10 years later, TCF Bank Stadium is aging well


The student "section" issue will only become worse when they add the second deck on the North and East sides

I'd be very surprised if the expansion ever happens, even if the team finds its way to the national spotlight on a consistent basis. If the team fell off again, the attendance issues would be amplified even more. I'd rather they stick with the more intimate size they have now, and consistently pack it on a weekly basis.
 

As others have said the 3rd deck should be a lounge/restaurant club that would have a total view of the field. The scoreboards are also outdated. They have run their course. Target Field is the same age and I heard some of the Twins brass say that the scoreboard is going to be replaced.
 

Those lots around the Stadium are used throughout the week for commuting students, therefore at the minimum being an urban campus means we will always have some surface lots.

They will replace some of the surface lots with ramps to keep the amount of parking for the commuters and staff, but surface lots will be a thing of the past. Again, this is in terms of decades it's not happening tomorrow, but it's part of the master plan.
 

I wish we could get a little better sound from all around and not just the big scoreboard on the west end.
 


Attended a great game at da missus alma mater last weekend. Stadium of similar size to TCF - recent renovations included a plaza/lounge on home side and relevant, other-market look-ins. A large amount of parking/tailgating occurs on adjacent parking with assigned parking slots. Very convenient for early arrivers and late comers. But, it couldn't touch the restroom facilities of TCF - spent part of a quarter in line.

My quick wish list for TCF:
As others have mentioned, show me more, and more relevant clips of other BIG10 and significant games. The scoreboard at the plaza end is horribly misused. Between content and space, its predominately an advertising vehicle. I can get that in my big chair at home, why travel to the stadium to be pummeled by marketing and PSA messages. I attend to see FOOTBALL.
Turn up the band, turn down the "Hey fans, its time for .....!" Let me talk to my guest about a run scheme, a passing stat., or a hot recruit, without having to scream over some irrelevant announcement about the top corporate soy bean grower family. This is suppose to be college football...outdoors..., not the NBA marketing machine.
Motivate the concession workers! I'm not sure whether any or all are volunteers, but too many appear listless and untrained and move at a snail's pace, particularly annoying during those between quarter crunch times. Com'on workers, get energized!
 

Attended a great game at da missus alma mater last weekend. Stadium of similar size to TCF - recent renovations included a plaza/lounge on home side and relevant, other-market look-ins. A large amount of parking/tailgating occurs on adjacent parking with assigned parking slots. Very convenient for early arrivers and late comers. But, it couldn't touch the restroom facilities of TCF - spent part of a quarter in line.

My quick wish list for TCF:
As others have mentioned, show me more, and more relevant clips of other BIG10 and significant games. The scoreboard at the plaza end is horribly misused. Between content and space, its predominately an advertising vehicle. I can get that in my big chair at home, why travel to the stadium to be pummeled by marketing and PSA messages. I attend to see FOOTBALL.
Turn up the band, turn down the "Hey fans, its time for .....!" Let me talk to my guest about a run scheme, a passing stat., or a hot recruit, without having to scream over some irrelevant announcement about the top corporate soy bean grower family. This is suppose to be college football...outdoors..., not the NBA marketing machine.
Motivate the concession workers! I'm not sure whether any or all are volunteers, but too many appear listless and untrained and move at a snail's pace, particularly annoying during those between quarter crunch times. Com'on workers, get energized!

Which stadium did you visit?
 

I love how so many of the suggestions are in the vein of dropping ticket prices (losing revenue), minimize/lose the ads (losing revenue), allow students to bring in their own alcohol (losing revenue), make tailgating cheaper/more accessible (losing revenue), and so on. I get the feeling that if some people were given free suite tickets on the 50 yard line, a free limousine driver dropping them off at the curb, free limitless food and drink delivered to their seat, and zero ads throughout the game, they would still find a way to complain.

And then, to top it off, we are supposed to pay P.J. Fleck whatever it takes to keep him here. When you cut all the revenue streams to the bone, where is the money to pay him supposed to come from? "Not my problem!"

Some day, Gophers fans will figure out that you have to pay your fair share if you want to have a premium program.
 

I love how so many of the suggestions are in the vein of dropping ticket prices (losing revenue), minimize/lose the ads (losing revenue), allow students to bring in their own alcohol (losing revenue), make tailgating cheaper/more accessible (losing revenue), and so on. I get the feeling that if some people were given free suite tickets on the 50 yard line, a free limousine driver dropping them off at the curb, free limitless food and drink delivered to their seat, and zero ads throughout the game, they would still find a way to complain.

