whats to blame for fan apathy

[GG07]

I think just getting some more high rated recruits would help too

 

[howeda7]

In my opinion:

-The 40-plus years of struggle for obvious reasons.

-Terrible marketing by the U. It's embarassing. Does the U have a marketing major? Thier marketing for pretty much everything in the marketing department is subpar.

-Failing to build loyal season-ticket holders from the students. The comparatively high cost, the location of the seats, the lack of marketing. Today's students are tomorrows loyal fans and big donors. The U should give free tickets in both football and basketball and do more to foster this. Instead they charge more then just aboutt any school around and shove them into the corners of the stadium/arena. This is horribly short-sighted.

-Brewster. The 90% of the fanbase that doesn't come on this site, and a good % of the 10% who do have had it.

-The weather.

-This is a pro sports market. The Spring football game is never going to be a major event the way it is in Lincoln, Gainesville or Knoxville. Even if all of the above were fixed, we likely wouldn't have 52,000 at the Spring game. But 1,000 is just embarassing.

 

[Rosemountian]

It is a simple equation

40 years of losing + Coming off a losing season (6-7 is a losing season) + returning very little on defense (which was the strength of the team and had all the names casual fans would recognize) + the same starting O-line that was bad last year (I know they will probably be replaced at some point this season, but for now it is the same) + a QB that has the job locked up already after having possibly the worst season in gopher history at his position = Fan Apathy for the 2010 gopher spring football game

And it is not like it is a first time thing. There were only about 3,500 fans at last seasons spring game on a beautiful day (which happened to be the first gopher football event that was outside, not at the practice facility, and in the state of Minnesota in over 20 years)

 

[diehard]

Add lots and lots of misperception and negativity (winter is too long up there).

 

[diehard]

2010 SEC Spring Football Game Attendance:

ALABAMA-91,312

AUBURN- 63,217

FLORIDA- 51,500

GEORGIA- 38,742

TENNESSEE- 35,891

MISSISSIPPI STATE- 34,127

OLE MISS- 30,229

ARKANSAS- 30,000

LSU- 22,710

SOUTH CAROLINA- 22,000

KENTUCKY- 9,000

VANDERBILT- 1,500

Total= 430,228 (35,852 average)

 

[lakesgopher]

Exactly!! The constant apologizing, boasting and crowing is nauseating at best. What the 10% here don't get, is that the 90% everywhere are sick of it. Now we are going to the next level with player misconduct and giving it the TN treatment....ya, that will have parents excited about taking kids to see Gopher football.

this is an nfl city/state. the vikings are always a contender for the nfc north and the gophers are in a state with the highest population of bandwagon jumpers. I don't believe 90% of gopher nation is sick of brew. I think its more like 20% want brew gone, 50% feel any coach needs 4-5 yrs and 30% think the gophers will never be good. spring game weather sucked and comparing the gophers to nebraska and alabama was just...dumb! those programs are historic and always good and they are in areas where college football is king. try comparing the gophers to an equal, like kansas or something like that....if it rains in kansas they aren't going either. and last, if any of you are parents and decide to not support a team because of off field issues your stupid. things happen and people make mistakes. these guys are playing football not raising your children

 

[josh087]

Unless the Gophers start winning 10+ games every year, the number of people we want to care are not going to. That is the peril of playing in an NFL town. People will support the Gophers if they win big - but will not care otherwise because the NFL is a bigger deal in the media both here and nationally than college football. It is pounded into people's heads at an early age and never stops. Front page of the paper, lead story on the news, etc. It's just the way that it is - and we're not going to be able to change the cullture because the NFL will always be a bigger sport than college football in this Country.

 

[tjgopher]

It didn't rain during or 2 hours prior to the start.

You're nuts. I was at TCF Bank Stadium at noon. It was raining. Not pouring, but raining. I called my wife who stayed home and she said it was pouring at our house. At noon. It was light mist almost up until kickoff. Overcast almost the entire game. How many people do you suppose decided to stay home because it was raining at their house? Lots. The decision isn't one that is made at 1:30. Most people decide how to spend a Saturday looking out a few hours. At 11:30am it was raining throughout the entire metro area.

feel free to continue trying to buff that turd...

