[TICKETS REMAINING TRACKING THREAD] - How many seats are unsold vs MD, PSU and WIS?

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I did a little research on ticket prices throughout the Big Ten to see how we compared. I added in Iowa State due to its location to us and other similarities. These ticket prices came from the schools ticket office, not stub hub or other resellers. I also did not include verified resale pricing as to get an accurate picture of how each school priced their tickets.

A couple of observations I had. While we have not had a consistent winner over the years and therefore haven't had a consistent fan base, we have ticket pricing rivaling that of all the big programs in the Big Ten (i.e. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State). Even some of those programs don't have tickets as expensive as ours. We need to build this fan base up and offer tickets at prices that are reasonable. While we have SOME reasonably prices tickets, they are all in the end zone and there aren't many.

I personally believe we want to be more in line with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. However, I still think we need to build up to get there.

I really like the youth pricing for 18 and younger offered by Iowa and Indiana. We need to build up that future fan base and allow parents a way to take their family without breaking the bank.

Minnesota (capacity 50,805)
$65-$335 for Penn State
$85-$335 for Wisconsin

Iowa (capacity 70,585)
$25 for 18 years and younger
$80 for 19 years and older (price varies depending on opponent)
Pricing is same throughout stadium

Wisconsin (capacity 80,321)
$115 for Iowa
$80 for Purdue

Nebraska (capacity 86,047)
$100 Wisconsin throughout stadium

Illinois (capacity 60,670)
$20-$50 vs Northwestern
$35-$70 vs Rutgers

Northwestern (capacity 47,330)
$35-$50 for Minnesota or Purdue

Purdue (capacity 57,236)
$15-$90 for Nebraska
$15-$85 for Indiana

Indiana (capacity 52,929)
$30-$70 Northwestern ($10-$15 youth 18)
$50-$95 Michigan ($10-$15 youth 18)

Michigan (capacity 107,601)
$145-$190 Michigan State & Ohio State

Michigan State (capacity 75,005)
$50-$80 Maryland & Illinois

Ohio State
No information as there were no tickets available.

Penn State (capacity 106,572)
$58-$300 verified resale pricing Indiana
$20-$300 verified resale pricing Rutgers

Maryland (capacity 51,802)
$43-$78 Nebraska

Rutgers (capacity 52,454)
$50-$100 Michigan State
$80-$175 Ohio State

Iowa State (capacity 61,500)
$34-$75 vs Texas
$25-$60 vs Kansas
 

UofMGopher said:
I really like the youth pricing for 18 and younger offered by Iowa and Indiana. We need to build up that future fan base and allow parents a way to take their family without breaking the bank.
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I agree, I noticed the youth pricing the other day when I was looking to by tickets for the game in Iowa City. It would be great if the U was able to create a more welcoming family atmosphere.
 

noamfromm said:
I agree, I noticed the youth pricing the other day when I was looking to by tickets for the game in Iowa City. It would be great if the U was able to create a more welcoming family atmosphere.
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Would be great if the ticket office implemented something like this for next weeks game.
 

UofMGopher said:
I did a little research on ticket prices throughout the Big Ten to see how we compared. I added in Iowa State due to its location to us and other similarities. These ticket prices came from the schools ticket office, not stub hub or other resellers. I also did not include verified resale pricing as to get an accurate picture of how each school priced their tickets.

A couple of observations I had. While we have not had a consistent winner over the years and therefore haven't had a consistent fan base, we have ticket pricing rivaling that of all the big programs in the Big Ten (i.e. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State). Even some of those programs don't have tickets as expensive as ours. We need to build this fan base up and offer tickets at prices that are reasonable. While we have SOME reasonably prices tickets, they are all in the end zone and there aren't many.

I personally believe we want to be more in line with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. However, I still think we need to build up to get there.

I really like the youth pricing for 18 and younger offered by Iowa and Indiana. We need to build up that future fan base and allow parents a way to take their family without breaking the bank.

Minnesota (capacity 50,805)
$65-$335 for Penn State
$85-$335 for Wisconsin

Iowa (capacity 70,585)
$25 for 18 years and younger
$80 for 19 years and older (price varies depending on opponent)
Pricing is same throughout stadium

Wisconsin (capacity 80,321)
$115 for Iowa
$80 for Purdue

Nebraska (capacity 86,047)
$100 Wisconsin throughout stadium

Illinois (capacity 60,670)
$20-$50 vs Northwestern
$35-$70 vs Rutgers

Northwestern (capacity 47,330)
$35-$50 for Minnesota or Purdue

Purdue (capacity 57,236)
$15-$90 for Nebraska
$15-$85 for Indiana

Indiana (capacity 52,929)
$30-$70 Northwestern ($10-$15 youth 18)
$50-$95 Michigan ($10-$15 youth 18)

Michigan (capacity 107,601)
$145-$190 Michigan State & Ohio State

Michigan State (capacity 75,005)
$50-$80 Maryland & Illinois

Ohio State
No information as there were no tickets available.

