Pioneer Press: Gophers football season ticket sales drop slightly after changes

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per the Pioneer Press:

The Gophers braced for a possibly huge dropoff in football season ticket sales after announcing scholarship seating changes in December, but the difference is fewer than 300 tickets from this time a year ago.

Total season tickets sold for football is at 27,523, compared with 27,786 on July 1 last year. That's a difference of just 263 tickets. In 2013, the Gophers sold 27,741 tickets by July 1.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_28417061/gophers-football-season-ticket-sales-drop-slightly

Go Gophers!!
 

Yes but how many are new season ticket holders in non-donation areas

BleedGopher said:
per the Pioneer Press:

The Gophers braced for a possibly huge dropoff in football season ticket sales after announcing scholarship seating changes in December, but the difference is fewer than 300 tickets from this time a year ago.

Total season tickets sold for football is at 27,523, compared with 27,786 on July 1 last year. That's a difference of just 263 tickets. In 2013, the Gophers sold 27,741 tickets by July 1.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_28417061/gophers-football-season-ticket-sales-drop-slightly

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Yes but how many in that current number of 27,741 are actually new ticket holders with address locations in Western Wisconsin or the Twin cities but have Nebraska alumn on there plates. Besides TCU the only Gopher games those guys plan on going to are the one's where they can wear there red colors.
I know of two groups that added tickets in sections 107 and 109, that fall in to both of those categories Badger and Husker doofuses. Many figured it would be easier to buy and get their hands on those tickets and sell the rest of the tickets on stub hub than it will be to buy single game tickets to those two games. The real tell is going to be July 2016 when the donation requirements go up and Wisconsin and Nebraska fall off the schedule. I can't be the only one that has Badger co-workers and Husker co-workers that are doing this, buying Gopher season tickets but will be there only to support their teams. I know to many that already think the donation going up means tickets in the group go down.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
Yes but how many in that current number of 27,741 are actually new ticket holders with address locations in Western Wisconsin or the Twin cities but have Nebraska alumn on there plates. Besides TCU the only Gopher games those guys plan on going to are the one's where they can wear there red colors.
I know of two groups that added tickets in sections 107 and 109, that fall in to both of those categories Badger and Husker doofuses. Many figured it would be easier to buy and get their hands on those tickets and sell the rest of the tickets on stub hub than it will be to buy single game tickets to those two games. The real tell is going to be July 2016 when the donation requirements go up and Wisconsin and Nebraska fall off the schedule. I can't be the only one that has Badger co-workers and Husker co-workers that are doing this, buying Gopher season tickets but will be there only to support their teams. I know to many that already think the donation going up means tickets in the group go down.
Click to expand...

I was going to dismiss your post since this is a really stupid strategy, but then I realized Badger fans were the pertinent demographic, so this is actually plausible.
 

Good for the U. Extra revenue.
 




BleedGopher said:
per the Pioneer Press:

The Gophers braced for a possibly huge dropoff in football season ticket sales after announcing scholarship seating changes in December, but the difference is fewer than 300 tickets from this time a year ago.

Total season tickets sold for football is at 27,523, compared with 27,786 on July 1 last year. That's a difference of just 263 tickets. In 2013, the Gophers sold 27,741 tickets by July 1.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_28417061/gophers-football-season-ticket-sales-drop-slightly

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

You can spin this a number of ways. The positive spin is that despite a ticket price increase, there will be the same number of butts in the seats and more revenue for the program. The negative spin is that despite an 8-win season and their first New Years Bowl in over 50-years, they couldn't sell more season tickets. Although both accounts are accurate, the perceptions will vary from one person to another.
 

Are the Viking's the culprit?

saintpauljeff said:
guess I'm one of the 263 who dropped off
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I have no data on this, so I ask how many season ticket holders have both Gopher and Viking season tickets? I would guess a small percentage but with the "seat License" and possible other "hidden" Viking costs, is it possible some had to choose between the Gophers and Vikings?