If anything proves your nothing more than a troll, it is this. You claim to be a Gopher fan, yet call your program a turd. Even if you believe it, why say that if you're a fan? Simple. You aren't. Name me your favorite Gopher player. Your favorite Gopher moment. Your favorite Gopher coach. I'm truly interested in your fandom.

 

[betterdeadthanred]

Basically I look at it as, traditions. All great traditions the U had went away when the Metrodome was built. No one wanted to go there on a nice spring day. Hell, no one wanted to play on its garbage turf that it originally had. This started the decline and lack of interest in the program. It went on steadily as did the decline of our fan base. A decent season would get the fairweathers and wagon jumpers pumped up and back to what appeared to be interest in the program. It just seemed as a team we could never make the next step and in effect the supposed fan support is gone again. The average fan apathetic to what the Gophers are doing. I personally like what Brew is building. I think he is what we need, he is starting new traditions and bringing back some old. He is doing his best to give MN that winning mentality. I think if given the chance, he will have a solid program behind him and much bigger following that the program has had in a long time. Brewster with 2 more years should have the program going in a great direction. I think that he has to be worse than 4-8 to be let go. The program is making strides that are much bigger than it has in a long time.

 

[BarnBoy]

My two cents: I am a huge Gopher fan. I watch or listen to almost all of the games. Bought season tickets last year for the first time since I was an undergrad.

Didn't dawn on me once to attend a Spring practice game. Doesn't mean I am not a fan.

Don't read too much into attendance at Spring practice.

 

[GoldInDirt]

I've got a 3 year old daughter who naps at 1:30. I was not going to drag her out in the rain as she would have lasted 15 minutes once we actually arrived at the stadium and she would have been very grumpy because she was tired. My wife was out of town and I wasn't going to pay for a baby sitter.

If they play the game at 3:30 or 11:00 and it's sunny, I would have been there with my daughter and was actually pretty disappointed with the game time and the weather because I would have liked to go.

If I lived in a city with few other activities, Lincoln, Madison, Iowa City, or so many other D1 cities I would have gone to the game, but I've already been to two Twins games and have many more lined up. The gophers compete with so many quality activities, that people need to make more sacrifices. We're also competing with the Twins on their inaugural season in a phenomenal new stadium so that doesn't help.

 

[Miss Trixie]

My two cents: I am a huge Gopher fan. I watch or listen to almost all of the games. Bought season tickets last year for the first time since I was an undergrad.

Didn't dawn on me once to attend a Spring practice game. Doesn't mean I am not a fan.

Don't read too much into attendance at Spring practice.

I agree with BarnBoy. When I went to the U from 1968 to 1972 I had a student ticket and faithfully attended Gopher football games. But I never attended a spring practice game and couldn't honestly tell you if they had a spring game tradition at that time.

Now many years later I have a season ticket and faithfully attend regular season games. But it never dawned on me to attend the spring practice game until this year. For one thing, I wasn't aware that it existed and was open to the public until I heard my brother mention it a couple years ago. This year I attended the game for the very first time and I enjoyed it. However, I almost didn't go, and that was due to the weather.

 

[Gophs]

Places like Penn State and Alabama make the Spring Game an event. I might be mistaken, but I heard that Penn State actually has a carnival outside Beaver Stadium during the spring game. Unlike the Twin Cities, the only thing to do in places like State Collage and Tuscaloosa is to watch football. If the Gophers were the only game in town, it would be a different story.

I'm a season-ticket holder and love going to the stadium to watch the Gophers. But the spring game is a very controlled football scrimmage and it's kinda boring to watch. I think the university needs to improve the environment around not only the spring game, but real game days. In some ways, it does come down to marketing.

Admit it, we don't have a football tradition here anymore. We try to pretend we do, but you can't have a tradition when you are sub-mediocre for 40 years. A lot of us got sucked into a false sense of optimism when TCF Bank Stadium was built. We have a coach who is "learning on the job," according to Maturi. With players fleeing cops, driving drunk and getting in fights, it's hard to get excited about a spring game.