Penn State (capacity 106,572)
$58-$300 verified resale pricing Indiana
$20-$300 verified resale pricing Rutgers

Maryland (capacity 51,802)
$43-$78 Nebraska

Rutgers (capacity 52,454)
$50-$100 Michigan State
$80-$175 Ohio State

Iowa State (capacity 61,500)
$34-$75 vs Texas
$25-$60 vs Kansas
Click to expand...

Thank you for demonstrating the lunacy of the pricing. Do something.
 

There is a lot of money in the TC. But as of now, the prices are too high relative to demand. There is profit being missed.
 


For the Purdue-Gopher game this year, the tickets ranged from $10-$75. For our game against Illinois this year, the tickets ranged from $40-$150.

Purdue was coming off 7-6 and 6-7 season while we were coming off 5-7 and 7-6 seasons so about the same amount of prior success. Purdue was also coming off a bad loss to a Nevada team and a 31-14 blowout loss to TCU and was 1-2. Minnesota, while the games were close, was 4-0 and 1-0 in conference in the Big Ten going into Illinois.

Purdue had an announced attendance of 50,629 for their game against us while we had an announced attendance of 39,341, about 11,000 less despite being 4-0 compared to 1-2 going into the game. It's amazing what happens when you cut ticket prices in half at least. People actually show up!
 

bonin21 said:
There is a lot of money in the TC. But as of now, the prices are too high relative to demand. There is profit being missed.
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Even if there wasn't profit being missed, they should be willing to leave a little money on the table to fill the stadium on Saturdays and grow the fan base.

I don't think maximizing profit should not be the first priority for a major college football program, I think it is about growing your brand as a team and a university.

Tickets in the Twin Cities likely should be higher than Iowa City or Ames, but not significantly like they are now.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
I don't think maximizing profit should not be the first priority for a major college football program, I think it is about growing your brand as a team and a university.
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The two aren't mutually exclusive. And as long as the main driver of success is acquiring and retaining coaching talent, maximizing profit has to be the first priority.
 

dpodoll68 said:
The two aren't mutually exclusive. And as long as the main driver of success is acquiring and retaining coaching talent, maximizing profit has to be the first priority.
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If the stadium is full, it will be louder and provide a better home field advantage and make it harder for opposing teams to play us which would result in more wins

If the stadium is full and loud then that will make the program more attractive for recruits visiting for a game. Better recruiting results in more wins.

If the stadium is full, first timers and students will be more likely to want to come back and buy tickets in the future which would result in more money.

If the stadium is full, that means more people are paying for parking, concessions and apparel which results in more money.

Also ticket sales only accounted for 17% of the Athletic's department revenue last year while media rights were nearly 38% percent of revenue so prioritizing attendance over revenue doesn't hurt total revenue as much as it once would with how much money we get from TV contracts nowadays.
 



die hard gopher said:
If the stadium is full, it will be louder and provide a better home field advantage and make it harder for opposing teams to play us which would result in more wins

If the stadium is full and loud then that will make the program more attractive for recruits visiting for a game. Better recruiting results in more wins.

If the stadium is full, first timers and students will be more likely to want to come back and buy tickets in the future which would result in more money.

If the stadium is full, that means more people are paying for parking, concessions and apparel which results in more money.

Also ticket sales only accounted for 17% of the Athletic's department revenue last year while media rights were nearly 38% percent of revenue so prioritizing attendance over revenue doesn't hurt total revenue as much as it once would with how much money we get from TV contracts nowadays.
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Agree with this

And if maximizing profit was the first priority for all schools, why aren't other universities jacking up their prices to match the Gophers when they'd have an easier time selling out at those prices?
 

The University of Minnesota is, by definition, not a profit-seeking entity. It is a not-for-profit institution, as is Gopher athletics.

They are not trying to make money, and they shouldn't be trying to make money.

They are here for the state. They should be providing a service to the state.

They should not be charging prices that prevent people from attending their games. This isn't difficult.

If the stadium isn't full, they are doing something wrong.

Students and taxpayers subsidized their stadium. If the University if pricing those stakeholders out of attending the biggest game they have played in 15 years then they should be ashamed of themselves.

