Is the Gopher fan base really that old?

Hates Monikers

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The Zulgad thread alluded to the Gopher fan base being gray, and I just heard him talk about it on the air. I've been hearing this since the 1980s. After having Gopher basketball season tickets for 23 years and football tickets for 10, I have to disagree. Yet, the media continues to throw it out there and it pisses me off.

Am I wrong?

For context, I'm 50. If 50 and up is what we're talking about, then every fan base is old. Sure, there are fans there who are older than that wearing sweaters. But from my seat in section 103, I see very little gray hair (okay, Laker Fan sitting next to me is gray, but he's younger than I am :p). I see young children walking up and down the aisles and 30-somethings all around us. I see very little gray tailgating at East River Flats. And in visiting other stadiums during the football season, it's clear that many older alums go to their games, too.

Of course we have older fans who go to games. Thank god. We simply need more fans of all ages, old and young. In particular, the U could do more to keep the 20-somethings, where price keeps many at home. But I see far more fans in their 30s, 40s and 50s than I see of those who are older. I think the "old" fan base line no longer applies. I think people who go to games know this.

Am I the only one who believes this?
 

I haven't seen any detailed demographics.

-Goes back to watching the Matlock marathon on the Hallmark Channel-
 

We desperately need younger fans as does the NFL and all other major sports. Us grey hairs did not leave when the going was rough, the younger fans will in my opinion. Must win now and often to keep a fan base today. I know the beer sales are a good source of revenue and I partake but if it gets out of hand, women will stop going and then hubby will not be able to bring the kids and then we know what comes next... One key is to have a family friendly event if we are to cultivate new fans. The wild seem to be able to do this pretty well.
 

We desperately need younger fans as does the NFL and all other major sports. Us grey hairs did not leave when the going was rough, the younger fans will in my opinion. Must win now and often to keep a fan base today. I know the beer sales are a good source of revenue and I partake but if it gets out of hand, women will stop going and then hubby will not be able to bring the kids and then we know what comes next... One key is to have a family friendly event if we are to cultivate new fans. The wild seem to be able to do this pretty well.

I, for one, would not be going to games if they got rid of beer sales. Also the sole reason that I don't buy hockey tickets.
 

I don't particularly think Gopher fans are older than other fan bases in town (would love to see data saying otherwise), with exceptions being probably United and maybe the Timberwolves. The NFL is ubiquitously popular and therefore has a lot of older fans, baseball has a lot of older fans, hockey too, although the Wild may be an exception given the age of the franchise itself.

That said, across a lot of these sports there are a lot of factors at play affecting the young consumer, and not all of them are uniquely Gopher issues. Things like shifting spending patterns among younger families (spending more on things like education/loans and travel; marriage, home ownership, and children being delayed until later in life as compared to the previous generations) impacts how much and where they are willing to spend their money. For those with kids, particularly younger kids, things like bag policies, rising concessions prices, length of games, and ability to watch at home easily and comfortably are deterrents to buying in. I know they are for me.

Of course, make it a spectacle by being customer-centric and winning and even those pesky Millennials will want to buy in.
 


I think it needs cultivation on the home front. My parents were Gophers fans. Our kids are Gopher fans The grandkids ( 4 of them all have Gopher gear,ages 2-5). But yes, we do need to capture the new generation group. I think it is good that we've a young coach who can relate to that "30" crowd. I wonder what the demographics of Gopher/Viking fans that hold season tickets for both? ( That's a chunk of cash ) The Vikings will always be at the head of the class in
Minnie. We've friends that won't even take a sniff at collage football, let alone the Gophers.So I think it would be very hard to capture a percentage of Viking fans if the Vikes tank it over the next few years. For me, I think it is the fence sitters we go after. You know the type ." Well, this new guy is enthusiastic, and he seems to be the real deal, but I don't know. No axe in how many years, and when is the last time they won a conference title"?
 