 

[GopherLady]

Places like Penn State and Alabama make the Spring Game an event. I might be mistaken, but I heard that Penn State actually has a carnival outside Beaver Stadium during the spring game. Unlike the Twin Cities, the only thing to do in places like State Collage and Tuscaloosa is to watch football. If the Gophers were the only game in town, it would be a different story.

I'm a season-ticket holder and love going to the stadium to watch the Gophers. But the spring game is a very controlled football scrimmage and it's kinda boring to watch. I think the university needs to improve the environment around not only the spring game, but real game days. In some ways, it does come down to marketing.

Admit it, we don't have a football tradition here anymore. We try to pretend we do, but you can't have a tradition when you are sub-mediocre for 40 years. A lot of us got sucked into a false sense of optimism when TCF Bank Stadium was built. We have a coach who is "learning on the job," according to Maturi. With players fleeing cops, driving drunk and getting in fights, it's hard to get excited about a spring game.

I could probably make a top 20 list right off the top of my head regarding reasons for fan apathy...but I think we all know what's wrong with things. So, I'll just agree with you, Gophs - and say that not making it an "experience" has a TON to do with it (as well as the gamedays as well).

A scrimmage isn't really fun to watch, unless you're the 5% of the fanbase that are the die-hards. When you look at an "experience" part of it starts with planning ahead, Nebraska announced their Feb 3rd, signing day...what a great way to get the message to people that may not pay a lot of attention until August rolls around. I got an email from Gophersports on 3/30 - which isn't even a month in advance.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_3326e8b0-10cb-11df-8395-001cc4c002e0.html

I was amazed when I saw this, 77K people tailgated for PSU's spring game last year.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/spo...hite_spring_game_will_offer_limited_look.html

I just know when we went, everything was pretty much dead - unless you were on knew about it, you'd never know there was a spring game if you were just on campus.

 

[royboy]

I think it's strange how we get all upset about this but other schools don't get upset about midnight madness for basketball. Many big schools don't even have a midnight madness because there's no interest. Spring game is like midnight madness without any of the fun dancing and dunk contests.

 

[josh087]

Making it an "event" would not help one bit for spring attendance. They could have a 3-ring circus out there and it wouldn't matter. The game is already free. There is a new stadium. They offered parking and tailgating right next to the stadium for $10. They had a victory walk and the marching band. An autograph session right after the game. Do we really expect that adding some small activities outside the stadium will bring people in droves?

The U has gone leaps and bounds with the help of brewster over the last couple years to improve the gameday experience and the excitement for the team, and there is no less fan apathy than in the last 40 years.

There are a million things to do in the Twin Cities - and Gopher football is a blip on the radar. Unless they start winning 10+ games each year nothing will change. It's just the way it is going to be. If the Vikings leave it will start to help the wheels of change in the form of media attention - but even still there are so many things competing for our entertainment dollar and entertainment time it will be very hard to make progress without winning big consistently.

 

[RodentRampage]

A lot of axe grinding going on. I doubt that people decided not to attend because of Brewster says "tremendous" too much. The weather did have a big impact on attendance. It wouldn't have been fantastic even if it had been good, but it would have been much better. I was planning on attending barring a torrential rain, but a lot of people had already decided not to attend. The day before, there was a 70% prediction of rain at game time. I checked the weather forecast on Saturday morning, and it was down to a 10% chance for 2 PM. But a lot of people had already made other plans.

And the marketing could have been a lot better. It should have been easy to find out when the game is scheduled well in advance.

Still, while with better weather and better marketing, the attendance this year wouldn't have been fantastic. The spring game just isn't something that people are very aware of. I don't think it necessarily says anything about interest for next season. I'm sure Nebraska doesn't have to hype up their spring game, but fans are very aware of it, and it is perceived to be an "event". That is to an extent self-sustaining, but we have to get it to that point first.

