Gophers vs. Buffalo Season Opener Announced as 6 p.m. CT Kickoff


I love that we're going to have a lot more afternoon games this year... makes tailgating a hell of a lot easier with small children.
 

I'm ok with that. It gets late starting at 7 or goddamn 8 pm.

I love that we're going to have a lot more afternoon games this year... makes tailgating a hell of a lot easier with small children.

Amen, I want to take the family but late games make that impossible.
 

For an evening game, 6 PM is pretty much ideal. Only downside is having to fight traffic to the game. Will they clear the lots earlier in some way?
 

I absolutely love all of our announced start times thus far! Perfect from my perspective!
 


I must be in the minority. A 6pm Thursday game pretty much guarantees a sparse crowd in my opinion. Getting to TCF by 6pm is not easy. I would have preferred 7 or 8.
 

I must be in the minority. A 6pm Thursday game pretty much guarantees a sparse crowd in my opinion. Getting to TCF by 6pm is not easy. I would have preferred 7 or 8.

I agree. A little bit harder to tailgate before the game as we have in previous season openers. Guess I will have to leave work at noon! And as another asked, will they clear lots earlier so we can tailgate?
 

I must be in the minority. A 6pm Thursday game pretty much guarantees a sparse crowd in my opinion. Getting to TCF by 6pm is not easy. I would have preferred 7 or 8.

If the crowd is small not sure 6pm vs 7 or 8 would increase it that much.
 

With 87 days advance notice, I'm sure everyone can make the appropriate arrangements to get to the game / tailgating on time, if they so desire. SMFH!
 



I agree. A little bit harder to tailgate before the game as we have in previous season openers. Guess I will have to leave work at noon! And as another asked, will they clear lots earlier so we can tailgate?

Kill used to write a note for your boss to allow you to leave work early. Maybe PJF will do the same.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Nice. So that must mean we're close to the announcement of the time change of the Twins-White Sox game that day from 12:10 to 7:10 and a 7:10 kickoff for the 4th Vikings preseason game against the Dolphins......
 

Nice. So that must mean we're close to the announcement of the time change of the Twins-White Sox game that day from 12:10 to 7:10 and a 7:10 kickoff for the 4th Vikings preseason game against the Dolphins......

Seems logical.
 

Nice. So that must mean we're close to the announcement of the time change of the Twins-White Sox game that day from 12:10 to 7:10 and a 7:10 kickoff for the 4th Vikings preseason game against the Dolphins......
Already announced
 



Complaints about a 6pm game for the opener, really? As stated earlier, you have 2+months to figure out your plans if you're going. Take the day off work or take a half day, get to campus early and either tailgate or head to a watering hole. I get that it's not ideal for traffic reasons, but you'll never hear fans from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, etc... complain about the start time of a game. That's their culture, football is their top priority.

Hope to see The Bank full that Thursday, even though I'll likely be at home watching on TV.
 


I must be in the minority. A 6pm Thursday game pretty much guarantees a sparse crowd in my opinion. Getting to TCF by 6pm is not easy. I would have preferred 7 or 8.
Yes, yes. Start times greatly impact crowd size at Columbus, Ann Arbor, and State College.
 

Complaints about a 6pm game for the opener, really? As stated earlier, you have 2+months to figure out your plans if you're going. Take the day off work or take a half day, get to campus early and either tailgate or head to a watering hole. I get that it's not ideal for traffic reasons, but you'll never hear fans from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, etc... complain about the start time of a game. That's their culture, football is their top priority.

Hope to see The Bank full that Thursday, even though I'll likely be at home watching on TV.

I will be there, but I am .002% of the stadium capacity. The 6pm start time is nothing more than a mild inconvenience for me. For others, it means taking PTO that they don't have enough of, getting the kids in the car by 4:00, and sitting in rush hour traffic. We are nowhere close to the point where we can play a game against Buffalo and get people to the bank by 6pm on a weeknight. Not because people can't, but because people don't care enough to do it. Hopefully someday we get to the point where there are enough people willing to do that for our Gophers so we can be in the same conversation as the other schools you list. I don't agree that we should schedule games at horrible days and times and expect our fanbase to adapt because the best fan bases in the country don't care what time their games are. We are not them, and playing at 6pm on a Thursday does not benefit our program.

I have more of a problem with our obsession with starting the season on Thursday than I do about the 6pm start though. Nobody is forcing us to play on Thursday, yet we choose to because we think people would rather come to a game on a Thursday night instead of a Saturday afternoon because of the State Fair.
 