And then, to top it off, we are supposed to pay P.J. Fleck whatever it takes to keep him here. When you cut all the revenue streams to the bone, where is the money to pay him supposed to come from? "Not my problem!"

Some day, Gophers fans will figure out that you have to pay your fair share if you want to have a premium program.

This +100


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Keep in mind, you're only hearing from the folks who take the time/have the desire to post on an internet message board. Many, many other folks don't do that. And there's something to the folks who do, sometimes.

I have to remind myself of that constantly when reading the OTB here. Small slice, and that slice, sometimes, is a bit off.
 

Lowering ticket prices to attract more long-term STHs would grow revenue. It's beyond obvious the prices are out of whack.

There are endless ways marketing can be more thoughtfully integrated into the gameday experience that would be less obnoxious.

These things are not either/or propositions.
 

"Lowering ticket prices to attract more long-term STHs would grow revenue."

**IF** you win.

That's kinda been the sticking point, yeah? Who's gonna buy season tickets to an outdoor stadium in Minnesota, for a team that doesn't win??
 

Certainly. I wonder what that tipping point is in terms of 'winning'. I think people often forget that even Camp Randall was a ghost town before Wisconsin won multiple Rose Bowls.
 



Certainly. I wonder what that tipping point is in terms of 'winning'. I think people often forget that even Camp Randall was a ghost town before Wisconsin won multiple Rose Bowls.

Well, hopefully you'll get your answer soon. This season is going well, hopefully it finishes out just as well, and Fleck signs a long-term extension.

Maybe then Coyle will announce over this coming off-season that they're restructuring some season-ticket prices, in some of the sections. Let's see ...
 

I always wondered why they didnt get gold anodized aluminum for the bench seats. Not that much of an expensive upgrade and it would have looked fantastic compared to that dull silver they are now....

That's the only change I am wishing for.

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I like this idea a lot.

P.S. Bring back the Punt/Pass/Kick event at halftime. Much better than the passing thing they do now.
 

I would expand the student section by an extra section in the lower deck in one of the corners but then make the entire upper deck no longer students.

If there aren’t enough student seats...it will create a shortage and therefor increase the value of them for the students.
 

Lowering ticket prices to attract more long-term STHs would grow revenue.

I don't know what the actual numbers are right now, but let's say there are 28,000 season ticket holders. Cutting the prices by x% across the board would require the number of season ticket holders to increase by the same x% - just to break even. If they cut season ticket prices by 10% across the board, will there be an additional 2,800 season ticket holders? If they cut by 20%, will there be an additional 5,600 season ticket holders? I very much doubt it, in either instance.

It's beyond obvious the prices are out of whack.

Are they? Sure, if your goal is to get season tickets for free or next-to-nothing. If your goal is to maximize revenue, see above. Despite what posters here think, the people running the University of Minnesota athletic department aren't stupid. They're not going to cut prices 10% to increase attendance by 5%. And a 10% decrease wouldn't move the needle for the ticket price complainers here and elsewhere. People are seriously complaining about "having to" pay $70 to attend the biggest Gophers game in decades.

There are endless ways marketing can be more thoughtfully integrated into the gameday experience that would be less obnoxious.

And still get the same revenue? Not a chance. Advertisers pay a marketing cost commensurate with the exposure they'll receive. If you "thoughtfully integrate" their marketing into the gameday experience (i.e., make it less visible and less noticeable), they won't be willing to pay the same amount. Again, posters here act like these things are so obvious, but they aren't. You can't go to an advertiser and say, "We'll give you a lower-quality advertisement, but we still expect you to pay the same." It's not happening. People aren't stupid.

These things are not either/or propositions.

They are, actually. More money or less money. If you don't want to supply the revenue requisite for a big-time program, fine, but then you forfeit your right to complain when Minnesota is a perpetual bottom feeder in the Big Ten.
 

As a reference to the upper deck plaza idea, it looks like Wisconsin is thinking the same thing for CR:
new-camp-randall-7.jpg


Would LOVE to see something like this in the near future.
 

The various sponsor plugs and ads are part of the deal. They can be admittedly overbearing or overly loud at times, but they aren't going away. If anything, the revenue from such things will increase if the Gophers can sustain their rise on field to any meaningful extent.

I do agree that the Big Ten highlights that get occasionally shown could be better. There were highlights of a game this past Saturday, I think Wisconsin-Ohio State, that were so out of context that my seat neighbor was legitimately surprised upon learning the score.

Concession workers at the fixed stands that sell things like hotdogs, pretzels, chicken fingers, and so on are largely volunteers from not for profit groups. Specialty stands like the Subway and so on might use paid employees. The specialty kiosks such as Drew's Popcorn use their own workers that aren't provided by the primary concessionaire. The performance of the volunteers is all over the board. Generally I think they do their best. The problem is no run through of how to run a concession stand an hour or two before the gates open will ever get someone up to snuff on how to do it efficiently.

You end up having to repeat your order multiple times, there can be problems with the register that necessitate the worker starting over, the workers don't know where to find certain items, and asking for something simple like a tray can confound a concession worker enough to bring the whole process to a halt. It especially gets bad when lines are long and the workers get overwhelmed by the constant flow. However, given the low pay and likely employee turnover that would create, I'm not sure that using regular concession workers that got paid would create any measurable or lasting improvement.
 

Doing something like this in that student section end zone would be amazing:
thumbnail.jpg
 

I totally understand from a revenue standpoint why Wisconsin wants to have premium seating of this kind and also think it is being done in part because the capacity at Camp Randall Stadium might be a hair too big at 80,000 plus. They sell out a couple of games per season, but have thousands of empty seats for others. It upsets the supply/demand situation too much. However, aesthetically it looks bad and a similar design at our stadium would look even worse due to how it would interrupt the seating bowl.
 

I totally understand from a revenue standpoint why Wisconsin wants to have premium seating of this kind and also think it is being done in part because the capacity at Camp Randall Stadium might be a hair too big at 80,000 plus. They sell out a couple of games per season, but have thousands of empty seats for others. It upsets the supply/demand situation too much. However, aesthetically it looks bad and a similar design at our stadium would look even worse due to how it would interrupt the seating bowl.

It isn't that much different than our open end, and I think that area is pretty neato.
 

Interrupting the bowl would help with the student overflow / migration problem. Keep them all contained in one place and add a plaza above. People would love to hang out in a space like that.

I realize that structurally it may not even be possible, but it's a bye week and I'm allowed to dream.
 

i think the U should make a heated indoor lounge on the upper student section, sort of like a heated smoking room outside towny bars. charge $20 extra to go in, great fundraising opportunity.
 

Interrupting the bowl would help with the student overflow / migration problem. Keep them all contained in one place and add a plaza above. People would love to hang out in a space like that.

I realize that structurally it may not even be possible, but it's a bye week and I'm allowed to dream.

Could just do part of it on the roof and take up a handful of rows.

I think it is doable.
 


Interrupting the bowl would help with the student overflow / migration problem. Keep them all contained in one place and add a plaza above. People would love to hang out in a space like that.

I realize that structurally it may not even be possible, but it's a bye week and I'm allowed to dream.

The ability to see the field from the concourse is a huge improvement in modern stadiums like TCF. Enclosing that concourse (combining student section decks) would destroy that benefit. If the goal is to combine the student section, I'd rather see them take all the bench seating in the east lower bowl for students and make the upper deck non-student seats. The problem with that scenario is those upper deck bench tickets would get about $150 less per seat in revenue than the lower deck bench seats. There is no easy solution.
 

I love how so many of the suggestions are in the vein of dropping ticket prices (losing revenue), minimize/lose the ads (losing revenue), allow students to bring in their own alcohol (losing revenue), make tailgating cheaper/more accessible (losing revenue), and so on. I get the feeling that if some people were given free suite tickets on the 50 yard line, a free limousine driver dropping them off at the curb, free limitless food and drink delivered to their seat, and zero ads throughout the game, they would still find a way to complain.

And then, to top it off, we are supposed to pay P.J. Fleck whatever it takes to keep him here. When you cut all the revenue streams to the bone, where is the money to pay him supposed to come from? "Not my problem!"

Some day, Gophers fans will figure out that you have to pay your fair share if you want to have a premium program.

yes!
 

dpodoll, if you are arguing the prices should stay the same, would you agree the stadium is then too large in terms of capacity? It is already the second smallest stadium in the B1G by seating capacity, but if an undefeated team can't have a game where there are not thousands of empty seats, either it is too large or something else needs to change to fill them. They used to fill, at least on occasion. Since the price increases it either hasn't happened or at least happens far less frequency, despite how well the team is playing.

I will maintain nosebleed seats high in the second deck on the side are overpriced at $120 each. That's just one example.
 

The stadium was designed in the mid 2000's and probably sized according to previous data on average attendance.

I don't think they foresaw at that time the difficulties that all schools, and specifically the U, would be having with attendance.


On the other hand, what would it say about us if we had built the stadium to seat only 35k??? Not even NW's stadium is that small. To me it would say: G5.
 




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