 

[maxwellsmart]

To blame this on marketing is absolute idiocy. I doubt Nebraska or Alabama needs marketing to bring out fans. I've long since given up my season tickets even though I had them for 35 years. The blame for less than 1,000 fans at the spring game falls on Brewster. You guys can defend him all you want. His b.s. has worn out, friends, the over use of "fantastic" and "very" has gotten old. The product on the field is mediocre at best and there is no sign it's getting any better. I will never go to another spring game because Brewster has 2 guys on the kick return team and zero players on the team rushing the field goal kicker. What the hell is that? And that announcer shouting, "Another Golden Gopher....." has got to go. In the spring game? Come on!!!!
We may beat the team west of us, but I don't see many wins this year.

"Idiocy" in this case is a self descriptive term. Alabama and Nebraska football compare to Minnesota football in what way? Given up your season tickets? Good for you. What are you doing here? You sound like another crybaby who wouldn't see many wins until they're in the can, and even then you'd probably complain about the margins. We know your kind. Let the whining stop. We know exactly what your problem is. You haven't gotten your way so you're down on the program, the fans and the team. And stop calling us "friends". You can dislike Gopher football all you want, but don't try to drag me onto your boat of sorrows. I've stood behind the Gophers for more than forty years and don't plan to change any time soon, especially if standing on your side of the fence means acting in a similar manner.

 

[maxwellsmart]

It is a simple equation

40 years of losing + Coming off a losing season (6-7 is a losing season) + returning very little on defense (which was the strength of the team and had all the names casual fans would recognize) + the same starting O-line that was bad last year (I know they will probably be replaced at some point this season, but for now it is the same) + a QB that has the job locked up already after having possibly the worst season in gopher history at his position = Fan Apathy for the 2010 gopher spring football game

And it is not like it is a first time thing. There were only about 3,500 fans at last seasons spring game on a beautiful day (which happened to be the first gopher football event that was outside, not at the practice facility, and in the state of Minnesota in over 20 years)

Nearly every bit of "analysis" presented is in error. Nice job not understanding what's going on.

 

[TrueLiz]

I still watch every televised Gopher football game, and follow everything happening with the team, but for me, the passion was gone in the Glen Mason era, well before Tim Brewster came on board. At the point Mason declared that MN fans were expecting too much, and that it just wasn't realistic to for Minnesota Football to truly win in the Big Ten, I stopped getting excited about things. I still care, but I no longer have any expectations, and hence, don't have very far to fall. I realize I may be the only one in the Twin Cities, but I'd actually prefer Tim Brewster believing they can win, and failing (though they have made some of the same mediocre bowl games Mason's teams did), than a coach that seemed to be fine with mediocrity. But that's just me. Though to clarify, I do think this 4th year is an important one, since he's had 4 recruiting classes with which to fill the team.

I also lost interest for 2 reasons when the fees were added just for the right to buy season tickets. I had been considering tickets, but that put it out of my price range & I chose a Timberwolves pack instead, which clearly shows that losing isn't what bothers me the most. I don't feel bad for me since I hadn't been a season ticket holder before, but to do that to the people who sat through all those years at the Dome, doing their part to finance the struggling program when most of the state didn't bother showing up, seemed absurd to me. If the fees had to exist, they should've been saved for new season ticket holders, and those who had been through the Dome should've been rewarded for their loyalty; the principle of it just bothers me.

Finally, I don't see the point in spring football, and I've spent extended time in many football crazy towns too (Gainesville, State College, etc.) and I didn't care there either. It's a scrimmage. If I didn't care about baseball (or NBA playoffs or NHL playoffs) then perhaps it would be interesting, but with everything else going on, seeing the defense play the offense falls at the bottom of my list, and I don't rarely watch more than 3 minutes of NBA games not involving my team, which means I don't watch much during the playoffs. Even if this team had just won the Rose Bowl (or was supposed to win it this year) I wouldn't be at the spring game. But I do believe winning would likely fix a lot of the other "apathy" related issues throughout the fan base.

 

[GoGophers2005]

I think its pathetic that there are posters on here blaming attendance on Brewster. Some are blaming 40 years of bad football? If those are your arguments then why do you guys even care? Why are you posting on a Gopher football blog? You obviously have had enough and aren't fans.

Another thing I'll add is that by scheduling an open practice at TCF LAST WEEK with a kids clinic afterwards did nothing to help attendance this week. Not many are willing to do 2 weekends in a row.

