Sid: Expect U to announce some cheaper ticket packages to fill up TCF Bank Stadium

BleedGopher

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per Sid's Jottings:

• With a lack of fans attending Gophers football games at TCF Bank Stadium, expect the athletic department to announce some cheaper ticket packages to fill up those seats for next season.

http://www.startribune.com/jottings/503665472/

Go Gophers!!
 

Many on here have been asking for this. It'll be interesting to see how many fans it brings back.
 

per Shooter:

You’ll be able to buy some 2019 Gophers football season tickets — without a per-seat “gift” to the program — for $249 and $310 next season. But other season-ticket locations, ranging from $310 to $330, will require gifts ranging from $100 to $1,170 besides the cost of tickets.

Meanwhile, it looks like the football team, which mostly locates on the south sideline for games, after games on Oct. 15 might move to the north sideline.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/...e-zimmer-rick-spielman-could-hang-in-balance/

Go Gophers!!
 

Just so long as the rows in front of me remain empty. I’ve gotten spoiled being used to propping up me feet and having a clear view of the field.
 

What's the motivation to renew for season ticket holders? Why not wait and see if prices are lowered or what these promotions are.
 


You've been able to buy $310 season tickets for at least the last 4 years, with no donation.
 

You've been able to buy $310 season tickets for at least the last 4 years, with no donation.

This isn’t going to affect season tickets. This is meant to help fill up non season tickets seats.
 

This isn’t going to affect season tickets. This is meant to help fill up non season tickets seats.

Needs to be done. Hopefully these people will come board in the long run as to season tickets. That donation situation though needs to be looked at.
 







All jokes aside as a season ticket holder I have no problem with this. Fill up the stadium.

As a long time season ticket holder, I wholeheartedly agree. Especially if they offer as packages, the chances of opposing fans buying single tix goes down. Obviously they could just sell them on the secondary market, but at least this is a step in the right direction.
 



As a season ticket holder I’m going to wait and see what my options are.
 

Aren't most of these seats ones that were never donation seats anyways?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

4 of us come from Rochester. Have had season tickets for 13 years and will probably drop them next year, unless we can find a group to split them with us. We will just come up to 2-3 games and buy them off the street if we have no takers. We bought them when we were in our late 40's and am now in our late 50's to 60's. Love the Gophers, but just want to cut back on games.
 

per Shooter:

You’ll be able to buy some 2019 Gophers football season tickets — without a per-seat “gift” to the program — for $249 and $310 next season. But other season-ticket locations, ranging from $310 to $330, will require gifts ranging from $100 to $1,170 besides the cost of tickets.

Meanwhile, it looks like the football team, which mostly locates on the south sideline for games, after games on Oct. 15 might move to the north sideline.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/...e-zimmer-rick-spielman-could-hang-in-balance/

Go Gophers!!

Meh, not good enough. They are still delusional. Until they realize that you need to have packages for like $150(roughly 20/game) for the cheap upper deck seats, they are going to srruggle with attendance.
 

Honestly upper deck endzone seats at the dome is what got my season ticket group in. It was something like 120 for the season back in 2001 or 2002 when our group really got big.

Home schedule:
South Dakota State
Georgia Southern
Illinois
Nebraska
Maryland
Penn state
Wisconsin


So we have 2 pre-1990 big ten teams on the schedule.
We have 3 pre-2008 big ten teams on the schedule.
Honestly not playing real big ten teams may kill it as much as anything. We play nobody from Michigan or Ohio at home this year.

I’d set the prices at 15 for the first two.
I’d set them at 20 for Illinois and Maryland
I’d set them at 30 for penn State
I’d s eat them at 60 for Nebraska and Wisconsin.

I think the U of M should offer an upper deck endzone package for 200 no fees.
If that sells out it is a good problem to have.
 

The secondary market is the killer. Buy game tickets there for cheaper than season ticket price. Vikings, on the other hand, have a much more expensive secondary market. Buy your game tickets there and you’re spending 2/3x face value.

Gophers needed to make an incentive to be a season ticket holder. They destroyed that with the mandatory donation.
 

Some guy called into the CCO Sports Huddle today and said he was dropping his season tickets because of the required seat donation. Said he would buy tickets from the re-sale sites or on the street to save money.

Gopher management has got a big stinking problem here. At the end of the season, they were putting barely over 15,000 actual people in the stadium.

If they think they can change that with some minor tweak in pricing, or a couple of cheap packages for the upper-deck end zone and corners, they're delusional.

If they had any balls, they would scrap the entire system and start from scratch - or make the donations optional for all but the best seats - maybe between the 30-yard lines.

odds of that happening - about the same as the odds of me winning the NBA slam-dunk contest.
 

Some guy called into the CCO Sports Huddle today and said he was dropping his season tickets because of the required seat donation. Said he would buy tickets from the re-sale sites or on the street to save money.

Gopher management has got a big stinking problem here. At the end of the season, they were putting barely over 15,000 actual people in the stadium.

