What can the U learn form the Twins "flash ticket sale"?

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tjgopher said:
You're right, I forgot about the free pop and free popcorn. But, the ticket price was $5 off the face value for MBB and football (plus food, plus the $5 Cub coupon). So, there is some value there, no doubt. That said, I'm not sure how you come about $12-13 per ticket.

It cost $50/game for a Cub pack ticket to most Big Ten MBB games this past year. So, a four-pack was $200. But you got four pops and four popcorns and a $5 ticket. So, you get maybe $260 worth of tickets for $200. Unless my math is off, how do you get to $12-13 per game, assuming you're talking MBB or football.

They did do a $20 ticket to the Rutgers MBB game if your kids colored a coloring page.
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Cub Packs started at $110 for FB. Take $60 off and divide by 4.

https://gophersports.com/news/2018/9/5/athletics-cub-family-4-packs-now-available.aspx
 

tjgopher said:
Exactly, and therein lies the problem. No win situation. People complain they don't offer discounts, people complain when they do.
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So, the choice for the U of M comes down to this: do nothing, and hope fans decide on their own to buy more tickets, or

cut the prices/fees for all seats. create a demand - fill the stadium - and then you can start to bump up prices/fees slowly to regain any lost revenue.

If the U of M announced tomorrow that ticket prices and fees were being reduced for every seat in the stadium, they would sell more tickets. of course, that assumes they want to sell more tickets and actually have more fans attending games.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
So, the choice for the U of M comes down to this: do nothing, and hope fans decide on their own to buy more tickets, or

cut the prices/fees for all seats. create a demand - fill the stadium - and then you can start to bump up prices/fees slowly to regain any lost revenue.

If the U of M announced tomorrow that ticket prices and fees were being reduced for every seat in the stadium, they would sell more tickets. of course, that assumes they want to sell more tickets and actually have more fans attending games.
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Once again, outside of the obvious in-demand games (Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska), an individual can attend any Gophers game for $10-20 (or less) on StubHub. Despite this vast market of cheap ticket availability, the games are almost never sold out. And yet, if the Gophers lower single-game ticket costs, people who don't buy them on StubHub are now going to start buying them on gophersports.com? Huh? Please explain the logic to me.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Once again, outside of the obvious in-demand games (Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska), an individual can attend any Gophers game for $10-20 (or less) on StubHub. Despite this vast market of cheap ticket availability, the games are almost never sold out. And yet, if the Gophers lower single-game ticket costs, people who don't buy them on StubHub are now going to start buying them on gophersports.com? Huh? Please explain the logic to me.
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I would like to think the Gophers may market the deal whereas StubHub would not. Of course, it would be just like the U of M to have a flash sale and keep it a secret.

I’m also not sure you can get tickets on stub hub where the fees aren’t $10, but I get your point (that is where I buy my tix).


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Advertising low prices can't hurt. Most busy people aren't going to be proactive enough to check prices on stubhub but if they see an ad or hear something on the radio then that might stick in their brains. Supposedly that's what the multibillion dollar advertising industry does but as a layman what do I know.
 


dpodoll68 said:
Once again, outside of the obvious in-demand games (Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska), an individual can attend any Gophers game for $10-20 (or less) on StubHub. Despite this vast market of cheap ticket availability, the games are almost never sold out. And yet, if the Gophers lower single-game ticket costs, people who don't buy them on StubHub are now going to start buying them on gophersports.com? Huh? Please explain the logic to me.
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Well, believe it or not, some people are not as internet-savvy as you. to be honest, I have never purchased tickets off StubHub. I don't even know how it works. Heck, I do not own a smart phone, so I could not do the 'virtual' ticket thing. I need an actual paper or cardboard ticket to hold in my hand. and, sad but true, I am about in the middle of the traditional gopher fan-base age group.

When I think of buying tickets to a game, I think in terms of going through the school ticket office, or ticketmaster - not the secondary markets. that is what I understand.

Of course, if you are right, that means that people just don't want to go to Gopher football games, no matter how cheap the tickets are. That is a wonderful comment on the state of the Gopher football program.

Here's a thought - honest question - if the Gophers announced that they were going to make a non-conference game free - anyone could come in at no cost - would they fill the stadium? at this point, I'm not sure they could fill the stadium even with free tickets. (unless there was a TV blackout for the game).
 