The spring game is pretty boring except for us diehards who want to see the Alipates and Hagemans play.

There seemed to be alot of errors on the scheduling of this event....along with the weather.

 

[SelectionSunday]

It's a spring game. I wouldn't reach too much into it. There just aren't that many fans (other than diehards) who are going to go out of their way to attend something like this, and even moreso if there's crappy weather.

 

[bankonit]

be the best fan you can be

and be happy about it. Don't care what other people think or if other people are apathetic. I love Gopher football and don't give a crap if other people do or do not. I could be the only person in the stadium watching and I would not care where the other 49,999 were or why they did not come, it does not effect my good time. (my wife gave birth Saturday morning and we now have another son and thus I did not attend the spring game but my Dad took my 2 year old and my 2 nephews from Wisconsin to the game and they had a wonderful time)

 

[MNGophers11]

I think its pathetic that there are posters on here blaming attendance on Brewster. Some are blaming 40 years of bad football? If those are your arguments then why do you guys even care? Why are you posting on a Gopher football blog? You obviously have had enough and aren't fans.

Another thing I'll add is that by scheduling an open practice at TCF LAST WEEK with a kids clinic afterwards did nothing to help attendance this week. Not many are willing to do 2 weekends in a row.

The spring game is pretty boring except for us diehards who want to see the Alipates and Hagemans play.

There seemed to be alot of errors on the scheduling of this event....along with the weather.

Apology accepted.

 

[Gophs]

and be happy about it. Don't care what other people think or if other people are apathetic. I love Gopher football and don't give a crap if other people do or do not. I could be the only person in the stadium watching and I would not care where the other 49,999 were or why they did not come, it does not effect my good time. (my wife gave birth Saturday morning and we now have another son and thus I did not attend the spring game but my Dad took my 2 year old and my 2 nephews from Wisconsin to the game and they had a wonderful time)

Congrats!!!! Another Gopher fan. We, too, welcomed in our second daughter to Gopher Nation two weeks ago. And I'm with you. I would have like to go if my family didn't have other plans.

 

[tikited]

and be happy about it. Don't care what other people think or if other people are apathetic. I love Gopher football and don't give a crap if other people do or do not. I could be the only person in the stadium watching and I would not care where the other 49,999 were or why they did not come, it does not effect my good time. (my wife gave birth Saturday morning and we now have another son and thus I did not attend the spring game but my Dad took my 2 year old and my 2 nephews from Wisconsin to the game and they had a wonderful time)

Congrats bankonit on the new addition.

I do have to disagree, at least imo, with not caring if there are others at the game. I get pretty bummed when fans don't show (that's aimed at the student's mostly) and it does affect my good time. I really want the whole package and had that for the first half of last season. I want a big-boy program and to have that we need more fans.

I went to the Spring game and it was one of the most boring things I have ever been to. It was frankly embarrassing in many ways. I brought a Navy buddy who wanted to check-out the stadium, but we couldn't really do that since they blocked off most of it. The spring games at the dome were more fun I have to admit. It would easy to blame it all on the weather and nothing else, but we all know better than that.

 

[at the bar]

I was at the spring game and was pretty bored too. One thing I would have liked to U to do was to open up the entire stadium so fans could walk into the DQ Club, press box, suites, locker room everything. Let the fans announce a few plays on the PA system.

Also just charge $5 for parking or make it free if you bring kids.

I would have liked a beer also but that is another subject...

 

[josh087]

Let the fans announce a few plays on the PA system

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Not only would this actually increase the annoyance factor exponentially with people screeching and mispronouncing names into the mic, but it is an FCC/PR disaster waiting to happen.

 

[mplsbadger]

It's not worth getting bent out of shape over.

Most of the spring games that draw big numbers do so because,
1) they are in college towns, not big cities
2) their programs are more successful

We have just about the level of fan interest you'd expect given these factors. Show me another program who has a similar lack of success and is based in a city who draws more than the Gophers for thier spring game and I'll tip my hat to them.

 

[wait!what?]

'we have more fans at the Spring game than your fans' seriously?