Policy Impact on Season Tickets

Donate To GopherHole
You better do what he says guys, he's a former MVP of a message board!

Luckily I am keeping my seat, so I retain the right to complain.
 

dpodoll68 said:
You're paying a premium to help fund the athletics program. There are those who don't want to do so, and that's fine and their right, but then they don't get to come around on the back end and make jokes about asbestos falling from the practice facility roof, complaining that we can't draw coaching talent because we don't have the funds to pay competitive salaries, why can't we put our coaches on private planes for all of their recruiting trips, etc., etc., etc.
Click to expand...

I have donated to the new facility and have never complained about any of the above. I'm not looking for any pat on the back; I'm frustrated that a somewhat sterile game atmosphere is likely going to become more sterile. Thus, I am trying to decipher where people stand and what hard core fans are doing….b/c if they're bailing it's not good.

Here's your pat on the back for keeping yours.

FYI…my tickets are $400 cheaper this year, and I'm out b/c it's the correct time for doing so b/c of family. How is that seeking some sort of approval?

-27
 

OddStack said:
How is that seeking some sort of approval?
Click to expand...

You're right, it's very true that starting a thread on the topic, quite clearly being very angry, and keeping a running total of net tickets lost shows that you don't care what other people think.
 

Maximus said:
Did you buy 8 the day after the regular season ended and days before the donation plan was announced? Hope you get a refund.

March 2014 after the actual ticket price increased
Click to expand...

We had a new couple that wanted to join our group and talked us into renewing for another year. I'm glad they did. However, all 8 will be dropped this year due to the new ticket price increase. Apparently the new couple expects to enjoy $10 tickets and free hot dogs as much as I will. Good work on the history search - you did an excellent job.
 

Our group of 23 will be adding about 6 more tickets. Up from 7 when the stadium opened. We just keep recruiting more. We are all in our early 30s, so we get plenty rowdy to add to the atmosphere
 


OddStack said:
I have donated to the new facility and have never complained about any of the above. I'm not looking for any pat on the back; I'm frustrated that a somewhat sterile game atmosphere is likely going to become more sterile. Thus, I am trying to decipher where people stand and what hard core fans are doing….b/c if they're bailing it's not good.

Here's your pat on the back for keeping yours.

FYI…my tickets are $400 cheaper this year, and I'm out b/c it's the correct time for doing so b/c of family. How is that seeking some sort of approval?

-27
Click to expand...

I don't really know why you expect to gain anything from this running tally, as it's obvious that people who are the most worked up about the price increase are the most likely to be motivated to post in this thread. It's an obviously skewed count that really provides no real information.

Me personally, I couldn't have cared less about posting in this thread until you made it abundantly clear that you wanted to keep this stupid counter rolling. We're adding two new sets of tickets to the mix. I don't doubt that there are a bunch of people just like me who are adding tickets but don't care about your counter.

So I guess you should add two to your flawed count.
 

DLguy said:
Our group of 23 will be adding about 6 more tickets. Up from 7 when the stadium opened. We just keep recruiting more. We are all in our early 30s, so we get plenty rowdy to add to the atmosphere
Click to expand...

Great job - Yep, it is time to move on with a new fan base and the younger the better. It also will means less seats for Nebraska and Wisconsin fans this fall.
 

HouseOfHagen said:
We had a new couple that wanted to join our group and talked us into renewing for another year. I'm glad they did. However, all 8 will be dropped this year due to the new ticket price increase. Apparently the new couple expects to enjoy $10 tickets and free hot dogs as much as I will. Good work on the history search - you did an excellent job.
Click to expand...

Thanks! It wasn't easy. I had scroll down a whole 11 posts in the history.
 

Keeping our 2.
I have to say that I'm disappointed in the rollout of this whole thing though. The AD is pretty tone deaf to what this is going to do to the fanbase, and the stadium. The people they paid to study this absolutely failed in their recommendations and the U paid for really bad research IMO.

It would have been much better received after a sellout year which very well could have happened this upcoming year had this increase not been announced.

A 1 year delay on this along with a much more vigorous season ticket campaign not run by absolute idiots at the U marketing division could have jammed the stadium to true sellouts with a winning product and a good schedule. Even another 8 win season under these circumstances would probably be enough to ensure a waiting list for the 2016 season.