I have donated a lot of money to this program, as have most people here, and I expect to see a full stadium next Saturday. Even if it dents the ticket office's ego.
 
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hello-world said:
They should not be charging prices that prevent people from attending their games.
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No one is being prevented from going to the games. They are choosing not to. If people literally cannot afford $65 tickets (the cheapest current price on StubHub), they have a lot bigger problems in life than the price of Gophers football tickets.
 

dpodoll68 said:
No one is being prevented from going to the games. They are choosing not to. If people literally cannot afford $78 tickets, they have a lot bigger problems in life than the price of Gophers football tickets.
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$78 for a family of four is $312 to attend this game. That's a month worth of groceries for some people.
If you don't think people are priced out at that level then you're crazy.
 



UofMGopher said:
I did a little research on ticket prices throughout the Big Ten to see how we compared. I added in Iowa State due to its location to us and other similarities. These ticket prices came from the schools ticket office, not stub hub or other resellers. I also did not include verified resale pricing as to get an accurate picture of how each school priced their tickets.

A couple of observations I had. While we have not had a consistent winner over the years and therefore haven't had a consistent fan base, we have ticket pricing rivaling that of all the big programs in the Big Ten (i.e. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State). Even some of those programs don't have tickets as expensive as ours. We need to build this fan base up and offer tickets at prices that are reasonable. While we have SOME reasonably prices tickets, they are all in the end zone and there aren't many.

I personally believe we want to be more in line with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. However, I still think we need to build up to get there.

I really like the youth pricing for 18 and younger offered by Iowa and Indiana. We need to build up that future fan base and allow parents a way to take their family without breaking the bank.

Minnesota (capacity 50,805)
$65-$335 for Penn State
$85-$335 for Wisconsin

Iowa (capacity 70,585)
$25 for 18 years and younger
$80 for 19 years and older (price varies depending on opponent)
Pricing is same throughout stadium

Wisconsin (capacity 80,321)
$115 for Iowa
$80 for Purdue

Nebraska (capacity 86,047)
$100 Wisconsin throughout stadium

Illinois (capacity 60,670)
$20-$50 vs Northwestern
$35-$70 vs Rutgers

Northwestern (capacity 47,330)
$35-$50 for Minnesota or Purdue

Purdue (capacity 57,236)
$15-$90 for Nebraska
$15-$85 for Indiana

Indiana (capacity 52,929)
$30-$70 Northwestern ($10-$15 youth 18)
$50-$95 Michigan ($10-$15 youth 18)

Michigan (capacity 107,601)
$145-$190 Michigan State & Ohio State

Michigan State (capacity 75,005)
$50-$80 Maryland & Illinois

Ohio State
No information as there were no tickets available.

Penn State (capacity 106,572)
$58-$300 verified resale pricing Indiana
$20-$300 verified resale pricing Rutgers

Maryland (capacity 51,802)
$43-$78 Nebraska

Rutgers (capacity 52,454)
$50-$100 Michigan State
$80-$175 Ohio State

Iowa State (capacity 61,500)
$34-$75 vs Texas
$25-$60 vs Kansas
Click to expand...

So our former AD thought to compete on the field with Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State, first we had to make sure ticket prices were at that level.
 

Post mortem

“Looks like we netted an extra 20k on tickets guys. Heckuva job holding the line, Brownie”

“Why is all the buzz about half empty sections on tv?” “Cheap *** Minnesotans”.

“Advertising budget for next year?”

:banghead:
 

hello-world said:
$78 for a family of four is $312 to attend this game. That's a month worth of groceries for some people.
If you don't think people are priced out at that level then you're crazy.
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Right, so they're choosing not to attend, exactly as I said. No one is debating whether to spend the last $300 in their bank account on groceries or Gophers football tickets. Those people don't exist. No one is being priced out. We're talking about $300, not a luxury car or house. Get real.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Right, so they're choosing not to attend, exactly as I said. No one is debating whether to spend the last $300 in their bank account on groceries or Gophers football tickets. Those people don't exist. No one is being priced out. We're talking about $300, not a luxury car or house. Get real.
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Price the ****ing tickets at $20 for kids. Fill the ****ing stadium. They aren't a professional sports franchise. They shouldn't be setting prices to maximize revenue.

You and I might not sneeze at that cost but most people are not like us.

If you're a family of 4 making $100k per year then spending $300-500 (need to buy food, parking, etc.) on 4 hours of football is not realistic.

The average household income in Minnesota is $58k per year. The average family can't afford this game.
 
