Spokesman-Recorder: Glimpse of a rarity—a Black Gopher fan; Contrary to some people’s belief, Blacks do like Gopher football

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per Hallman:

It took more than a minute, but our never-ending search for Black sports fans at live Twin Cities sporting events has had some success. This year we found two Black Twins fans, a Black family at a St. Paul Saints game, and four Blacks at a Vikings game.

Contrary to some people’s belief, Blacks do like Gopher football even if they are not connected to the team as parents of the players or related to them in some way. “I’ve just been a Gopher fan ever since I was a little kid,” declared Chicago-born and Minneapolis-raised Vince Wright.

“I always love college football,” said the U of M grad. “So, when I was in a position, me and my wife were looking at getting season tickets. The Gophers won hands down for a lot of reasons.”

It shouldn’t be solely up to the local PWM (primarily White media) to convince Blacks to watch Golden Gopher football, Wright told us. But stillmore must be done in this regard.

“There’s a lot of things that they can do to generate more interest, get more Black fans over to [the Gopher stadium],” said Wright of Minnesota’s sports marketing folk.

spokesman-recorder.com

Glimpse of a rarity—a Black Gopher fan

Contrary to some people’s belief, Blacks do like Gopher football.
spokesman-recorder.com spokesman-recorder.com

Go Gophers!!
 



Huh? I see quite a few Black Gopher fans at games. As well as all other types of non-White Gopher fans. My CA freshman year was a Black Goldy. I personally know Indian, Chinese, Korean, Black, Latino, Jewish, and Sikh Gopher fans and I don't even live in Minnesota.

There's certainly nothing stopping all races from attending, especially since a fan can get in the door of any Gopher sporting event other than a couple of premium football games for under $20, and often under $10. Most U athletic teams are comprised of diverse backgrounds so I hope all would feel welcome.
 





From the article: "Wright, who also hosts his own sports podcast, guesstimates “maybe 10 to 15%” of those who attend Gopher football look like him. His simple advice to school officials: “You have got to do a better job of marketing to the Black community in terms of making tickets available, making sure that you can develop an interest in your product.”

So what he's saying is that Black fans attend Gopher football games roughly in proportion with their share of the population nationally and in the Twin Cities.
 

In the days at the dome it was noticeable the makeup of the crowd.

I see a lot more variety now.
 



Just because you don't see very many African Americans, Asians (probably see the most of minority groups), and Hispanics in games does not mean there are not very many fans among them.

Fans of sports are going to be fans regardless of race or ethnicity.

A big part of it has to do with demographics.

Minnesota Demographics​


According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Minnesota was:

  • White: 82.85%
  • Black or African American: 6.41%
  • Asian: 4.82%
  • Two or more races: 2.97%
  • Other race: 1.87%
  • Native American: 1.04%
  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.04%

University of Minnesota Student Demographics​

www.collegefactual.com

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats

Explore University of Minnesota - Twin Cities diversity statistics including racial demographics, ethnicity, gender ratio, undergrad enrollment, average ages of students and other UMN Twin Cities student population stats.
www.collegefactual.com www.collegefactual.com

How Many Students Attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities?
UMN Twin Cities' total enrollment is approximately 51,327 students.

29,939 are undergraduates and 9,744 are graduate students.

UMN Twin Cities Racial/Ethnic Breakdown of Undergraduates

undefined
Race/EthnicityNumber
White19,304
Asian3,154
International2,743
Black or African American1,515
Hispanic1,340
Multi-Ethnic1,285
Unknown509
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander23
 







It does not seem like a lot of investigative research or thought was put into this article. I did not see any merits in writing this article.

IMHO, it is a nothing burger.
 

What? I thought this was an onion article at first. And what is MSR. Actually.....don't answer that. Doesn't matter.
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
In the days at the dome it was noticeable the makeup of the crowd.

I see a lot more variety now.
Click to expand...
In 1999, AA's comprised 3.1% of the population in Minnesota

In 2021, AA's comprise 6.4% of the population in MN

The purpose of this article (on Christmas no less?) is just what exactly?

I could be 100% wrong but I'm going to guess the AA population at Gopher games is higher than 6.4%, so apparently this is just another race-baiting article? Never a bad time to play that card though, even on this glorious Christmas Day!
 

SonjayLarrick said:
Wow. I don't easily get offended but this is some bulls*#t. Why does it even matter?
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter in the least. A fan is a fan and a football player is a football player. No normal person notices race, let alone tries to count and separate. Only cheap race hustlers do that.
 

hungan1 said:
Just because you don't see very many African Americans, Asians (probably see the most of minority groups), and Hispanics in games does not mean there are not very many fans among them.

Fans of sports are going to be fans regardless of race or ethnicity.

A big part of it has to do with demographics.

Minnesota Demographics​


According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Minnesota was:

  • White: 82.85%
  • Black or African American: 6.41%
  • Asian: 4.82%
  • Two or more races: 2.97%
  • Other race: 1.87%
  • Native American: 1.04%
  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.04%

University of Minnesota Student Demographics​

www.collegefactual.com

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats

Explore University of Minnesota - Twin Cities diversity statistics including racial demographics, ethnicity, gender ratio, undergrad enrollment, average ages of students and other UMN Twin Cities student population stats.
www.collegefactual.com www.collegefactual.com

How Many Students Attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities?
UMN Twin Cities' total enrollment is approximately 51,327 students.

29,939 are undergraduates and 9,744 are graduate students.

UMN Twin Cities Racial/Ethnic Breakdown of Undergraduates

undefined
Race/EthnicityNumber
White19,304
Asian3,154
International2,743
Black or African American1,515
Hispanic1,340
Multi-Ethnic1,285
Unknown509
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander23
Click to expand...
Ooops!! I should have read all the posts more closely first! My bad
 



fmlizard said:
From the article: "Wright, who also hosts his own sports podcast, guesstimates “maybe 10 to 15%” of those who attend Gopher football look like him. His simple advice to school officials: “You have got to do a better job of marketing to the Black community in terms of making tickets available, making sure that you can develop an interest in your product.”

So what he's saying is that Black fans attend Gopher football games roughly in proportion with their share of the population nationally and in the Twin Cities.
Click to expand...
So twice as many blacks go to the games as the state’s demographic. Pretty darn good.
 

I think there are two gay guys in front of me that have season tickets. Also a couple in their 80s.
Seriously, wtf!
 

hungan1 said:
It does not seem like a lot of investigative research or thought was put into this article. I did not see any merits in writing this article.
Click to expand...
Well stated - Txs
hungan1 said:
IMHO, it is a nothing burger.
Click to expand...
Correct - they needed an article and came up with this.

The replies/umbrage in some of these posts is what I find amusing and interesting.
 
Last edited:


stocker08 said:
What? I thought this was an onion article at first. And what is MSR. Actually.....don't answer that. Doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
It’s the Black MN newspaper. Been around for like 100 years. Used to be on top of racial issues.
 


Going back to Clem Haskins days, there have been complaints about how Coaches at the University of Minnesota have ignored local black athletes. The Spokesman-Recorder and some of the local leaders, were long term advocates of having the best athletes to go elsewhere to "punish" the U". Never sure how they thought that would work. Seemed more self-serving of them than anything else.

Guessing that now that Ben Johnson is a Head Coach, they are grudgingly backing off from that. Though haven't read any praise for Johnson's effort. The article though indicates that it doesn't apply across the board anyway.

As for the need for the University to do more?

Not offended by that at all. As a longtime reader of Gopher Hole have gotten use to "marketing" to mean "lower prices or give us more free stuff!", a long time ago.
 

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