I still think, that many feel that "walk-up" tickets will be no problem for Gopher games, so why buy season tickets. This is not the way die hard fans think, but everyone is not
a die hard fan.

Which brings up the question. Our last Bowl game was very well attended. How many were season ticket holders?
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
Yes but how many in that current number of 27,741 are actually new ticket holders with address locations in Western Wisconsin or the Twin cities but have Nebraska alumn on there plates. Besides TCU the only Gopher games those guys plan on going to are the one's where they can wear there red colors.
I know of two groups that added tickets in sections 107 and 109, that fall in to both of those categories Badger and Husker doofuses. Many figured it would be easier to buy and get their hands on those tickets and sell the rest of the tickets on stub hub than it will be to buy single game tickets to those two games. The real tell is going to be July 2016 when the donation requirements go up and Wisconsin and Nebraska fall off the schedule. I can't be the only one that has Badger co-workers and Husker co-workers that are doing this, buying Gopher season tickets but will be there only to support their teams. I know to many that already think the donation going up means tickets in the group go down.
Click to expand...

Wow! So you are saying those Badger and Huskers fans were willing to pay the additional season seating licences to get tickets for their teams away game with the Gophers? Amazing! What happen to the story going around that they would be picking them up after the predicted significant drop in season tickets?
 






We're down 263 season ticket holders, but coming off an 8 win season and with the program finally having momentum, we should have gained season ticket holders. This policy didn't just prevent 263 people from purchasing season tickets, it likely also cost many first time buyers from jumping on board.
 



This is just the beginning. This year is the reasonable increase.
 

JMWZ said:
We're down 263 season ticket holders, but coming off an 8 win season and with the program finally having momentum, we should have gained season ticket holders. This policy didn't just prevent 263 people from purchasing season tickets, it likely also cost many first time buyers from jumping on board.
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i'm convinced you are correct. we were able to move to incredible seats for the first time in the new stadium. old ticket holders out and new tickets buyers in at almost 1-1
 

wait!what? said:
i'm convinced you are correct. we were able to move to incredible seats for the first time in the new stadium. old ticket holders out and new tickets buyers in at almost 1-1
Click to expand...

I upgraded and I was able to get great seats. Mrs. Rescooter was pleased.
 

We will never know what ticket sales might have been with no increase. I would guess they would have gone up, but based on some of the logic above ticket sales might have gone down anyway with Ohio state doofs not renewing this year since we won't play them at home again for a while.

It is relevant to ask what the net revenue change is. Tickets sales flat with prices increasing you would think revenue is up, but as stated previously if people en masse moved down donation levels that would negate the price increase and pontentially could result in lower revenue.
 

I think we will end up selling more season tickets when the final tab is in. Why?
A. Great home schedule.
B. Fans are seeing Coach Kill is the real deal
C. Crossover Viking fans. We have some friends who are Viking season ticket holders. They had never been in TCF stadium and they absolutely loved it. After this year he said they will not pay the new Viking season ticket prices. They bought two season tickets for the Gophers this year.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
This is just the beginning. This year is the reasonable increase.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought too. Alot of people I've talked to have said "i'll pay the slight increase this year but unless we are winning rose bowls I won't pay the full increase"...

We are coming off one of our best seasons in 50 years. A season where we didn't even sell out a home game vs the eventual national champs. A season where we host a possible top 3 team in tcu and nebraska and wisconsin and michigan (doesn't get much better than that for hosting big name schools) AND we have a decline in season ticket sales? I'm concerned, but I guess I'm in the boat of would rather see the stadium full than 75% full...
 


Rog said:
I still think, that many feel that "walk-up" tickets will be no problem for Gopher games, so why buy season tickets. This is not the way die hard fans think, but everyone is not
a die hard fan.
Click to expand...

