Shama: U Football Scheduling Needs Makeover

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Shama:

Thursday night P.J. Fleck makes his debut as the Gophers head football coach but there will be a lot fewer eyeballs on his 2017 team than there should be because the Vikings are also playing their final preseason game. It’s ridiculous that the two teams are playing home games in Minneapolis within a couple miles of one another on the same night.

That was also the reality in 2016—and two years ago the teams again played on the same evening, but at least that time the Vikings were out of town when the Gophers lost to TCU in front of a TCF Bank Stadium record crowd.

The scheduling conflict will happen in the future too, unless Gophers leaders move away from nonconference opening games on Thursday nights. The NFL mandates that its teams play the last of their four preseason games on Thursdays that usually are in late August.

The University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Fair authorities made an agreement before TCF Bank Stadium opened in 2009 that created these Thursday night conflicts. The agreement runs through June 30, 2022, and requires that any Gophers home game prior to Labor Day be played on a Thursday evening.

The reason for the agreement is during the State Fair drivers can park their cars for free on the University’s Minneapolis campus and ride free buses to the fairgrounds in nearby Falcon Heights. The Gophers usually play at home on Saturdays but because of larger fair-going crowds on the weekends, U officials agreed to switch games to Thursday evenings.

The Thursday night conflicts don’t work very well for local football fans, and that problem begins with season ticket holders. There are companies and individuals who buy season tickets for both the Gophers and Vikings. That’s a dilemma on Thursday evenings, and it also is for the general football population who want to follow both teams either in person or on TV. There are also high school football games this Thursday evening, causing another conflict.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

We're talking about a preseason NFL game, wouldn't the easy solution be to schedule the Vikings on the road?
 



As an individual who loves and supports both the Vikings and Gophers I couldn't possibly in a million years understand spending time at a preseason event instead of a regular season event regardless of opponent. This would include any and all sports teams I follow.
 


It's the 4th preseason game. Who cares. If that effects attendance then we have problems.


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Just means he wanted to go to both. You could fit the people who give a damn about David Shama into a Prius. And still have room for luggage.
 

CentralGopher said:
It's the 4th preseason game. Who cares. If that effects attendance then we have problems.


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Unless it is like the end of the preseason game last night.

I caught the last drive. That was more preseason NFL fun than I'd had in years... admittedly I only caught that because I wandered near a TV that happened to have it on...
 

Tim Riggins said:
We're talking about a preseason NFL game, wouldn't the easy solution be to schedule the Vikings on the road?
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tmvander said:
As an individual who loves and supports both the Vikings and Gophers I couldn't possibly in a million years understand spending time at a preseason event instead of a regular season event regardless of opponent. This would include any and all sports teams I follow.
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CentralGopher said:
It's the 4th preseason game. Who cares. If that effects attendance then we have problems.
Click to expand...

Putting the Vikings on the road wouldn't change the State Fair conflict though.
 



Last year the Twins were also playing at home on the Thursday night prior to Labor Day. At least the Twins are playing at noon this year when they could have had a night game since they are home on Friday as well.

If it comes down to Gophers or Vikings, I would say Gophers because that 4th NFL preseason game is a big snooze fest. No starters will play and very few 2nd stringers will play. It will be mostly 3rd stringers and practice squad type players who likely may not make the 53 man roster.

I enjoy the Thursday night games because it's national TV exposure regardless of the opponent or network.
 

tmvander said:
As an individual who loves and supports both the Vikings and Gophers I couldn't possibly in a million years understand spending time at a preseason event instead of a regular season event regardless of opponent. This would include any and all sports teams I follow.
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Agreed. There are very few entertainment options more boring than pre-season NFL football. College football is awesome because there is no pre-season, and because rosters change significantly from year to year. Game 1 of the season is always interesting, even if the opponent is garbage.
 

joshvanklomp said:
Putting the Vikings on the road wouldn't change the State Fair conflict though.
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Putting the Gophers on the road would. Which they did in '09, '10, "11 and '12. Kill went apoplectic about it. He wanted to start at home, State Fair Board be damned. He found out that the members of the Fair Board ARE the damned.

Wonder if Fleck or the Wilfs are interested in changing their minds?
 




Only in MN can the State Fair determine when school starts and when your premier University Plays Football?
 

CentralGopher said:
It's the 4th preseason game. Who cares. If that effects attendance then we have problems.


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Preseason or not, the challenge is people pay a lot for those tickets. Buddy has season tix to Purple, was all set to go with me to Gophs then realized the Purple play. He spent a chunk of change on his tix and seat licenses...so he's going to that preseason game instead.
 

For the more common fan (not STHs), there's a prestige/perception that seems to slant more in the Vikings' favor, fourth preseason game or not. I think there are many who would rather go to the Vikings game for whatever reason. Also, for many people, the college team they root for is many times their alma mater. So for the person who isn't a UMN alum and wants to go to a football game on Thursday night, the Gophers game won't be as appealing as the Vikings game.

I think PJ is off to a good start of trying to improve the perception of the Gopher football program. The improved prestige will come with on-field success.
 

Mvgopher said:
Only in MN can the State Fair determine when school starts and when your premier University Plays Football?
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Does seem strange! I live in Colorado now and I never hear anything about the state fair here let alone it affecting a CU or CSU game.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Preseason or not, the challenge is people pay a lot for those tickets. Buddy has season tix to Purple, was all set to go with me to Gophs then realized the Purple play. He spent a chunk of change on his tix and seat licenses...so he's going to that preseason game instead.
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Yup.... stupidity reigns. I'd rather dig dandelions when it comes to watching the Vikings
 

Mvgopher said:
Only in MN can the State Fair determine when school starts and when your premier University Plays Football?
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No kidding but ask anybody who's had to work with them before. They'd rather work with the Mob. They're more honorable.