If they think they can change that with some minor tweak in pricing, or a couple of cheap packages for the upper-deck end zone and corners, they're delusional.

If they had any balls, they would scrap the entire system and start from scratch - or make the donations optional for all but the best seats - maybe between the 30-yard lines.

odds of that happening - about the same as the odds of me winning the NBA slam-dunk contest.

I agree with all of this but I did not call into WCCO nor am I dropping my season tickets.
 

Some guy called into the CCO Sports Huddle today and said he was dropping his season tickets because of the required seat donation. Said he would buy tickets from the re-sale sites or on the street to save money.

Gopher management has got a big stinking problem here. At the end of the season, they were putting barely over 15,000 actual people in the stadium.

If they think they can change that with some minor tweak in pricing, or a couple of cheap packages for the upper-deck end zone and corners, they're delusional.

If they had any balls, they would scrap the entire system and start from scratch - or make the donations optional for all but the best seats - maybe between the 30-yard lines.

odds of that happening - about the same as the odds of me winning the NBA slam-dunk contest.

This is honestly the best maneuver. It's time for an overhaul. It's ok to admit you were wrong
 

After the Wisconsin game, I got an e-mail to renew season tickets for 2019. I dont' blame them for trying, but it did trigger me for the first time to write an e-mail to Coyle.
I was honest and wrote that I'm contemplating renewal for next season. I liked what I saw from the team, but had done research on ticket prices. My tickets are priced close to Penn State and Michigan. Our record in the 25 years I've had tickets is closer to Indiana, Purdue and Illinois. I mentioned that I had people bragging that they bought pizzas for $10 and got two tickets. They sat right next to me, and I spent over $140 for the same game. So, yeah, I am a little perturbed over that, but I realize that I have the same opportunity. So, I asked him what the value of buying season tickets is and why I shouldn't consider going to a handful of games when offered a promotion.
Coyle's reply was cordial. He thanked me for loyalty. He went all in on the value of Gopher Points and the team is going to be exciting.
I agree that the team will be exciting. For me, he is dead wrong on Gopher Points. To me, they are next to worthless. They are benefits that don't cost a nickel, and for the most part, I'm not interested.
I'm lukewarm on renewing my tickets. In the end, I'll probably do it, but will see how this plays out over the next few months.
 

I’d heard the deduction is now gone. If so, why bother with a ‘donation’ any more?

When they built TCF they nailed pricing. Who did they hire to build their model? Rehire same firm and figure out how to fill the damn stadium.

When you sell your house you want three offers. Not zero or one (priced to high) not ten (priced too low). If you get three and some bidding you know you got what it is worth.

Hire a firm to build a model that finds 55,000 willing buyers. If there is no waitlist you are charging too much, if there is a waitlist of 5,000 you are charging too little. The waitlist should also be evenly distributed across all types of seats - lower/upper, bench/chair, no park/ramp/lot, etc. so that you know you are maximizing revenue at every turn.

The AD MUST adopt a full stadium policy - even if it means embarrassingly low prices to start.

What the current policy fails to acknowledge is the value I and everyone else who likes sports puts on being surrounded by a stadium full of fans - especially in a comfortable stadium like TCF.

Informal poll question to prove my point:

What would you be willing to pay to watch a mid-season game against Purdue at TCF if you knew in advance that gate attendance would be,

15,000?
30,000?
45,000?
52,000?

Would anyone here not pay at least 2x for tickets to the same game - all other things equal - if they knew it was going to be a full house?

Maddening, that only GH sees it this way!
 

The good news is, Fleck ended the season on the high note. That momentum should allow for a moderate bump in attendance even if Coyle is only a little bit incompetent. The pricing and marketing is totally out of whack. This department really needs to learn how to do its job.
 

I’ve had tickets since 2007. Like many, my group started with 10 and now it is down to 4. Most dropped directly to donations.

I wish the U could just admit that they were wrong and understand that they lost a large portion of the fan base.
 

I’ve had tickets since 2007. Like many, my group started with 10 and now it is down to 4. Most dropped directly to donations.

I wish the U could just admit that they were wrong and understand that they lost a large portion of the fan base.

but to the U they are making more money with less people at the games and they like the money
Its about the money not the game experience

nothing changes until the money aspect is less of a goal and the focus is about the game experience.

someone put the cash before the demand and that is a not basic economics (which if someone from Carlson thought this ticket strategy up, might not be a good endorsement for the college)
 


Not saying that this would be good for the athletic Dept but based on this year’s attendance one could purchase these cheaper non donation seats and then just sit in better empty seats.
 

The real irony here is that actual paid attendance is no longer vital to the program's bottom line, especially when the U apparently makes little money off concessions.

The real money is the TV revenue, which would make the program profitable even if no one showed up at the games.

So if gate revenue is of secondary importance, wouldn't it make sense to err on the side of low ticket prices, if for no other reason than a full stadium looks better on TV?

JTG
 




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