I will be there, but I am .002% of the stadium capacity. The 6pm start time is nothing more than a mild inconvenience for me. For others, it means taking PTO that they don't have enough of, getting the kids in the car by 4:00, and sitting in rush hour traffic. We are nowhere close to the point where we can play a game against Buffalo and get people to the bank by 6pm on a weeknight. Not because people can't, but because people don't care enough to do it. Hopefully someday we get to the point where there are enough people willing to do that for our Gophers so we can be in the same conversation as the other schools you list. I don't agree that we should schedule games at horrible days and times and expect our fanbase to adapt because the best fan bases in the country don't care what time their games are. We are not them, and playing at 6pm on a Thursday does not benefit our program.

I have more of a problem with our obsession with starting the season on Thursday than I do about the 6pm start though. Nobody is forcing us to play on Thursday, yet we choose to because we think people would rather come to a game on a Thursday night instead of a Saturday afternoon because of the State Fair.

Count me as one who would prefer a 7:00 kickoff. However, I've grown to like the Thursday night openers. First, it's a night game, which is always more fun. It guarantees that it won't be an 11:00 a.m. kickoff. It also gives the Gophers one of the few games on TV that night. Even if it's on BTN, people are excited for the season and want to watch football, and they don't have many games to choose from.

Also, while I don't have a cabin or special plans for most Labor Day weekends, many others do. Thursday doesn't conflict with that.
 

Bad time for western fans, but with DVR it's not a big deal anymore. At least the guys will be tucked in for their normal bedtime.
 


for Buffalo, it will feel like 7 pm...they will be sleepwalking by second half.
 


With 87 days advance notice, I'm sure everyone can make the appropriate arrangements to get to the game / tailgating on time, if they so desire. SMFH!

Exactly. I make it into an extended weekend for these games starting at Noon on Thursday.
 

We, thankfully, have great public transit in our amazing city. You can find a way to get there. I guess I'm spoiled because I have worked in sales for so long but I can't imagine a scenario where one wouldn't be able to take a half day and start drinking at Stubs n' Herbs at about noon on game day. Fan's make exceptions to be there.
 

I will be covering a HS FB game that night, as some teams in my area jump the gun on the opening weekend by playing on Thursday.

As far as attendance, I will say this: the Gophers are at the stage as a program where fans say "Do I want to go to the Gopher Game?"

The next step would be "I'm going to the Gopher Game" with no hesitation.

And then, the level of the big boys: "I wouldn't miss the Gopher game if my life depended on it." When (If) the Gophers get to that point, and build up a waiting list for season tickets, then they can talk legitimately about expanding the stadium.
 



With 87 days advance notice, I'm sure everyone can make the appropriate arrangements to get to the game / tailgating on time, if they so desire. SMFH!

Complaints about a 6pm game for the opener, really? As stated earlier, you have 2+months to figure out your plans if you're going. Take the day off work or take a half day, get to campus early and either tailgate or head to a watering hole. I get that it's not ideal for traffic reasons, but you'll never hear fans from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, etc... complain about the start time of a game. That's their culture, football is their top priority.

Hope to see The Bank full that Thursday, even though I'll likely be at home watching on TV.

I will be there, but I am .002% of the stadium capacity. The 6pm start time is nothing more than a mild inconvenience for me. For others, it means taking PTO that they don't have enough of, getting the kids in the car by 4:00, and sitting in rush hour traffic. We are nowhere close to the point where we can play a game against Buffalo and get people to the bank by 6pm on a weeknight. Not because people can't, but because people don't care enough to do it. Hopefully someday we get to the point where there are enough people willing to do that for our Gophers so we can be in the same conversation as the other schools you list. I don't agree that we should schedule games at horrible days and times and expect our fanbase to adapt because the best fan bases in the country don't care what time their games are. We are not them, and playing at 6pm on a Thursday does not benefit our program.

I have more of a problem with our obsession with starting the season on Thursday than I do about the 6pm start though. Nobody is forcing us to play on Thursday, yet we choose to because we think people would rather come to a game on a Thursday night instead of a Saturday afternoon because of the State Fair.

People make it sound so easy sometimes. Everyone can have preferences and obstacles out of their control. I know with 100% certainty I will be at a work conference in Rhode Island that week through Thursday afternoon. An 8pm start would have bought me 2 more hours to fly in, get through MSP, and get to TCF. I'm not complaining - if it doesn't work out, I'll give my tickets to my family and they can have fun at the opener!
 





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