Why are (or aren't) you a season ticket holder for Gophers football?

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We have been season ticket holders since graduation in 1971 except for a 4 year stint in Chicago. Gopher Football is a priority to us. I was born into it, with my Dad being a huge fan, bringing me to the games in the early 60's, and then me being a part of the U of M Marching Band (67 - 70). We tailgate, go to at least 1 road game a year, and we make it a priority in our entertainment budget. We LOVE the new stadium and MUCH prefer on-campus, outdoors to the stale environment of the old Dome. Some of our friends simply don't get it....they don't understand how we can go to every game, tailgate all day long, etc. When we see what goes on at other campuses, it certainly makes us a little jealous. I wish more Minnesotans were Gopher fans like the good old days, but hopefully winning will get the stadium and the tailgate lots full again. It's a lot more fun when the stadium is full, that's for sure.
 


I live a ways away and just can't make it to many games. Try to make it up for at least one home game every year and sometimes get to an away game.
 

Had season tix for years, and then my boys started playing and all their games are on Saturdays. Still make it to a couple of games with them each year.

Probably could buy them this year, but I believe that I will be getting media credentials and attending solo.
 

I am not due to the fact that I live too far away, work 2 jobs and help my wife with her side job as well. It is at least a 2 hr drive for me so a game in person would almost guarantee a hotel stay as well so we have somewhere to put the dog and don't have an early or late drive to make back home or before the game adding expense. I can see as much or more on tv. Maybe if the wife would give me a couple of tickets as a gift I would attend a game but until then it is tv for me.


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I'm an odd case with my divided loyalties so this isn't really instructive, but I dropped them in about 2014 because my son was two and it was getting harder and harder to get to the games. We were in 110 so the tickets were very expensive. I split them with my father but he didn't go much so I felt guilty about taking his money. I suppose we could have downgraded but I always found it hard to find people to go to the games - even U grads.

I am not a case of switching my sports $ elsewhere. Since I dropped I've added an annual trip to Madison and an annual Gopher game buying a pick a pack or walk-up tickets.

I purchased my tickets in 2004 after attending the Michigan game in 2003. I was really excited for the Gophers. I didn't think they should have fired Mason - really wanted to see what he could do with TCF, but let's not derail this thread...

I was at UW during the Morton years and I expect it is going to take 3-5 years of sustained high end success to break out of this. Increasing the intensity with which people who are already Gopher fans participate is good for the program but it won't change the vibe. The base needs to be broadened. It was after Holtz arrived. One of my favorite Gopher games was a UM-UW game in the dome with Holtz as coach. Students, not just freshmen, came out in droves, beach balls and footballs being thrown around the upper deck, good team on the field. It just felt different. 2003 Michigan was way cool for about 3 quarters.
 

Counting grad school this will be my 9th year with season tickets. My in-laws have had them for about 15, we have a good time tailgating and I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing on a Saturday morning.

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Because there's nothing better than college football on a fall day.
 

bemidjigopher said:
But you'll pay more for the Vikings?

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I am guessing like a poster above said, any Vikings game he can't or doesn't want to go to, he can probably make money by selling his Viking tickets.

I am a season ticket holder for a few reasons. I love the tailgating with friends, I love college football, I believe in the future of the team. If money wasn't an issue I would probably drop my tickets for Viking tickets. Gopher tickets used to be the absolute best value in town.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
It is a family tradition. 70 years of season tickets.

I love outdoor football in the fall.

There is more character to college football compared to the NFL where it feels corporate and artificial.

Football on TV sucks with the super zoomed in view.
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Just curious on this. I feel TCF has a very corporate feel to it. I'm not saying it is a good thing or bad thing, but the Case IH Red Zone, Boston Scientific Heart of the Game, etc definitely is commercializing the game.
 

If anyone wants to add two people to their friend group/tailgate/etc, I'd be down to buy season tickets/split them with people. The two people are me and my wife. We aren't terrible, have excellent taste in beer and very few commitments outside of Gopher sports.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Just curious on this. I feel TCF has a very corporate feel to it. I'm not saying it is a good thing or bad thing, but the Case IH Red Zone, Boston Scientific Heart of the Game, etc definitely is commercializing the game.
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I guess I can see that but advertising is a part of every sporting event.