I like the idea of heavily reduced price for season tickets with the trade off that you get assigned different seats the week of each game. Technically, you have "season tickets" but you don't get the tickets until the week of each home Gopher game. That allows people wishing to purchase full price to have a selection and the people on this unique season ticket plan to be assured to be in the stadium (with overall numbers of tickets sold being as high as possible), but knowing the more tickets are in demand, the worse their seat locations will be. They might stay on this plan because they love the reduced price, or they may opt for set season tickets to assure themselves of the same/better seats.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Here's a thought - honest question - if the Gophers announced that they were going to make a non-conference game free - anyone could come in at no cost - would they fill the stadium? .
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I don't know. There's the old story of somebody putting a couch on the curb with a "free" sign on it and getting no takers, then changing the sign to "$20" and suddenly people were interested.

Lower the prices too low on any product or service and the perceived value drops as well.
 




Urbandale said:
I don't know. There's the old story of somebody putting a couch on the curb with a "free" sign on it and getting no takers, then changing the sign to "$20" and suddenly people were interested.

Lower the prices too low on any product or service and the perceived value drops as well.
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Wall Drug has 5 cent coffee. 5 cents for coffee is a great deal. Free coffee on the other hand, you can get that anywhere.
 

Even as a season ticket holder paying full price + scholarship seating, I'm in favor of a 30 to 60-minute "rush" to fill the stadium or other limited sales the week of the game. Part of the overall entertainment value is a full stadium and the enthusiasm that brings.

My hope with a gameday rush process that tickets would sell out, leaving some last-minute fans without seats, meaning the demand could potentially increase the number of folks buying tickets earlier.
 

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I would start by requiring every student and every University employee to attend a minimal amount of Gopher sporting events throughout the year. I would include, football, mens and ladies basketball, volleyball, mens and ladies hockey, baseball, softball and really any Gopher organization that requires a ticket to get in. I don't think its too much to ask to attend 3-5 events per semester.

If the goal is to fill seats that otherwise wouldn't get used, this seams like a fair solution.

Anyone know how many employees there at the Twin Cities campuses?
 



Twins home stand this weekend shows pretty clearly what winning can do to attendance.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Twins home stand this weekend shows pretty clearly what winning can do to attendance.
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winning + media hype. The Minnesota fan market responds to the hype. That is what Gopher football needs to boost attendance. Look at all the talk about the Twins lately in the media, social media, etc. Including the National Media. Now, imagine that same level of hype surrounding Gopher football. When that happens, they will sell out the stadium. Or - IF that happens, they will sell out the stadium.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
winning + media hype. The Minnesota fan market responds to the hype. That is what Gopher football needs to boost attendance. Look at all the talk about the Twins lately in the media, social media, etc. Including the National Media. Now, imagine that same level of hype surrounding Gopher football. When that happens, they will sell out the stadium. Or - IF that happens, they will sell out the stadium.
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Being 5-0 with some decisive wins going into Nebraska game will bring the media hype for the Gophs. Based on the attendance from last home stand, this road trip had the most to do with the crowds this weekend at Target Field.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Being 5-0 with some decisive wins going into Nebraska game will bring the media hype for the Gophs. Based on the attendance from last home stand, this road trip had the most to do with the crowds this weekend at Target Field.
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The weather didn’t hurt


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PMWinSTP said:
Twins home stand this weekend shows pretty clearly what winning can do to attendance.
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Keep in mind what the twins are doing right now is equivalent to the gophers winning their first 6 games by an average of 30 points. Not sure gopher ticket marketing should bank on that.

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Word said:
Keep in mind what the twins are doing right now is equivalent to the gophers winning their first 6 games by an average of 30 points. Not sure gopher ticket marketing should bank on that.

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Gophs last three wins in 2018 were by AVG of 25.
 

Word said:
Keep in mind what the twins are doing right now is equivalent to the gophers winning their first 6 games by an average of 30 points. Not sure gopher ticket marketing should bank on that.

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And no out of conference stuff for the twins.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Gophs last three wins in 2018 were by AVG of 25.
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True but the horrible losses before that killed any chance for marketing momentum.

