Sid: Gophers football has sold 20,673 season tickets with a renewal rate of 86%


Interesting, but really doesn't tell us all that much without something to compare to. AT the same time last year, how many season tix had been sold, and at what renewal rate?

did a little digging: from what I could find on the internet (which is never wrong):
2015 - season tickets 27,885
2016 - season tickets 22,792

Could not find a final # for 2017 - but according to an article in May of 2017, season ticket sales were at 22,359. The article noted that about 1,000 season tickets had been sold since Fleck's hiring. That would indicate that the season ticket base had dropped to just over 21,000 at some point after the 2016 season. But, it indicates that season ticket sales at this point are lagging slightly behind last year's pace.

On the plus side, plenty of good seats available for 2018.............
 

Seems like they could afford to drop the season tix price what with the 51,000,000 conference revenue redistribution. Free?
 

Seems like they could afford to drop the season tix price what with the 51,000,000 conference revenue redistribution. Free?

And there are folks on this board who would still refuse to attend......


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

And there are folks on this board who would still refuse to attend......


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
There are folks (me) who would attend if the prices dropped.
I overspent last season to watch terrible football on display. "Fool me once..."
Drop the prices and I will be willing to be fooled many times over for the hope of one shining moment. But, I'm not paying the prices currently being asked. I will watch on TV or listen on radio.
 


Everyone says drop the price but noboday styles to what.

There are folks (me) who would attend if the prices dropped.
I overspent last season to watch terrible football on display. "Fool me once..."
Drop the prices and I will be willing to be fooled many times over for the hope of one shining moment. But, I'm not paying the prices currently being asked. I will watch on TV or listen on radio.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 


There are folks (me) who would attend if the prices dropped.
I overspent last season to watch terrible football on display. "Fool me once..."
Drop the prices and I will be willing to be fooled many times over for the hope of one shining moment. But, I'm not paying the prices currently being asked. I will watch on TV or listen on radio.

OK. So how much would you pay? New Mexico State? San Jose? Iowa? Purdue? etc?

You probably know this but street prices have been pretty low.
 

Maybe pay people to come or subsidize the experience...free beer and hot dog. Think Costco with their $1.50 hot dog and soft drink gimme. Come for the booze, stay for the game. Entertain them. Crowds attract crowds.
 



Everyone says drop the price but noboday styles to what.



Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
OK. So how much would you pay? New Mexico State? San Jose? Iowa? Purdue? etc?

You probably know this but street prices have been pretty low.
Preseason, I'd pay $15 in the upper deck. B1G season, I'd go $25-30 in the upper deck. $40 for a rivalry game, WI, IA and MI.
Compare that to the $60 per ticket I paid to watch Maryland beat us with a 3rd string quarterback taking his first snaps last season.
Like I said, "Fool me once..."
 

I'm amazed they sell as many as they do since Stubhub is cheaper overall...
 

Preseason, I'd pay $15 in the upper deck. B1G season, I'd go $25-30 in the upper deck. $40 for a rivalry game, WI, IA and MI.
Compare that to the $60 per ticket I paid to watch Maryland beat us with a 3rd string quarterback taking his first snaps last season.
Like I said, "Fool me once..."

Are you talking upper deck between the 20's? My whole issue is that for decent seat, you pay as much for the licensing as the game itself. How about serious food discounts for licensed seat holders. There should definitely be more value for season ticket holders and then tier the benefits a bit more depending on amount paid. And I am not talking about the privilege to have coffee with 100 other people with the AD.
 





I tend to take the point of view that, if you have a guy in a seat paying $10, and otherwise that seat would be empty, that's $10 more than you would have had.

I remember once upon a time the Guthrie used to have something they called 'rush seating.' Starting 20 or 30 minutes before showtime, any unsold seats were offered to the public for a fairly low price (don't remember how much). I think you could get a better deal with a student ID. Again, rather have someone sitting in a seat enjoying the performance instead of an empty seat.

So, the Gophers could do something similar. 20 minutes before kickoff, any unsold seats become available to all comers at 50% off retail price. Put butts in seats. those people would likely also buy concessions, generating more revenue. empty seat = no revenue. body in seat = revenue. simple to me.

And, if the people buying the rush seating enjoyed the game and the overall experience, they might come back. Heck, they might even think about buying season tickets. Of course, it would help matters if the team played entertaining FB and won some games........
 