The IH Red Zone is all over the midwest I belive.

Last vikings game I went to between plays they blasted standard TV commercials, truck commercials, and etc.... at least sponsors of the U seem more on point .. I like that they gave the U money. I give no ****s about anyone who gives money to the Wilfs....

Give me a good band with students in it any day.
 

Problem with complaining about advertising is that you'd be hurting the U if they didn't have these advertisements.

Also, if you hate that, NEVER turn on a hockey game
 



11th year being a season ticket holder (got them last year in Metrodome) from Twin Cities originally, but live in Rochester now. Still have 4 seats, but the two guys I split them with have dropped out. Able to share them with wife/family/friends and/or sell a couple occasionally. One thing we've not been able to figure out well is tailgating. We tried State Fair lot for awhile and it was ok. We used to go to Big 10 Bar with friends who did the same for basketball games as well and now they are closed. On nice days Surly is great and a nice walk to the stadium. Love the thought of sticking with the Gophers towards winning ways - was down in Orlando for the one January bowl game in my lifetime. Don't plan to ever completely drop them but do think about dropping from 4 to 2, the freeze in "donations" have kept us from doing just that.
 

mraveling said:
11th year being a season ticket holder (got them last year in Metrodome) from Twin Cities originally, but live in Rochester now. Still have 4 seats, but the two guys I split them with have dropped out. Able to share them with wife/family/friends and/or sell a couple occasionally. One thing we've not been able to figure out well is tailgating. We tried State Fair lot for awhile and it was ok. We used to go to Big 10 Bar with friends who did the same for basketball games as well and now they are closed. On nice days Surly is great and a nice walk to the stadium. Love the thought of sticking with the Gophers towards winning ways - was down in Orlando for the one January bowl game in my lifetime. Don't plan to ever completely drop them but do think about dropping from 4 to 2, the freeze in "donations" have kept us from doing just that.
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The walk sucks, but I've never had more fun tailgating than I do at East River Flats. The scenery is fantastic. Even when the lot is about as full as it gets, there's still plenty of room to move around and toss a ball or play games. It's not the rowdiest atmosphere, but as a middle-aged guy, that's not what I'm looking for anyway.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I was asked the other day why I don't have football season tickets. Didn't really have an answer outside of the usual "I can get tickets easily anyway/I go to a few games/I end up out of town for a few games a year and couldn't go to those" types of responses.

Every year, my wife and I discuss getting season tickets and every year we don't. We have season tickets to a few other Gopher sports so it isn't a fear of commitment.

Anyone have thoughts as to why you do or do not have football season tickets?
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Am not currently.

Had season tickets through school, didn't first couple years out of school, went to a few games a year in between but finally got them again when Mason started as coach (they had a $99 deal for seats in the end zone upper deck - all I could afford). had them until I moved to Texas for work in 2004, so at this point 12 years. Didn't have them for four but picked them up again for the first game at the Bank after moving to Iowa from Texas. Had them for two years, dropped them after the 2010 season due to cost, travel and small children. Picked them up again after Kill's first season at the request of my son and how impressed I was after his first year as coach. Dropped them in 2017 due to costs, the commitment of 7 weekends in the fall and conflicts in my schedule and my kids schedules. I'd moved out of premium seating in 2016 but the cost of the drive, food, hotel, etc on top of the price of the tickets and increasing conflicts for my kids activities it just wasn't feasible. Unlikely I'll pick them up again until I retire or move back up to the twin cities. Still get to a game or two each year, though.
 

I don't have season tickets. I don't live in the Twin Cities/metro area, making it difficult. Usually I can afford one game along with the trip and a hotel stay.
 

saintpauljeff said:
I agree, the U ticket policy drove a lot of us alumni away
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You misunderstood my response. I think it’s sad you gave up your tickets for the reasons stated. And to then buy Viking’s Tickets :(.

I’ve had season tickets for 23 years. Started at the 50 yard line at the Metrodome. As they added scholarship seating I moved because I didn’t want to pay the donation. I’m now in the upper deck corner on bench seats. I’m not happy about it but I love college and Gopher football. I grew up listening to Ray on the radio in a small rural MN town. I love all Gopher sports and attend many other Gopher sporting events for both men and women.