Then you roll out the increase, perhaps with an announcement of the new football facilities, a Kill extension, or even stadium amenity upgrades after the Vikes leave.

I know this was probably a necessity due to the new scholarship stipends and the need to get the athletic upgrades going, but it just is 1-2 years too early IMO.

As it sits I think this thread is a good indicator of the impact this will have on a very promising season: More stale gamedays, more scalpers setting the market, more opposing fans, less young people buying tickets, more leaning on the big donors and older crowd to fill the newer expensive seats.

I truly believe this could stop the progress Kill has made here.
I really think either it was an absolute requirement for the AD to stay ahead of the budget, or it's a HUGE risk by Teague and Kill expecting a breakout(Rose Bowl 10-12 win) season within the next 2 years.

I'm a homer but even I don't see that. If it happens most of this will go by the wayside as long time ticketholders will see a payoff and better product than ever in their fandom life, but now an 8 win season doesn't parlay into a sold out stadium:
it brings a dangerous sense of a program hitting it's ceiling along with pissed off people paying more for the same old same old(short term memories).
 



OddStack said:
I bet this goes up considerably! I didn't know you have to notify them in writing to cancel your tickets. I got an invoice today for doing nothing and had to call to clarify why I'm getting the invoice.

Total: -21
Click to expand...

Just curious, I see in another post your count is up to -27. Do you have a target decrease in mind that you'd like to see?
 


dpodoll68 said:
Like I've already said - bitch all you want about ticket prices and drop them, but when you do so, you forfeit your right to complain about the quality of the program.
Click to expand...

You are soft. I've always said that unless you sit in a premium level, (box seat, highest level donation), have your name on TCF Bank Stadium due to a significant gift early in the construction, continue to give annually to get at least one free road trip on the charter flight, then you forfeit your right to complain about the quality of the program. That's where I draw the line. I assume you are in that level, if not, you forfeited your right to complain about lack of recruiting resources, ability to pay top coaches, lack of facilities and more. I think its cute that you set your financial terms so low. You clearly have no idea what big time donation level it takes to run a top program.
 

I put the tally there b/c there was a running tally about GHers that bought bowl tickets.

People keep assuming that I'm angry; I'm not. I think it's a terrible decision and agree with most of what Ole said. I wanted to get a temperature from hard core fans on how this would affect the hard core fan base if it would.

I'd like to know where the break even point is for the U. How many season tix do they have to sell to get the same revenue they're getting now from the tix. Obviously, they'll come out ahead but at what cost and how long will it last?
 



El Amin Fan said:
You are soft. I've always said that unless you sit in a premium level, (box seat, highest level donation), have your name on TCF Bank Stadium due to a significant gift early in the construction, continue to give annually to get at least one free road trip on the charter flight, then you forfeit your right to complain about the quality of the program. That's where I draw the line. I assume you are in that level, if not, you forfeited your right to complain about lack of recruiting resources, ability to pay top coaches, lack of facilities and more. I think its cute that you set your financial terms so low. You clearly have no idea what big time donation level it takes to run a top program.
Click to expand...

;) I got a good chuckle out of this post. I know that I don't meet your qualifications. Although my opinion that the price increase is outrageous, I will try and offset the additional costs by continuing to spin the Treasure Island Wheel. I have plenty of free bowling coupons if anyone is interested. Also, I will stop buying game snacks as I will fill up on the free grilled pork samples outside of the stadium. Even a cheapskate like me has learned to stay away from the Wolf Brand Chili.
 

go4rob said:
We kept our two and our friends that we sit with kept their two...all four are in the $450/seat zone....section 212 row 8. Looking forward to a great season. This is still the best bang for buck in town IMHO. Viking, Twins, Wild, are all way more expensive and I'd rather my money go to the Gophers.
Click to expand...

+1.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
OSU comes to town at 8-1 to play the 7-2 Gophers, fresh off an absolute mauling of one of their biggest rivals and they announced a crowd 5,000 shy of a sellout. The Vikes probably sell 20,000 more seats in a similar scenario. That's the difference in the fanbases.
Click to expand...