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The market seems to be saying something if we’re listening hard enough.
 

hello-world said:
Price the ****ing tickets at $20 for kids. Fill the ****ing stadium. They aren't a professional sports franchise. They shouldn't be setting prices to maximize revenue.
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Ooh, Mr. Swearypants is using four-letter words. You mad, bro?

This is the Big Ten. Assuming you want to be competitive, this is what you sign on for. If you want $20 tickets, there are plenty of MIAC and NSIC games to attend in the area.

hello-world said:
If you're a family of 4 making $100k per year then spending $300 on 4 hours of football is not realistic.
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LOL!

If you're a family making $100k per year, as a family you make over $300 each and every single work day. Again, get real.
 
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dpodoll68 said:
LOL!

If you're a family making $100k per year, as a family you make over $300 each and every single work day. Again, get real.
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Again, everything you say is wrong, you clearly have no idea how expensive it is to raise children, and you're an asshole to everyone you interact with so I'm not too worried about this convo, but holy crap, just retire your BS.
 

My ticket in Iowa cost $80
The exact same seat at TCF is going for $215
I thought Iowa was the program with the constant sellouts and the five year waiting list.
 

hello-world said:
Again, everything you say is wrong, you clearly have no idea how expensive it is to raise children, and you're an asshole to everyone you interact with so I'm not too worried about this convo, but holy crap, just retire your BS.
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I have two kids (three, counting my son who died), so I'm well aware of the expenses inherent. Nonetheless, thank you for the unfounded and unwarranted condescension.

I'm the asshole, and yet who is the one exclusively being mad and using swear words in this exchange? Oh right, it's Mr. Swearypants MadBro.

It's not BS. If you don't have $300 of discretionary income to use on a Gophers game, don't attend. Simple. We all have financial tradeoffs to make every day.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I have two kids (three, counting my son who died), so I'm well aware of the expenses inherent. Nonetheless, thank you for the unfounded and unwarranted condescension.

I'm the asshole, and yet who is the one exclusively being mad and using swear words in this exchange? Oh right, it's Mr. Swearypants MadBro.

It's not BS. If you don't have $300 of discretionary income to use on a Gophers game, don't attend. Simple. We all have financial tradeoffs to make every day.
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If you don't think that you warrant condescension after saying that families without an extra $300 to drop on this game shouldn't be able to attend then your worldview is ****ed.

The rest of us want the seats full.
 

I don't think the issue is with the die hards its with the casual fans. Someone who is a die hard Viking fan and casual gopher fan may look at $100 a ticket as a joke but fine paying $200 for a Viking game.

A die hard gopher fan is fine paying $100 a ticket but would completely say no to paying $50 a ticket for a St. Thomas game or some other team they are a casual fan of even if it was the biggest game in a while for them.

It's easy for us to rip people for not paying to go to this game because we're the die hards
 

hello-world said:
If you don't think that you warrant condescension after saying that families without an extra $300 to drop on this game shouldn't be able to attend then your worldview is ****ed.

The rest of us want the seats full.
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I bring facts. You bring name-calling and anger.

Condescension is warranted when the person doing it has basis. That is laughably backwards here. I am much, much smarter than you.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I have two kids (three, counting my son who died), so I'm well aware of the expenses inherent. Nonetheless, thank you for the unfounded and unwarranted condescension.

I'm the asshole, and yet who is the one exclusively being mad and using swear words in this exchange? Oh right, it's Mr. Swearypants MadBro.

It's not BS. If you don't have $300 of discretionary income to use on a Gophers game, don't attend. Simple. We all have financial tradeoffs to make every day.
Click to expand...

I also have three kids if I count the one who died, so I'm also aware of the expenses of raising kids, and in this market, I do take my kids to MNUFC games instead of U of M football games.
I'm a bigger Gopher football fan than I am a MNUFC fan, but my kids the opposite is true. (Perhaps because they go to more MNUFC games).
 

We can argue all day about what a family of four can afford, but the bottom line is the ticket prices are too high for the current demand.
As the the demand increases the prices can too. Most competent sports organizations realize this. The U is not one of them.
 
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dpodoll68 said:
I bring facts. You bring name-calling and anger.

Condescension is warranted when the person doing it has basis. That is laughably backwards here. I am much, much smarter than you.
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I legitimately see zero reason to include this in what you're trying to say and it makes everything else you try say seem petty. Particularly when you start with "I bring facts. You bring name-calling and anger". Come on man
 

Predicted high of 27 degrees and we're imploring the U to lower ticket prices for children? OK, then.
 


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