This is the mentality of our entire group. The better value is buying single game either at the box office or most likely, by scalpers on the street. We all were tired of losing money trying to sell games we couldn't attend and the price increase put it over the top. Maybe if the administration didn't charge an extra $90/season for freaking 2 bench cushions, some good faith like that, we would have stayed. The full cost of everything in the next couple of years is going to well exceed the value of the product.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

LakerFan said:
1.We will never know what ticket sales might have been with no increase. 2. I would guess they would have gone up, but based on some of the logic above ticket sales might have gone down anyway with Ohio state doofs not renewing this year since we won't play them at home again for a while.

3.It is relevant to ask what the net revenue change is. Tickets sales flat with prices increasing you would think revenue is up, but as stated previously if people en masse moved down donation levels that would negate the price increase and 4.pontentially could result in lower revenue.
Click to expand...

1. Quite true.
2. Glaring false. You'd have to ignore history, geography, local population and rational thought to think that tOSU fans would buy more tickets for Gopher games than Sconnie and Husker fans combined.
3. Great question. Please get those numbers.
4. With the donation levels between the 20's now more that the price of the tickets themselves, therefore covering a lot of people who wouldn't renew their tickets, that's a pretty huge reach.

Good to read that Season Tickets sales have stayed some level. Bad to read that they didn't increase after back-to-back winning seasons.
 

Iceland12 said:
1. Quite true.
2. Glaring false. You'd have to ignore history, geography, local population and rational thought to think that tOSU fans would buy more tickets for Gopher games than Sconnie and Husker fans combined.
3. Great question. Please get those numbers.
4. With the donation levels between the 20's now more that the price of the tickets themselves, therefore covering a lot of people who wouldn't renew their tickets, that's a pretty huge reach.

Good to read that Season Tickets sales have stayed some level. Bad to read that they didn't increase after back-to-back winning seasons.
Click to expand...

2. Was tongue in cheek, i don't believe there are great numbers of any opposing fans buying season tickets to get one game and selling the balance. There are some yes, many no. It's way too easy to buy single game tickets to the gophers to take on the risk of having to unload the balance of those tickets. We have people on GH making the argument that it's a chump decision for MN fans to buy season tickets because they can buy those same seats for half price through stub hub or scalpers. Part of the value of season tickets is knowing the other fans in your section, knowing your guaranteed your seats every game, knowing your helping the program you enjoy by paying a little more than you would if you tried to make this just about dollars and cents. Those things aren't valued by opposing fans who would buy a season ticket to guarantee one game.

3. Those numbers would need to be released in a press release by the gophers to be gettable.
 

saintpauljeff said:
This is the mentality of our entire group. The better value is buying single game either at the box office or most likely, by scalpers on the street. We all were tired of losing money trying to sell games we couldn't attend and the price increase put it over the top. Maybe if the administration didn't charge an extra $90/season for freaking 2 bench cushions, some good faith like that, we would have stayed. The full cost of everything in the next couple of years is going to well exceed the value of the product.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You do realize that you're on a Gopher fan board, right? What do you want, a pat on the back or a cookie rewarding you for your efforts? It's your money, do or don't do with it whatever your little heart desires. No one cares.
 

These numbers are about what I expected, which sucks. The momentum was completely lost from the past two seasons.
I do believe had the admin waited one more season, and doubled down on support for Kill they could have hooked a few thousand new season ticket holders and had a sold out stadium atmosphere this season for all of those big games, further hooking new season ticket holders. The program needs new blood in the stands more than money right now IMO.
THEN you add seat fees, whatever fees, and going into 2016 with a easier but less interesting schedule you prove your winning ways, maybe win 10 games, and reap viking season ticket holders that balk at the new stadium prices.
Go ahead and add another level of fees in 2017 coming off that 10 win season and into another "weaker" schedule, but also with more relevant home games.

