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RailBaronYarr

RailBaronYarr

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I know I've been critical in the past, but I flipped on the UMD game at puck drop. Holy crap it's empty. The last few years we've been ranked in the top 10 to even #1 for long stretches of the regular season, tonight included. Halfway through the 1st period and the seats are maybe 40% full, at best.

Were there tickets available for this game? What the heck is with STHs not showing up? Why isn't the U doing anything about this?? What other team in any revenue sport ranked #1 (or in the top 5-10) has so many empty seats? !!!???
 

Agreed. It's a weird trend that's happening. They've claimed for some time that there is this waiting list for Gopher hockey season tickets, but almost every game there is an odd amount of empty seats. I've been surprised that this hasn't become a bigger story.

Go Gophers!!
 

I was at the game and agree with you. The place was practically empty. I thought with an in state rival the place would be packed.
 

I'm confused. On another thread the poster gave attendance at over 9900. Not full, but hardly sparse. Or am I missing something? Maybe I've got the wrong game.
 

There has been a no-show problem at the U for hockey for a long time.

The tickets are sold, but not being used.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 


Talked with people who attended. Sounds like this thread is based on exaggeration. How odd here on the Hole.
 


go4ergold said:
I was at the game. No exaggeration. The event was not very well attended simple as that.
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Agreed. Every game I've been to the last few years (Denver, UW, No Dak, etc.) there were way more empty seats than I expected. A buddy of mine who has Friday night tickets said it has been like this for the last couple of years and no one knows why.

Go Gophers!!
 

Not much of a waiting list when they have called me the last couple years seeing if I want tickets after being on the list since 2001. They gave no indication that if I didn't buy now I'd be taken off.
 



Gopher hockey has an interesting problem. Unlike other sports in town, people are actually buying tickets, but nobody is using them. The waiting list is gone, but Gopher hockey is far from giving tickets away for free like Gopher basketball did for Lehigh.
 

Not using the tickets is a problem. If there are people on a waiting list willing to buy a certain class of tickets, the U should institute a policy where if a given ticketholder doesn't use their tickets a certain % of the time, then they get bumped to the bottom of the waiting list. The U doesn't lose anything if there is someone in line willing to pay the same price for the tickets, and it gains a better stadium atmosphere.
 

No exaggeration about no shows. The place is at least 3/4 full pretty much every game, but there are an unacceptable number of empty seats. When I looked around this weekend, you saw quite a few empty seats, but people clearly using the standing room only spots. And they weren't just people who were waiting for a whistle to get back to their seats.

We're looking into this issue with the University.
 

I spoke with a University of Minnesota official about this today at the weekly press conference. What they're telling me is, there is not much they can do about the season ticket holders not showing up. They do things like Tix for Tots, where they ask people to donate the tickets that they're not going to use, and give them to "children in need". Defending the Blue Line does something similar.

I was told that Notre Dame allows Standing Room Only fans to take unused season ticket holder seats after the first period of games. Minnesota tried something similar a few years ago, and it just didn't work. Too many disputes with people sitting in taken seats, and season ticket holders showing up late wanting their seats.
 



Twynntown said:
I spoke with a University of Minnesota official about this today at the weekly press conference. What they're telling me is, there is not much they can do about the season ticket holders not showing up. They do things like Tix for Tots, where they ask people to donate the tickets that they're not going to use, and give them to "children in need". Defending the Blue Line does something similar.

I was told that Notre Dame allows Standing Room Only fans to take unused season ticket holder seats after the first period of games. Minnesota tried something similar a few years ago, and it just didn't work. Too many disputes with people sitting in taken seats, and season ticket holders showing up late wanting their seats.
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"Not much they can do" is a pretty weak excuse. Their computers can track how often the tickets are used, and when they have ticket holders renew next season, they can make it a condition that if X% go unused, then they drop to the bottom of the line the next season (as I stated earlier in this thread). Whether they are willing to do that is another matter, but it is a lie to say that they can't.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
There has been a no-show problem at the U for hockey for a long time.

The tickets are sold, but not being used.


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

Still Revenue in my book. I'll take.

But, they could think about expanding the student section. I know they did that within the last two years, but it will increase demand, and hockey is currently the only sport that runs out of student tickets (basketball might have sold out, but I know that hadn't yet right before the season started.
 

Sad but true...when I've been back in town the games are 80% full it seems. Maybe we have gotten complacent, and don't want to attend 'games we should win'. I miss the old days when we could go outside between periods and smoke (or for us, drink as much whiskey, beer and rum as we could). Kept the school spirit up.
 

Not sure this is relevant since it's been awhile since I've been to Mariucci, but how many folks use their tickets and just don't go to their seats? The reason I ask is because just about every time I've been there for a game, a sizable amount of folks tend to just wander around, watching the game while also looking at all the Gopher memorabilia. Maybe it's only visiting fans that do this, but I seem to remember a lot of casual strolling by fans at the Gopher games I've been to.
 


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