Interesting, but really doesn't tell us all that much without something to compare to. AT the same time last year, how many season tix had been sold, and at what renewal rate?

did a little digging: from what I could find on the internet (which is never wrong):
2015 - season tickets 27,885
2016 - season tickets 22,792

Could not find a final # for 2017 - but according to an article in May of 2017, season ticket sales were at 22,359. The article noted that about 1,000 season tickets had been sold since Fleck's hiring. That would indicate that the season ticket base had dropped to just over 21,000 at some point after the 2016 season. But, it indicates that season ticket sales at this point are lagging slightly behind last year's pace.

On the plus side, plenty of good seats available for 2018.............

So, Fleck is supposedly generating a lot of excitement, but where exactly is that happening? Will student season tickets be full this year? Will the students come? Will they stay? Will we sell out a game without half the stands being a rival schools fans?

One of the real and valid reasons our AD failed to cite in relieving Claeys of his duties was that he was a part of a trend that had season tickets declining over the course of the time - even though some of what was going on was due more to Mega-Tongue's plan to raise revenue based on anticipated results that never materialized.

Coyle's approach has been typical for him. Confusing, unclear, and doesn't really make any sense, but we can't expect more there, so it's on PJ Fleck to fill the stands. This report on current sales suggests, like coaching, he has not delivered even an "average" grade in filling the stands yet. This is perhaps the biggest surprise to me given how much "attention, energy and excitement" he reportedly has generated for the Gophers.

Win and the stands will fill up, they say. The problem is that - to steal a simple phrase that one of our litany of incompetent athletic directors stole from another B1G school - "We are, Minnesota" - and even if we're in the midst of a good season, and are against a rival with the ball on the 2 and under a minute to go with a chance to win 1/4 to 1/2 of the crowd left early to "beat the traffic". I'm not sure winning will solve our problem. Nobody like a winner more than a Minnesotan. Nobody has as many excuses as to why not attend as a Minnesotan - and be proud of it. I will never understand it, but it's kind of hard to deny.

A massively fickle fan base, an consistently and repeatedly incompetent athletic department, and a coach whose style isn't exactly Minnesotan, we'll see if winning will cure all that ails us and fills the stands. We have to win first.
 

I tend to take the point of view that, if you have a guy in a seat paying $10, and otherwise that seat would be empty, that's $10 more than you would have had.

I remember once upon a time the Guthrie used to have something they called 'rush seating.' Starting 20 or 30 minutes before showtime, any unsold seats were offered to the public for a fairly low price (don't remember how much). I think you could get a better deal with a student ID. Again, rather have someone sitting in a seat enjoying the performance instead of an empty seat.

So, the Gophers could do something similar. 20 minutes before kickoff, any unsold seats become available to all comers at 50% off retail price. Put butts in seats. those people would likely also buy concessions, generating more revenue. empty seat = no revenue. body in seat = revenue. simple to me.

And, if the people buying the rush seating enjoyed the game and the overall experience, they might come back. Heck, they might even think about buying season tickets. Of course, it would help matters if the team played entertaining FB and won some games........

SON, I like it.
As a fan base we need to be willing to open up our pockets a bit more too (if we can afford it).
Also find a way to make it a little more hip cool or what have you for the 20 and 30 somethings that live in the TC metro (target field like experience).
Also winning will help [emoji482]
 

There should be no need to overprice tickets with the TV revenue that was reported at 51,000,000 per team. $30 should be top price.
 

There should be no need to overprice tickets with the TV revenue that was reported at 51,000,000 per team. $30 should be top price.

I doubt the 51 mil is even 1/2 of their budget


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

SON, I like it.
As a fan base we need to be willing to open up our pockets a bit more too (if we can afford it).
Also find a way to make it a little more hip cool or what have you for the 20 and 30 somethings that live in the TC metro (target field like experience).
Also winning will help [emoji482]
Discretionary spending.
The Gophers take back seat to the Vikings, and later in the season to the Wild.
If the Gophers want to build their fanbase, they have to make the experience family friendly so that parents and kids who go to Friday night games will want to come on Saturdays to see the Gophers. That requires a concerted marketing campaign.
 


Discretionary spending.
The Gophers take back seat to the Vikings, and later in the season to the Wild.
If the Gophers want to build their fanbase, they have to make the experience family friendly so that parents and kids who go to Friday night games will want to come on Saturdays to see the Gophers. That requires a concerted marketing campaign.

Seems like a Golden opportunity to capture families priced out of the leaning tower of Zygi. Now the task...to field a good product.
 

