Ticket situation - how sad is this?

[dboy]

I thought you were going to "try the next door," baller???

(Good idea though.)

real ballers can never pay face... spend all our $ on shoes, etc.

 

[CollegeBBallFan]

Just a couple of more points and I'm certainly not trying to pick any fights. There are no perks to having UK tickets beyond access to the game. It costs me a motel stay since the drive home is 4 hours. At least I get free parking there and we walk to the game. It is against the law to scalp tickets. You can definitely feel scalper -free at the entrances where fans can sell at face value their extra tickets for someone who couldn't make it. Most likely a death in the immediate family. If I have an extra ticket I usually give it to a kid who will return the biggest smile and big bright eyes. I know he/she isn't old enough to have inherited a ticket.

Yes, the college game is the only one in town/state. I agree that probably has an impact. But the fans who would migrate to the pros - their seats would be filled by those on the waiting list.

I wish I could make it to the Barn. It's now of my list of something I would like to do. I'm a college-game fan and I would be there every game.

 

[go 31]

Too many people know Northwestern basketball. Princeton offense, 1-3-1 defensive = boring game. The Michigan State (and weekend) tickets were much different.

 

[sec105]

I sat there in the atrium of The Barn, yelling "who wants free tickets?" and there were no takers!

I think that might have been part of the problem. People assume the games are sold out and if not the seats that are left are not as good as the scalper is selling. Scalpers are out on the fringes gulping up the tickets from people who want to sell and selling to the people who want to buy. Most everybody looking for tickets has been approached several times by the time they get to Williams Arena. If your patient and out by Stub and Herbs or Sally's you should be able to buy tickets from the original owner as opposed to a scalper (always a better deal). Also that's where to sell them. Stand by a scalper and the buyers will come to you.

As I try to go to all the Gopher home games I tend not to need to sell my seats. But you are right...sometimes it is very difficult to find someone to go with at the last minute.

I really don't like selling to scalpers at all. At the last minute I had two extra tickets to the Wisconsin game last year. As I was walking from the parking lot I asked a scalper what he would give me for them. He said what you want for them. Make an offer I said and he really low balled me.
I said I would rather give them away. So as I walked away he said "FU".

I went on to Sally's to meet my buddy and when I came out there was the same scalper trying to sell two tickets to this guy. I walked right up to the guy excused my self and said do you want two for free. Section 105. The guy said Really? I said absolutely but you have to promise me you won't sell them to this joker. As I walked away I got another FU but that only made me feel better.

 

[jamiche]

Just a couple of more points and I'm certainly not trying to pick any fights. There are no perks to having UK tickets beyond access to the game. It costs me a motel stay since the drive home is 4 hours. At least I get free parking there and we walk to the game. It is against the law to scalp tickets. You can definitely feel scalper -free at the entrances where fans can sell at face value their extra tickets for someone who couldn't make it. Most likely a death in the immediate family. If I have an extra ticket I usually give it to a kid who will return the biggest smile and big bright eyes. I know he/she isn't old enough to have inherited a ticket.

Yes, the college game is the only one in town/state. I agree that probably has an impact. But the fans who would migrate to the pros - their seats would be filled by those on the waiting list.

I wish I could make it to the Barn. It's now of my list of something I would like to do. I'm a college-game fan and I would be there every game.

First of all, I hope you are aware that Tubby has won 20 games for 307 consecutive years.

Secondly, it really is ducks and apples. You are a fan of a great program that has no competition in the area.

 

[akgopher]

It's sad that there aren't approx. 12,000 (quality seating of the Barn?) fans of the U's team. Some of you have blasted the UK fans for being nuts (admittedly we are passionate). As example, the special College Game Day (TV Show) seating on the Saturday of the Tennessee game sold out Monday- in minutes after going on sale. Mind you, this is not for the game, but for the TV lead-in that starts at 11am. Everyone will have to leave after the show to clear Rupp Arena for the tickets holders of the game (my daughter and I included) starting at 9pm EST.