The East Campus uses some parking that is on State Fair land during the school year. They have for years. No big deal. The State Fair Board doesn't really need it during the time that the U is in session. The agreement has worked well for years.

When the U and Kill originally wanted to play on the 1st Saturday they talked to the State Fair Board about parking, shuttle buses, etc. Not only did they refuse to work with the U, but they threatened to throw out the agreement to allow the University to use the parking while the school was in session!

And don't think that the Legislature will take the U's side against the Fair Board.

They won't.

Row The Boat

Ski U Mah
 


ruppertflywheel said:
Yup.... stupidity reigns. I'd rather dig dandelions when it comes to watching the Vikings
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Not to mention it's the 4th practice game where none of the starters will sniff the field. Viking fans are a lot like any Wisconsin sport fan.
 

Is there a reason we couldn't open on Wednesday instead of Thursday?
 

GopherVotary said:
Is there a reason we couldn't open on Wednesday instead of Thursday?
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I would say the NCAA won't allow it, but there were already games last Saturday. They could also move it to Friday, but then the HS games become more of a factor. All in all it's a bad agreement. The game should be on Saturday. But the net impact on attendance is probably 5K on the high end and more likely 1-2K.
 

howeda7 said:
I would say the NCAA won't allow it, but there were already games last Saturday. They could also move it to Friday, but then the HS games become more of a factor. All in all it's a bad agreement. The game should be on Saturday. But the net impact on attendance is probably 5K on the high end and more likely 1-2K.
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It is an NCAA rule actually. Teams have to have an exemption to play the Saturday before the Thursday of Labor Day weekend. Otherwise Thursday night is the earliest.

Rd2XHG.png
 

I always enjoyed the Thursday opener when I was a student. A nice way to kick off the semester. The idea makes a lot of sense tho, obviously the regular season is way more important than the Vikings 4th preseason game but that's still 40,000 football fans that could in theory be watching the Gophers instead. Would also help a lot if the Gophers were playing someone more exciting than Buffalo
 

joshvanklomp said:
It is an NCAA rule actually. Teams have to have an exemption to play the Saturday before the Thursday of Labor Day weekend. Otherwise Thursday night is the earliest.

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Thanks. I thought there was a rule preventing any games before Thursday, but the games this past Saturday made me wonder if things changed.
 

Next, let's talk about the Wolves and the Wild playing home games on the same night - or the Wolves and/or Wild having a home game the same night as a Gopher Hoops game.

Unfortunately, when you have multiple pro teams and a major college team in the same market, there are going to be conflicts - especially when every team has their own arena.

The Thursday night logjam is an issue - but the only way around it would be for the Vikes, Twins and Gophers to reach some kind of agreement on scheduling. I just don't see that happening. As long as the current agreement between the Fair Board and the Gophers is in effect, we're going to see conflicts on that Thursday night - and if the Twins happen to have a night game - a three-way conflict. It just comes down to which team is your #1 priority. And the sad truth is that, for a lot of fans, the Vikes are their #1 priority over the Gophers. The gophers would have to do something big on the field to change the status quo.
 

They thing of it is is that Gopher football occupies a rather low rung on the Minnesota sporting interest ladder and the sad reality of Gopher football for over 50 years is that that 4th preseason game will have the same bearing on the last NFL game of the year as the first out of conference game for Gophers will have on the last NCAA game of the year or even the last Big10 game of the year. Both are meaningless games in the eyes of the average sporting public except an NFL game is brag worthy in most sporting public minds. With the exception of one or two games (Michigan collapse?), Where the U has an outside chance of putting up any kind of banner, many of us folks heading have not seen meaningful Gopher football games in Minneapolis.

To even suggest that the Vikings could or would move a game for the Gophers is laughable. Chances are the NFL pulls all those strings anyway and they are more than happy to prove That even a mediocre NFL club can demolish a middling P5 team head to head.


tmvander said:
As an individual who loves and supports both the Vikings and Gophers I couldn't possibly in a million years understand spending time at a preseason event instead of a regular season event regardless of opponent. This would include any and all sports teams I follow.
Click to expand...
 

I would hope this would be a bigger concern for the Vikings than the Gophers. We will see on Thursday. Hopefully the beginning of the Fleck Era fills up the Bank
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Next, let's talk about the Wolves and the Wild playing home games on the same night - or the Wolves and/or Wild having a home game the same night as a Gopher Hoops game.

Unfortunately, when you have multiple pro teams and a major college team in the same market, there are going to be conflicts - especially when every team has their own arena.

The Thursday night logjam is an issue - but the only way around it would be for the Vikes, Twins and Gophers to reach some kind of agreement on scheduling. I just don't see that happening. As long as the current agreement between the Fair Board and the Gophers is in effect, we're going to see conflicts on that Thursday night - and if the Twins happen to have a night game - a three-way conflict. It just comes down to which team is your #1 priority. And the sad truth is that, for a lot of fans, the Vikes are their #1 priority over the Gophers. The gophers would have to do something big on the field to change the status quo.
Click to expand...

This assumes the Twins and Vikings can control their own scheduling. Odds are that they cannot.
 

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