I am in my mid twenties and I may be an outlier due to location (SEC Country) but I try to get to 1 home game each year and I typically go with my parents, aunts and uncles etc. I started attending games with my Grandparents and have always loved going. I don't think my friends from college had the tradition of going to games during their upbringing and now very few of my friends from college attend games any more now post education unless I let them know which game I'll be visiting for. I consider myself the biggest fan in my social circle (for example, I read this board). I can understand where people are coming from when they say it's all older.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I think the fans are old. I don't think the people attending games are a fair representation of how old the fans are.

I've always felt young at The Barn. Football games is a younger crowd but that is because its football.

When/if going to games becomes an event (like basketball last year) there will be more young people. Sadly, my generation doesn't want to watch losers and mediocrity. Keep in mind, for a LONG stretch of football the Gophers were bad. No one was excited. You lost a few decades of potential fans from that. It takes a long time to turn the tide (you need to a lot of oars to do so)

As for me, I was born a Gopher fan (despite no one in my family EVER attending the school). My grandparents moved here from Michigan and never looked back. I was raised without expectations for football and saw some great hoops teams. Takes a long time to get more of me. I think with the way things are changing, impressionable youth (8-12) will be more likely to be a Gopher fan now than they were 20 years ago.
 

I think the fans are old. I don't think the people attending games are a fair representation of how old the fans are.

I've always felt young at The Barn. Football games is a younger crowd but that is because its football.

When/if going to games becomes an event (like basketball last year) there will be more young people. Sadly, my generation doesn't want to watch losers and mediocrity. Keep in mind, for a LONG stretch of football the Gophers were bad. No one was excited. You lost a few decades of potential fans from that. It takes a long time to turn the tide (you need to a lot of oars to do so)

As for me, I was born a Gopher fan (despite no one in my family EVER attending the school). My grandparents moved here from Michigan and never looked back. I was raised without expectations for football and saw some great hoops teams. Takes a long time to get more of me. I think with the way things are changing, impressionable youth (8-12) will be more likely to be a Gopher fan now than they were 20 years ago.

The article was specific to fans attending Gopher football games.
 



The article was specific to fans attending Gopher football games.

I didn't read the article. Didn't even see it posted in here.

If that is the case, I disagree with Zulgad. Yes, the people in the most expensive/best seats are older. A lot of younger people can't afford those seats or have other stuff to worry about like a mortgage, kids, etc. But go sit in the upper level, you'll be surrounded by people in their 20s and 30s. Sure, some older people, just like some younger people in the lower level. But its a lot of families because you can get reasonably priced tickets. When you're buying 4 at a time, $50+ is a lot to most people.
 

I'm guessing it goes back to the belief that the program lost a generation of Gophers fans when it moved to the Metrodome. If you're talking about the students of that era, they'd be in their 50s. The fans older than that are still coming because being back on campus reminds them of Memorial Stadium. But if alums from that era didn't make it a tradition to go to Gophers games at the Metrodome on Saturday afternoon, it likely wasn't something that was instilled into their kids.

Now you have a generation that's creating new traditions at TCF Bank Stadium, but there's a 25-year gap in there where you maybe don't see as many fans.
 

I think the issue lies in the generalization of "Fan Base" vs "Regular Attendees" every fan base needs a variety of demographics, and just in terms of the whole fanbase whose to say whether we need more younger fans or not. In terms of regular attendees, however, I think it's probably skewed older. Some of that you can't fix (older people generally have more money to spend on things like sports tickets), but some you can (students not being engaged enough to continue going to games after graduation). I think that's the real issue, conversion from. Student season ticket holder to Season ticket holder for students who stay in the area. If that doesn't happen at a decent rate eventually the fan base will start to shrink.

Is it a super pressing thing? Not really. Should we work to get fans more engaged and more butts in seats? Absolutely. Shiuld we try to get more people in the stadium for pregame and kickoff (if I can witness a packed stadium at the start of pregame I will die happy)? Absolutely!

People joke about ticket giveaways, but they do give people the chance to go to a game that they wouldn't otherwise go to due to having to purchase a ticket.
 







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