Couldn't be more spot on.
 

go4rob said:
We kept our two and our friends that we sit with kept their two...all four are in the $450/seat zone....section 212 row 8. Looking forward to a great season. This is still the best bang for buck in town IMHO. Viking, Twins, Wild, are all way more expensive and I'd rather my money go to the Gophers.
Click to expand...
The best "bang for the buck" is to get your Gopher FB tickets on Stub Hub. Same experience at half the price! Or better yet, wait for the Athletic Dept to release the tickets the week of the game at a quarter the price the season ticket holders pay.
 

DLguy said:
Our group of 23 will be adding about 6 more tickets. Up from 7 when the stadium opened. We just keep recruiting more. We are all in our early 30s, so we get plenty rowdy to add to the atmosphere
Click to expand...

Great to hear. Sounds like you and your group are a smart bunch and also know a great and comparatively affordable product (compared to the Vikings, Twins, Wild, T-Wolves) when you see it. Now some others in this forum and in this thread, apparently not so much. Luddites is what some might call them.....not me personally......but what some might call them. ;)

Cheers and Ski-U-Mah!
 

I don't have a horse in the race - I am not a season ticket holder (live 2-1/2 hrs away from TC and work every Saturday).

BUT - I would never presume to tell anyone how to spend their money. If someone feels they need to drop season tix because they need the money to pay regular bills (food, heat, lights, mortgage), I would never criticize them for that decision. Someone else said they were dropping tix in order to spend more time attending their kid's activities. Again, no one should criticize someone for wanting to spend more time with their kids.

Apparently some of the people on this board feel they have the right to tell other people how to live their lives or spend their money. I wonder how they would feel if I walked into their house, looked at their bank account, and told them they're not spending enough money. There are more important things in life than Gopher FB.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I don't have a horse in the race - I am not a season ticket holder (live 2-1/2 hrs away from TC and work every Saturday).

BUT - I would never presume to tell anyone how to spend their money. If someone feels they need to drop season tix because they need the money to pay regular bills (food, heat, lights, mortgage), I would never criticize them for that decision. Someone else said they were dropping tix in order to spend more time attending their kid's activities. Again, no one should criticize someone for wanting to spend more time with their kids.

Apparently some of the people on this board feel they have the right to tell other people how to live their lives or spend their money. I wonder how they would feel if I walked into their house, looked at their bank account, and told them they're not spending enough money. There are more important things in life than Gopher FB.
Click to expand...

Can I give you a call quick for some advice on how to spend some money I have had sitting around? ;)
 

Yep. I have learned something from GH. I thought being a grad of the U, a STH for the past 20-years, making road trips to NE, WI, IA, PSU, PU, MI, NU, UNLV, attending practices every year, spring games, hours on GH, watching each game 2+ times, following recruiting, etc., etc. made me a fan. Turns out, none of that matters. Because I chose to not pay the increase over the next 3-years because of money considerations, missing games due to kid events, having to pay the same for non-conf, games, etc. It turns out I'm not a fan, don't support the team, can't comment on it, and also don't realize what a great value it is compared to other teams in MN (which I also buy tickets for a la carte). Makes perfect sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I don't have a horse in the race - I am not a season ticket holder (live 2-1/2 hrs away from TC and work every Saturday).

BUT - I would never presume to tell anyone how to spend their money. If someone feels they need to drop season tix because they need the money to pay regular bills (food, heat, lights, mortgage), I would never criticize them for that decision. Someone else said they were dropping tix in order to spend more time attending their kid's activities. Again, no one should criticize someone for wanting to spend more time with their kids.

Apparently some of the people on this board feel they have the right to tell other people how to live their lives or spend their money. I wonder how they would feel if I walked into their house, looked at their bank account, and told them they're not spending enough money. There are more important things in life than Gopher FB.
Click to expand...

It's always easier to spend someone else's money.
 

Renewed two.

There will be more cheap seat options after the expansion to 80K.
 

CWCWCW said:
;) I got a good chuckle out of this post. I know that I don't meet your qualifications. Although my opinion that the price increase is outrageous, I will try and offset the additional costs by continuing to spin the Treasure Island Wheel. I have plenty of free bowling coupons if anyone is interested. Also, I will stop buying game snacks as I will fill up on the free grilled pork samples outside of the stadium. Even a cheapskate like me has learned to stay away from the Wolf Brand Chili.
Click to expand...