Some of the “excuses” I’ve seen on her for not having season tickets are pretty lame.
 

I love college football. I can feel my IQ drop when I watch pro football.
 

Frank Grimey Grimes said:
Don't see the point, I have little interest in seeing the non-conference games and I would rather just go to B10 games and pay lesd overall. I also find the atmosphere at the bank to be rather unexciting. In my opinion, the barn is and always will be the best venue in the state for pure excitment. The last genuinely exciting game for me at tcf was either the TCU opener or the Halloween Michigan game...hoping for a good football team and a better atmosphere at the bank.
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I'm glad you mentioned those two games. I started attending in 2010. And those 2 are by far, the most exciting and amped up the stadium has ever been. Particularly that TCU game.
 

We've had Season Tickets since '93. Always had extra tickets so we could take friends to the games. The year of that $99 ticket we bought 6 extra to give away. Thru the years often had trouble getting people to take them. Depending on kick-off time we usually have breakfast before the game or have dinner and drinks after.

Been in a donation section since TCF opened. Always enjoyed College Football. Those around us at TCF are people that are fun to spend 4 hours with on a Saturday. Ever since that mandated "donation" cost jumped nearly 300% we've questioned how long we were gonna continue keeping them.

We've always looked at the tickets as ways to entertain friends and give money to the U. Watching them last year was the first time we've thought about giving up our tickets since we bought them. We've witnessed WAY too many losses. Last year was the first time since Kill's "oh poor me" start that it seemed as if the Head Coach didn't care whether they won or not.
 

Not a STH. Wife isn't interested in going and gets a bit upset when I take Saturdays to go to games.
 


Iceland12 said:
We've had Season Tickets since '93. Always had extra tickets so we could take friends to the games. The year of that $99 ticket we bought 6 extra to give away. Thru the years often had trouble getting people to take them. Depending on kick-off time we usually have breakfast before the game or have dinner and drinks after.

Been in a donation section since TCF opened. Always enjoyed College Football. Those around us at TCF are people that are fun to spend 4 hours with on a Saturday. Ever since that mandated "donation" cost jumped nearly 300% we've questioned how long we were gonna continue keeping them.

We've always looked at the tickets as ways to entertain friends and give money to the U. Watching them last year was the first time we've thought about giving up our tickets since we bought them. We've witnessed WAY too many losses. Last year was the first time since Kill's "oh poor me" start that it seemed as if the Head Coach didn't care whether they won or not.
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Similar story for me. My first purchase of season tickets was during the '95 season. I've had a lot of fun, even in the dome. TCF Bank Stadium is nice. In recent years, the losses don't sting as much. I suspect that is because I've become used to them. With the donations and a dud of a year, I did contemplate not renewing. I did renew and am hopeful for a more entertaining season.
 

CWCWCW said:
Similar story for me. My first purchase of season tickets was during the '95 season. I've had a lot of fun, even in the dome. TCF Bank Stadium is nice. In recent years, the losses don't sting as much. I suspect that is because I've become used to them. With the donations and a dud of a year, I did contemplate not renewing. I did renew and am hopeful for a more entertaining season.
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What the Gophers and Vikings sell every year is hope. I was raised to be a fan of all MN teams and football is my favorite. They both are too expensive but I go with family and friends and almost always have a great time . I definitely feel the losses more as I get older.
 


Season ticket holder from 1993 till 2011. I still remember the excitement about picking our seats in 2009. Then life interrupted and I lost my spouse and it hasn't been the same since. Gave up season tickets a couple of years later and now just enjoy the games on TV. Wish it was different, but its not.....


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I'm not because I spent my college years being forced to switch from having season tickets in Memorial Stadium to having season tickets in the MetroDump. I'm still not over the 1982 game against Illinois where you could feel the collective resignation at how bad that team really was nor have I forgotten the embarrassment of sitting through all 60 minutes of the Nebraska game the following year.

The ensuing years of faculty and administration assaults against the football program have left a very, very, very bitter memory of my University years.

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