buying through the U is certainly better then having only 5,000 who all loyally bought from the U's allottment.

1.) actually, all of the bowls care deeply about whether or not a school sells-out its allottment. yes, they want as many fans as possible to show up one way or another, but the more you can get there via your school's allottment the better it is for your program and its reputations amongst bowl reps.

2.) yes, having what is believed to be 10,000 gophers fans there would be great. but, in the way you described there is no way for the U of M to actually get REAL credit from bowl reps for first scenario since there is no way to truly ascertain how many of those 10,000 fans were there in support of the U of M since there is no way to track where they purchased their ticket if it was not from the U of M. 10,000 just ends up being an eye-estimate and bowl reps are not big fans of estimates when it comes to deciding on which schools they invite to their bowls.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

howeda, are you buying your tickets directly from the ticket office or from other sources?
How have you purchased them for past bowls?
Just curious.

 

[M&G BUSt]

Went to the PC.com bowl, Music City Bowl twice, Sun Bowl, & Insight bowl. Never once bought tickets from the U. Spent anywhere from $5.00-$15.00 to get into said games. I guess I am one of those gopher football haters. I'm not too heartbroken about getting passed over by the Alamo bowl. If you beat good teams during the season, its tough to get passed over (and more fans show up - go figure!).

3 questions for Bronko: 1. Have you bought your tickets yet?
2. Where is my blue Ribbon?
3. What can you do for me....me, me, me?

 

[1983]

head scratcher

I think MN will have it's share of fans there, but honestly, why would you pay face value through the U when you can probably scalp tickets at the stadium for half price?

Why?

 

[nemosgold]

+1

The University and Creative Charters need to provide cheaper ways to get the bowl game. Why not have flights that leave on the day of the game and come back that night or the next day. Creative Charters has done this for regular season games. I would love to go, but can't afford the price Creative Charters is asking.

 

[gopherluv]

ISU has sold 7000 tickets as of this morning

 

[mplsbadger]

I have not seen any reports, nor heard any speculation regarding our ticket sales.

Anyway - has anyone heard anything on the status of ticket sales?

A friend of mine went last year and said it is a great experience in particular because of the way you can fit it into an overall New Year's Eve celebration - they have a great party that night, bowl or no bowl.

 

[mplsbadger]

I do understand the reasons to purchase through the U, I was merely pointing out a reason the ticket sales might be low. Personally, ensuring you have seats in the 'Gopher' section alone would make it worth the extra cost.

But not all of the snowbirds and others will see it that way. It hardly warrants the scolding reaction in this thread. I hardly think someone who wants to come to the game and buy thier tickets for $20 instead of $50 is a horrible person, especially if they're buying 3-4 tickets. Saving $100 might be more important to some people then the marginal perceved gain to the U for selling 3,000 tickets instead of 2,000. Be glad they come at all and our cheering the team on.

Agree. I've purchased bowl game tickets through the athletics office for a UW bowl only to find there were better tickets closer selling for half the price I paid the week before the game. I ended up buying the other ones hoping I could sell mine. I ate them. It sucked. I think if you show up and cheer you deserve credit.

If you can get good seats throught the U you should buy them throught the U. If you can't I don't blame anyone for buying them from another source. If the U doesn't like it they should demand better seats.

 

[tjgopher]

Minnesota sold out our alottment last year (although some cynics on this board have suggested that the U bought them, but did not fill them).

While this article doesn't specifically talk about the Gophers, this is exactly what bit the Gophers last year. Sure, we sold out our allotment. Problem was our own athletic department had to buy about 7000 of them. It will be even worse this year.

Thanks to Bleed for finding the article.

 

[gopherluv]

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/football/75448-gophers-have-sold-500-tickets-so-far.html

 

[FireDaveLee]

Agree. I've purchased bowl game tickets through the athletics office for a UW bowl only to find there were better tickets closer selling for half the price I paid the week before the game. I ended up buying the other ones hoping I could sell mine. I ate them. It sucked. I think if you show up and cheer you deserve credit.

If you can get good seats throught the U you should buy them throught the U. If you can't I don't blame anyone for buying them from another source. If the U doesn't like it they should demand better seats.

To me, this is the biggest problem with buying bowl tickets. I don't mind paying full price & buying them through the U, like I did for the Insight Bowl, but would like to have a general idea of what seats I'm getting.

They need to somehow figure out a way for buyers to select their seats. I think with a bit of planning, it could be done. At least general selection in terms of low (rows 1-10), middle (11-20) or high (21-30) and the U letting you know what sections you're most likely going to be in.

 

[GVBadger]

While this article doesn't specifically talk about the Gophers, this is exactly what bit the Gophers last year. Sure, we sold out our allotment. Problem was our own athletic department had to buy about 7000 of them. It will be even worse this year.

Thanks to Bleed for finding the article.

• Minnesota and the Big Ten bought the required 10,500 tickets for the Insight BowlSignOnSanDiego Topics Topics last year in Arizona. They only sold 1,512, absorbing a loss of $434,340.

 

[tjgopher]

• Minnesota and the Big Ten bought the required 10,500 tickets for the Insight BowlSignOnSanDiego Topics Topics last year in Arizona. They only sold 1,512, absorbing a loss of $434,340.

Thanks. I missed that part of the page.

 

[Go Gophers Rah]

• Minnesota and the Big Ten bought the required 10,500 tickets for the Insight BowlSignOnSanDiego Topics Topics last year in Arizona. They only sold 1,512, absorbing a loss of $434,340.

WOW. That is illuminating (and humiliating).
I guess I can't blame the Alamo Bowl for passing us over.