Three seasons ago, 2015 home attendance numbers:

TCU 54,147
Kent State 52,823
Ohio 53,917
Nebraska 54,062
#15 Michigan 50,789
Illinois 47,976
Wisconsin 52,850
 

Seems like a Golden opportunity to capture families priced out of the leaning tower of Zygi. Now the task...to field a good product.
You have to make it fun. Add some kid friendly venues in the open end of the stadium. Make it so entertaining that the kids beg their parents to go back. Initially, make the football game secondary to the fun those kids can have. Eventually those kids grow to come enjoy the game.
 

Three seasons ago, 2015 home attendance numbers:

TCU 54,147
Kent State 52,823
Ohio 53,917
Nebraska 54,062
#15 Michigan 50,789
Illinois 47,976
Wisconsin 52,850

That was following a crazy good 2014 and they had a great schedule for 2015.

I think it tells you sales lag a good year, and .... great schedules might sell for a whole year too...

2015 also kinds sucked....
 

Three seasons ago, 2015 home attendance numbers:

TCU 54,147
Kent State 52,823
Ohio 53,917
Nebraska 54,062
#15 Michigan 50,789
Illinois 47,976
Wisconsin 52,850

And what that tells us is that there were single-game ticket sales of at least 20,000 or more per game. It would be interesting to know how many of those went to fans of other teams.

But - elementary math - the fewer season tickets you sell, the more walk-up and single-game tickets you need to sell for a sell-out.

As caliGopher said, MN has a very fickle fan base. Kill generated a little excitement with a couple 8-win seasons, but the seat donation increase sucked all the momentum out of the program.

Fleck can do all the promoting he wants, but in the end, MN fans don't part with their money unless the team is winning, AND generating some buzz. This team needs wins, and some splashy wins at that - especially in rivalry games. A win over Wisconsin might be worth additional 1- or 2,000 season tickets.
 

So, Fleck is supposedly generating a lot of excitement, but where exactly is that happening? Will student season tickets be full this year? Will the students come? Will they stay? Will we sell out a game without half the stands being a rival schools fans?

One of the real and valid reasons our AD failed to cite in relieving Claeys of his duties was that he was a part of a trend that had season tickets declining over the course of the time - even though some of what was going on was due more to Mega-Tongue's plan to raise revenue based on anticipated results that never materialized.

Coyle's approach has been typical for him. Confusing, unclear, and doesn't really make any sense, but we can't expect more there, so it's on PJ Fleck to fill the stands. This report on current sales suggests, like coaching, he has not delivered even an "average" grade in filling the stands yet. This is perhaps the biggest surprise to me given how much "attention, energy and excitement" he reportedly has generated for the Gophers.

Win and the stands will fill up, they say. The problem is that - to steal a simple phrase that one of our litany of incompetent athletic directors stole from another B1G school - "We are, Minnesota" - and even if we're in the midst of a good season, and are against a rival with the ball on the 2 and under a minute to go with a chance to win 1/4 to 1/2 of the crowd left early to "beat the traffic". I'm not sure winning will solve our problem. Nobody like a winner more than a Minnesotan. Nobody has as many excuses as to why not attend as a Minnesotan - and be proud of it. I will never understand it, but it's kind of hard to deny.

A massively fickle fan base, an consistently and repeatedly incompetent athletic department, and a coach whose style isn't exactly Minnesotan, we'll see if winning will cure all that ails us and fills the stands. We have to win first.

PJ didn't sellout tickets at WMU with a stadium nearly half the capacity of TCF. Improvement certainly will not happen without winning. Lowering the prices and infuriating the people paying 10X as much and pretty soon nobody will be buying tickets. Far better solution is to improve the product than lower the prices.
One example:
50,000 tickets sold at $10 is $500,000 revenue
5,000 tickets sold at $100 equals the same revenue....not to mention the contributions for the privilege to purchase.

They make nearly no money net on concessions with the contract they signed. If you recall they lost money on beer to begin. That's not possible but they did it. So concessions is not moving the needle at all.
 

And what that tells us is that there were single-game ticket sales of at least 20,000 or more per game. It would be interesting to know how many of those went to fans of other teams.

But - elementary math - the fewer season tickets you sell, the more walk-up and single-game tickets you need to sell for a sell-out.

As caliGopher said, MN has a very fickle fan base. Kill generated a little excitement with a couple 8-win seasons, but the seat donation increase sucked all the momentum out of the program.

Fleck can do all the promoting he wants, but in the end, MN fans don't part with their money unless the team is winning, AND generating some buzz. This team needs wins, and some splashy wins at that - especially in rivalry games. A win over Wisconsin might be worth additional 1- or 2,000 season tickets.

I don't know if they're fickle.... it's not like 2015 on the field did much to keep them...
 




Top Bottom