I'm still in with my two tickets, but I will avoid buying anything from concessions as well. More contraband is the name of that game.
 

GopherVotary said:
Renewed two.

There will be more cheap seat options after the expansion to 80K.
Click to expand...

I have a decent amount of priority points but the arrogance of this pricing move at this time has left me very outraged and now deflated.

My initial feeling was that I would dump the tickets out of principle, especially in light of the nature of the year 2 and 3 increases, which relative to the rest of the Big Ten are insane at this point in the program's elevation.

I then considered waiting for years 2 or 3 before pulling the plug, but that may now be out.

I am now looking for a new job and that changes everything, so unless I get a real good one before 4/17 (or whenever the real deadline is) I am dumping the tickets. I know that if there is a good chance they will pull back after year one, because they are going to take a big hit from lots of angry people this year, and the market wasn't there even before this happened.

Regardless of my job/ income situation I would never pay almost $1800 a year for two tickets in 2017 that I paid $775 total for recently. That kind of money grab is not going to fly with me or anyone else other than some of the website vigilantes and zealots on Gopherhole.
This poorly though out Norwood money grab sure the hell is not going to do anything about the 6,000 empty bench seats we(and any fan around the country watching on TV) saw every game last year. Those empty seats at the Ohio State game tell the story; it was the biggest game since 1967 and the atmosphere and weather were just fine in a good hat, coat, and pair of boots.

Absent a Rose Bowl or BCS Bowl next year this is going to blow up in their faces and I can buy back into a good section equal to where I am or even better ($100 donation lower bowl) in the future with not a lot of completion from other buyers, even after sacrificing my points.

I will have more money to drive directly or fly to Chicago and get a rental car allowing me to get to numerous road games and buy tickets on the street for the home games.

The thing to remember is that Norwood did not learn from they firestorm over the North Carolina cancellation, and this is a similar arrogance related blunder that will flop, but on a much more catastrophic scale for the program.

This is a momentum killer and Minnesotans are notoriously frugal and cranky about anything they perceive as arrogant or a grab for their money. The consultants that Norwood is buying into have no idea about this Minnesota mentality and Norwood should know better by now.

Some may not like the truth but here it is:

The stadium will be ghost town in three years if this plays out without major bowl wins and trips to Indianapolis. Maybe they can sell/ give away 25,000 student tickets cheap to make up for the rest of us. That would actually be fine with me but it will never happen.


-2

-2
 

GopherVotary said:
Renewed two.

There will be more cheap seat options after the expansion to 80K.
Click to expand...
Let's hope that never happens. The fanbase is not big enough to support that. Even if the Gophs win a championship, it would come back down eventually and then we would have a metrodome situation again.
 

It is clear from this string that some people here are very angry and upset about the proposed increases if Gopher football season tickets. This doesn't surprise me one bit but I am very puzzled by the lack of any discussion or awareness here of the impact that the major changes that are about to take place will have on all college athletic departments' finances.

If Minnesota does not prepare properly for this our program could be in big trouble. Fortunately, the good news is that Jerry now has the program in a good position to compete on the field. The problem is that these new upcoming financial demands, such as increased financial support for the student athletes, are going to be a challenge for Minnesota if they want to compete against Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State etc. The reality is that part of the solution is going to have to be increased ticket revenues. It is my hope that our fans will value our team as much as these other teams’ fans seem to value theirs. As a fan, I am willing to make this investment and I hope that others are also willing to do that.

One last comment, I am disappointed how poorly the University has both communicated the need and the case for it.
 

Renewed 4 at the former $250, now $450 and increasing, level. I am in Zone 2

I know to some this will seem crazy, but I am considering a move into Zone 1 depending on what the Zone 2 options are this year.

My logic, for what it is worth, is that the previous 100% premium for Zone 1 versus Zone 2 ($250 versus $500) drops to a 33.3333333333333333333...% premium in 2017 ($750 versus $1000). So the incremental cost to incremental value ratio improves considerably.

And the 80% deductibility is a pretty big factor as well.

However, all Gopher fans are friends and comrades. Whether you buy season tickets, pay the premium for better seats, buy tickets to a game or two, only go when you can get cheap or free tickets, watch on TV, or listen on the radio, you are OK by me!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom