Gophers seeing increased demand for football tickets; U said Friday their season-ticket total is up nearly 2,000 to 23,636 as of Aug. 1.

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Not subscriber to PP but wonder what baseline U is using? Always seems sort of smoke and mirrors with it reporting the numbers...
 

The baseline is what the qty of season tickets were sold in 2019 less those who dropped in 2020. Then you take the number of additional tickets sold since then. Since 2019/2020 the U has sold nearly 2000 additional season tickets which amazes me but they cannot lie about it.
 

Playing tOSU this season and Post Pandemic yips may help.
 

hungan1 said:
Playing tOSU this season and Post Pandemic yips may help.
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Yeah. For me, having 3 premium home games made me decide to buy season tickets vs going ala carte. I'll probably attend those 3 and Homecoming and sell the others, since I don't live in Minnesota. If there were 2 premium home games I likely would have gone ala carte.
 


What was the highest number published in recent years?
 

This surprises me. I'm all for it but would have guessed we'd be down about 2k.
Here's hoping the new ticket holders enjoy it as much as I have over the years.
 

CWCWCW said:
This surprises me. I'm all for it but would have guessed we'd be down about 2k.
Here's hoping the new ticket holders enjoy it as much as I have over the years.
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I'm back in after a few years of no season tickets (albeit with the Gopher pass).
 




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CWCWCW said:
This surprises me. I'm all for it but would have guessed we'd be down about 2k.
Here's hoping the new ticket holders enjoy it as much as I have over the years.
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This is the first season with tickets coming off the gophers best season with tickets since 1967
 

fmlizard said:
Yeah. For me, having 3 premium home games made me decide to buy season tickets vs going ala carte. I'll probably attend those 3 and Homecoming and sell the others, since I don't live in Minnesota. If there were 2 premium home games I likely would have gone ala carte.
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This is what did it for me. First year buying season tickets. Only planned on going to the Wisconsin game but figured for a few dollars more we could just go to all the home games instead.
 

gopherjay said:
The baseline is what the qty of season tickets were sold in 2019 less those who dropped in 2020. Then you take the number of additional tickets sold since then. Since 2019/2020 the U has sold nearly 2000 additional season tickets which amazes me but they cannot lie about it.
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If you dropped last year and purchased again this year, I don't really consider that an addition. What they don't say is what the net gain has been. I would want to know that number.

Edit: found some numbers in older articles so the 2,000 is based on 2019 STholders.
 
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bonin21 said:
What was the highest number published in recent years?
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Just under 28,000 in 2015. Went into the 2018 season sitting at around 21,500. 2019 was around 100 more, so around 21,600. Can't see the article but looks like the 2,000 is based on that 2019 number.
 


Since attendance is a recurring theme I've been keeping track of the announced season ticket numbers each season. We still aren't close to where we were before the seat license increase.

2013: 33,284 - Gophers host Iowa/Neb/Wis. Optimism starting to creep up for Kill
2014: 33,385 - Gophers host Iowa/OSU. Team contends for Big Ten West and makes NYD bowl. Massive price increase announced and end of the season.
2015: 27,885 - Despite a great season previously, numbers fall. 1st year of increase. Kill suffers mid-season health issues and leaves the team. GOphers finish a disappointing 6-7. Claeys signed to extension.
2016: 22,706 - 2nd year of increase. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is suspended. Gophers finish 9-4. Claeys fired. Fleck hired
2017: 22,990 - Gophers finish 5-7. Fleck's first season.
2018: 21,682 - Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot, beating Wisconsin
2019: 21,689 - Gophers host PSU, Neb, Wis. Great season.
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636
 

Despite all of the noise by some that a price increase for season tickets would not diminish season ticket sales the numbers above show that decision was a disaster.
Season ticket sales have never really recovered.
The head winds now against increasing ticket sales are the relatively low price for excellent big screen TVs, the lack of dynamic and fun college game day experience and the pandemic causing no fans in the stands in the season after one of MN's best seasons in years.
 

Plato said:
Despite all of the noise by some that a price increase for season tickets would not diminish season ticket sales the numbers above show that decision was a disaster.
Season ticket sales have never really recovered.
The head winds now against increasing ticket sales are the relatively low price for excellent big screen TVs, the lack of dynamic and fun college game day experience and the pandemic causing no fans in the stands in the season after one of MN's best seasons in years.
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We have Woody Mega Tongue to thank for upsetting long time season ticket holders.
 


I have always maintained that I would rather have (for example) 10,000 fans paying $5 a game as opposed to 5,000 fans paying $10 a game. Both examples bring in the same base revenue, but the game with more fans will have better atmosphere, look better on TV and generate more revenue from parking, food and beer.

considering the increase in TV money, I think the best thing the U could do is to restructure the entire season ticket package with lower prices and/or seat donations. Get bodies in the seats. if they like the product, then down the road, you can look at small gradual increases to generate more revenue.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I have always maintained that I would rather have (for example) 10,000 fans paying $5 a game as opposed to 5,000 fans paying $10 a game. Both examples bring in the same base revenue, but the game with more fans will have better atmosphere, look better on TV and generate more revenue from parking, food and beer.

considering the increase in TV money, I think the best thing the U could do is to restructure the entire season ticket package with lower prices and/or seat donations. Get bodies in the seats. if they like the product, then down the road, you can look at small gradual increases to generate more revenue.
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Your premise depends on there being enough latent interest that the 10,000 lost season ticket holders and additional fans would respond to a decrease in costs to buy season tickets.
I do not know the answer to that but it would be interesting experiment.
The lack of a game day experience to match that of IA, WI etc is on the head of Maturi who did everything he could to suck the fun out of the new stadium when it opened.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I have always maintained that I would rather have (for example) 10,000 fans paying $5 a game as opposed to 5,000 fans paying $10 a game. Both examples bring in the same base revenue, but the game with more fans will have better atmosphere, look better on TV and generate more revenue from parking, food and beer.

considering the increase in TV money, I think the best thing the U could do is to restructure the entire season ticket package with lower prices and/or seat donations. Get bodies in the seats. if they like the product, then down the road, you can look at small gradual increases to generate more revenue.
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More fans in the stands will benefit Gopher Football in countless ways. It will drive more fan interest. Concessions stand revenues, paraphernalia sales, and restaurant and hotel sales will all increase.

That is chum-change if the Gophers start winning titles. Imagine the growth of endowments and other contributions.

When more families can afford to go to live games, it will generate new Gopher fans.

With more fan interest, there will be more kids dreaming about becoming Gophers.

Fan Interest Development strategies in planning have been lacking. I was never a fan of Woody Teague. There was no sound measurable strategy. What did he do? He upset long-term fans by implementing scholarship seating charges. That is one way of biting the hand that feeds you. Let's be smart about this and look long-term and lower the cost for fans in the stand.

We have an opportunity with a good coach at the helm. We will witness the turnaround of Gopher Football in our time. It is time to remove the Gopher Scholarship Seating charges. Increase revenue streams by selling out games through aggressive marketing.

If the Gophers win a title, that will be the time to remove the scholarship seating and reduce ticket costs. Here are my two cents.

Good things happen when you win a title. Better things happen when you win multiple titles. Great things happen when you win a national championship! We have to make room for statues around The Bank.

It is nice to have a great dream. 🤩
 
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Plato said:
Your premise depends on there being enough latent interest that the 10,000 lost season ticket holders and additional fans would respond to a decrease in costs to buy season tickets.
I do not know the answer to that but it would be interesting experiment.
The lack of a game day experience to match that of IA, WI etc is on the head of Maturi who did everything he could to suck the fun out of the new stadium when it opened.
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Said this many times before, the gameday experience is there, you just have to commit to wanting to take part in it by coming early and staying after. The tailgate lots are situated well and if your are not in those lots or know someone who is, make a friend who is...bring a 6-pack of something good to contribute and you'll find very hospitable tailgaters. Is it at a Wisc level? No (not many are), but I do know the changes around Camp Randall have impacted what it was say 10-15 years ago. I guarantee that if/when the program is consistently winning at a higher level, the stadium will be a lot fuller and the gameday experience will be magnified.

A bunch of GHers out here also point to Huskers tailgating and gameday experience. I did not experience that in 2018. There's literally no tailgating lots close to the stadium, zero. It's like a ghost town around it until maybe 30 minutes before kick off when people start heading over from Haymarket area or tailgate lots, which both are like a 1/2 mile away.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Since attendance is a recurring theme I've been keeping track of the announced season ticket numbers each season. We still aren't close to where we were before the seat license increase.

2013: 33,284 - Gophers host Iowa/Neb/Wis. Optimism starting to creep up for Kill
2014: 33,385 - Gophers host Iowa/OSU. Team contends for Big Ten West and makes NYD bowl. Massive price increase announced and end of the season.
2015: 27,885 - Despite a great season previously, numbers fall. 1st year of increase. Kill suffers mid-season health issues and leaves the team. GOphers finish a disappointing 6-7. Claeys signed to extension.
2016: 22,706 - 2nd year of increase. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is suspended. Gophers finish 9-4. Claeys fired. Fleck hired
2017: 22,990 - Gophers finish 5-7. Fleck's first season.
2018: 21,682 - Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot, beating Wisconsin
2019: 21,689 - Gophers host PSU, Neb, Wis. Great season.
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636
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I was at the home game against Northwestern that year. It was sad to see all the empty seats. We were having a fine season, too.
 

Plato said:
Your premise depends on there being enough latent interest that the 10,000 lost season ticket holders and additional fans would respond to a decrease in costs to buy season tickets.
I do not know the answer to that but it would be interesting experiment.
The lack of a game day experience to match that of IA, WI etc is on the head of Maturi who did everything he could to suck the fun out of the new stadium when it opened.
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The answer is below, courtesy of Darren the Greek. Is it as simple as "lower prices again and 10,000 lost season ticket holders will return"? Probably not now, but it's clear that cost was a major factor in season tickets dropping by 5,000 a year after our best bowl game in more than 50 years.

I'm sure the brain trust at the U has done the math and they're making much more money with scholarship seating. I think it was very short sighted.



2013: 33,284 - Gophers host Iowa/Neb/Wis. Optimism starting to creep up for Kill
2014: 33,385 - Gophers host Iowa/OSU. Team contends for Big Ten West and makes NYD bowl. Massive price increase announced and end of the season.
----------------------------------------------------------------
2015: 27,885 - Despite a great season previously, numbers fall. 1st year of increase. Kill suffers mid-season health issues and leaves the team. GOphers finish a disappointing 6-7. Claeys signed to extension.
---------------------------------------------------------------
2016: 22,706 - 2nd year of increase. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is suspended. Gophers finish 9-4. Claeys fired. Fleck hired
2017: 22,990 - Gophers finish 5-7. Fleck's first season.
2018: 21,682 - Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot, beating Wisconsin
2019: 21,689 - Gophers host PSU, Neb, Wis. Great season.
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Since attendance is a recurring theme I've been keeping track of the announced season ticket numbers each season. We still aren't close to where we were before the seat license increase.

2013: 33,284 - Gophers host Iowa/Neb/Wis. Optimism starting to creep up for Kill
2014: 33,385 - Gophers host Iowa/OSU. Team contends for Big Ten West and makes NYD bowl. Massive price increase announced and end of the season.
2015: 27,885 - Despite a great season previously, numbers fall. 1st year of increase. Kill suffers mid-season health issues and leaves the team. GOphers finish a disappointing 6-7. Claeys signed to extension.
2016: 22,706 - 2nd year of increase. Announcement that 3rd year of increase is suspended. Gophers finish 9-4. Claeys fired. Fleck hired
2017: 22,990 - Gophers finish 5-7. Fleck's first season.
2018: 21,682 - Only marquee game is Iowa. Gophers finish hot, beating Wisconsin
2019: 21,689 - Gophers host PSU, Neb, Wis. Great season.
2020: N/A
2021: 23,636
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Thanks for tracking this. Very interesting to see the dramatic fall from 2014 and on, and the impact the price increase had on ticket sales. This was a very hotly debated topic here. It's a shame ticket sales have dropped so much despite some great energy around Fleck and everything he's brought to the program.

Go Gophers!!
 

Added average attendance numbers for comparison

Year: Season Ticket holders, Average Attendance, Largest Attendace
2013: 33,284, 47,797, 53,090 (Wis)
2014: 33,385, 47,865, 51,241 (Purdue)
2015: 27,885, 52,366, 54,147 (TCU)
2016: 22,706, 43,814, 49,145 (Iowa)
2017: 22,990, 44,358, 47,541 (Michigan St)
2018: 21,682, 37,915, 48,199 (Iowa)
2019: 21,689, 46,190, 53,756 (Wisconsin)
2020: N/A, N/A, N/A
2021: 23,636, TBD, TBD

While the first increase impacted the number of season ticket holders, we actually had a higher attendance average the next year due to the hype from the previous year. I think this really goes to show that if they win consistently and have hype going into the season, the non-season ticket holders show up. I honestly wonder what the average attendance would've been last year if Covid hadn't happened.

In fact,if you look at the jump between 2018 and 2019 its just over 8000, which is close to the drop they had in average attendance after the disappointing 2019 season. Add in the 5000 less season ticket holders (I know there is probably a good deal of overlap) and you're getting close to the 2015 numbers for average attendance.
 

I have been to multiple games at WI and MN over many years including games at MN before the Dome was built.
There is no doubt that when WI won its first Rose Bowl the attendance there jumped by leaps and bounds.
The Dome atmosphere was sterile and there was nothing going on around it.
By game day experience I mean the walk from where you park your car to the experience in the stadium.
There is no comparison to WI by MN either walking to the game or in the game.
 

Schnauzer said:
The huge price increase was the killer that keeps on killing.
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What was it? I'd be willing to pay maybe $300 to $400 for season tix, if that was the TOTAL expense. Like others say, home is more convenient. Now if they had that standing room only area like wisconsin is doing, I'd pay $100/game to be there where I can move around easily and get drinks from a bartender.
 


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