Edit: My analogy of winning their first 6 games by an average of 30 points may not have been strong enough. The Twins are the best team in baseball up to this point. They lead all of baseball in home runs, total bases, RBI, OPS, slugging percentage, and are 2nd in batting average. They have hit 8 home runs in a game twice this year. They are on pace to smash the all-time home run record. They also lead the league in run differential - they have outscored their opponents by 111 runs and if they win today (which is looking like they should) they will have won 11 of their last 12. The Twins performance thus far is, in college football terms, Alabama-like.

Throw in a holiday weekend with 2 days of 70 degrees and sunny and you have 2 sellouts.

And as a season ticket holder, I got a shorter security line and 10% off concessions yesterday. :)
 
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What I was alluding to - the Twins are a National story. ESPN, MLB network, etc are all talking about the Twins. Plus, heavy coverage from Twin Cities media, social media, etc.

That is the kind of buzz the Gopher football team needs to generate to really boost ticket sales. the regular die-hards on Gopher Hole can talk all they want, but for the Gophers to really change the perception, they need to be a national story, and they need to be the #1 story in the Twin Cities - #1 topic on every TV and radio station.

That is always going to be difficult, because like it or not, Gopher football season overlaps with the Vikings, and the Vikings are the #1 team in town. We'll see how the Twins season progresses - if the Twins are in the playoffs this fall, they will still be a big story. So, in order to seize the media spotlight, Gopher football has to do something dramatic enough to grab the headlines locally from the Twins and Vikings, and also command attention on the national stage - be on SportsCenter, and be the lead story on BTN - not the 4th highlight package after they get done talking about Ohio State for 15 minutes. That is a tall task.

so, the Gophers could start the season 5-0, and that might not be enough to really change perception - unless they are winning games by big margins and making highlight-reel plays on a consistent basis.
 

Minnesotans are notorious bandwagon jumpers. The Twins and Vikings have been the beneficiaries and victims of this disease. It wasn’t that long ago that the Vikings and their fans were begging for corporate ticket buy-outs. It was a year ago that the Twins were tanking at the box office.

The Vikings are one more dank season away from firing their best coach since Bud Grant and having games potentially blacked out. The Wild is not far away, and the Wolves become more irrelevant every season. But if they start winning like the Twins are, people will jump on like they invented the sport.

If the Gophers win and beat relevant opponents, ticket sales will go through the roof. It’s the Minnesota Way.
 

highwayman said:
Minnesotans are notorious bandwagon jumpers. The Twins and Vikings have been the beneficiaries and victims of this disease. It wasn’t that long ago that the Vikings and their fans were begging for corporate ticket buy-outs. It was a year ago that the Twins were tanking at the box office.

The Vikings are one more dank season away from firing their best coach since Bud Grant and having games potentially blacked out. The Wild is not far away, and the Wolves become more irrelevant every season. But if they start winning like the Twins are, people will jump on like they invented the sport.

If the Gophers win and beat relevant opponents, ticket sales will go through the roof. It’s the Minnesota Way.
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NFL hasn't blacked out games since 2015. As perplexing as it's been to me, the Vikings have had a very strong following since 1998, even in their down years. Not likely one bad year would hurt attendance that much.
 

Word said:
True but the horrible losses before that killed any chance for marketing momentum.

Edit: My analogy of winning their first 6 games by an average of 30 points may not have been strong enough. The Twins are the best team in baseball up to this point. They lead all of baseball in home runs, total bases, RBI, OPS, slugging percentage, and are 2nd in batting average. They have hit 8 home runs in a game twice this year. They are on pace to smash the all-time home run record. They also lead the league in run differential - they have outscored their opponents by 111 runs and if they win today (which is looking like they should) they will have won 11 of their last 12. The Twins performance thus far is, in college football terms, Alabama-like.

Throw in a holiday weekend with 2 days of 70 degrees and sunny and you have 2 sellouts.

And as a season ticket holder, I got a shorter security line and 10% off concessions yesterday. :)
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Very special season so far for the Twins, no question. 5-0 with 20 point AVG margin and TCF will be full for Nebby. Fleck will be a one man marketing machine.

Undefeated going into the PSU game...look out.
 

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