It just made too much sense to wait until next year to spring this on the fans, and the thing is I seriously doubt anyone would have the same gripes in 2017 coming off 4 division title contending and winning seasons. Especially if we get to a B1G title game or the Rose Bowl at some point.
 

bottlebass said:
This was my first thought too. Alot of people I've talked to have said "i'll pay the slight increase this year but unless we are winning rose bowls I won't pay the full increase"...

We are coming off one of our best seasons in 50 years. A season where we didn't even sell out a home game vs the eventual national champs. A season where we host a possible top 3 team in tcu and nebraska and wisconsin and michigan (doesn't get much better than that for hosting big name schools) AND we have a decline in season ticket sales? I'm concerned, but I guess I'm in the boat of would rather see the stadium full than 75% full...
Click to expand...

True, we didn't sell out a game. But remember that last year we had the bleacher seats (do we still this season? I recall they aren't there right now. Probably just a summer thing). So a sellout last season would mean ~53,000 people. We had 51,241 at the Purdue game last year, which would have been a sellout in the normal seating configuration.

Your point is valid, though. No reason we can't get at least 50,000 to show up when tOSU is in town. Or even Iowa (only 49,000 for that game).
 

Gopherdrummer said:
True, we didn't sell out a game. But remember that last year we had the bleacher seats (do we still this season? I recall they aren't there right now. Probably just a summer thing). So a sellout last season would mean ~53,000 people. We had 51,241 at the Purdue game last year, which would have been a sellout in the normal seating configuration.

Your point is valid, though. No reason we can't get at least 50,000 to show up when tOSU is in town. Or even Iowa (only 49,000 for that game).
Click to expand...
I can see Iowa having a lower turnout. After losing to Illinois, there was talk that the Gophs would go 0-4 through November. However, that should have turned around after absolutely destroying Iowa in every phase of the game. I don't know if there were even 35k Gopher fans in the seats against OSU and the Gophers were ranked #25. That has to change.
 

LakerFan said:
2. Was tongue in cheek, i don't believe there are great numbers of any opposing fans buying season tickets to get one game and selling the balance. There are some yes, many no. It's way too easy to buy single game tickets to the gophers to take on the risk of having to unload the balance of those tickets. We have people on GH making the argument that it's a chump decision for MN fans to buy season tickets because they can buy those same seats for half price through stub hub or scalpers. Part of the value of season tickets is knowing the other fans in your section, knowing your guaranteed your seats every game, knowing your helping the program you enjoy by paying a little more than you would if you tried to make this just about dollars and cents. Those things aren't valued by opposing fans who would buy a season ticket to guarantee one game.

3. Those numbers would need to be released in a press release by the gophers to be gettable.
Click to expand...

They probably will focus on the "Two-fers", but we may be looking at this all wrong. People keep saying that Husker/Sconnie fans won't buy Season Tickets because of the donation amounts. That in itself is perfectly reasonable. However spending $330 and change for a Season Tickets, or added $50-$75 for a lower priced donation seat isn't gonna cost a whole lot more than the Two-fer will.

Now factor in Husker fans who may live in the Metro or have friends here and the thousands of Sconnies that live in the metro or just across the border and they certainly will be among the Season Ticket holders. How many? Don't know but it does make that renewal number not as pure as first thought.
 

dpodoll68 said:
You do realize that you're on a Gopher fan board, right? What do you want, a pat on the back or a cookie rewarding you for your efforts? It's your money, do or don't do with it whatever your little heart desires. No one cares.
Click to expand...

You do realize people are free to comment in a forum right? Last I checked even contrarian opinions were allowed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Gopherdrummer said:
True, we didn't sell out a game. But remember that last year we had the bleacher seats (do we still this season? I recall they aren't there right now. Probably just a summer thing). So a sellout last season would mean ~53,000 people. We had 51,241 at the Purdue game last year, which would have been a sellout in the normal seating configuration.

Your point is valid, though. No reason we can't get at least 50,000 to show up when tOSU is in town. Or even Iowa (only 49,000 for that game).
Click to expand...

it was a moral sellout.
 

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