Which would you rather have...an always passionate fan base (win or lose) who cheered on their team ....or pathetically empty seats? I'll take the excitement and the passion as will the other 24,000 ticket holders for Rupp Arena.

Back to being a fan. The "less-than-expected" years of UK basketball have been well-documented, but the fans still came as supportive as ever. We came for our team. And they knew we were there and always would be. That's tradition.

Poor comparison. You only had your team. 4 Pro sports teams, a top theater circuit, great small and large concert venues. We're a medium sized market, one of the smallest with 4 pro teams and the state's University. Tough competition for discretionary spending for entertainment. I can afford one ticket package and I choose the Twins. I still go to Gopher basketball and football games, but not as many as I'd like. I'd like to split a basketball package 2 or 3 ways in another two years.

 

[Gopherocious]

The problem with Minnesota is that it has a lot of fans outside the metro area. Living 90 miles away makes it difficult to go to any games that aren't on Saturday or Sunday. Even when the games start at 6 on weeknight that means i have to leave work about an hour early to make it there in time for tip off. I would love to be able just to swing by the barn and watch the games in person, but until there is a train or something connecting out-state areas to the metro it just isn't possible to random games.

I agree with you here. I have always lived even further away and don't know that I've ever been able to get to more than 1-2 weekday games during a season. It's one thing to make a trip out of the weekend but to drive three hours one way on a Wednesday just isn't always feasible.

 

[Gopherocious]

I really don't like selling to scalpers at all. At the last minute I had two extra tickets to the Wisconsin game last year. As I was walking from the parking lot I asked a scalper what he would give me for them. He said what you want for them. Make an offer I said and he really low balled me.
I said I would rather give them away. So as I walked away he said "FU".

I went on to Sally's to meet my buddy and when I came out there was the same scalper trying to sell two tickets to this guy. I walked right up to the guy excused my self and said do you want two for free. Section 105. The guy said Really? I said absolutely but you have to promise me you won't sell them to this joker. As I walked away I got another FU but that only made me feel better.

LOL...this is great! I have a similar story about a game a few years ago. I gave my tickets for a game to some friends due to a family obligation that was in the area but that got over just after tip-off so I figured I'd head down and see if I could scalp a couple tickets. The first guy tried gettin me to pay double face value although there were no other takers around. He told me these were the last tickets anyone had and gave me an FU when I told him he was full of it. Sure enough, after I gobbled a couple up seconds later, I waved them to him and let him know how I felt. Of course I got another FU as my buddy and I laughed off into the distance to watch a Gopher victory!

 

[station19]

The Twin Cities is the second smallest metro area to have all four professional sports teams (Denver is the only one smaller). Add in the fact that there is a Big Ten university in town as well which has three popular sports (football, basketball, and hockey), I think the teams get supported fairly well.

I've said this many times before but I believe Minnesota doesn't have nearly as many "die-hard" fans compared to other locations because we have so many options and they're all within 10 miles of each other. It's hard for someone like myself to say who my favorite team is because I follow the Vikings, Twins, Gophers football, and Gophers b-ball so closely. It's hard for me to invest solely in only one or two of those teams, even if I still were living in MN.

Living in IA it's easy to see why there are so many die hard hawkeye fans. Yes people are Cubs, Cardinals, or Bears fans but the hawkeyes are the only team they can call theirs. If you grew up in the Madison area, you may be a Packers or Brewers fan but more than likely your heart and soul is with the badgers. That's where you will spend most of you money on tix, etc.

I remember seeing awhile ago how the Twin Cities is the most oversatturated metro area in the country in terms of sports and advertising. With so many pro and major college teams in such a small area, it's hard to get the top dollar for advertising, season tix, and selling suites. That's especially true now with two new stadiums, and the Vikings trying for a third.

+9 Billion

This can not be overstated. From individuals to corporations.

This is why I was against the NBA and NHL(which have historically struggled in this market) returning to MN. Sorry to all the NBA and NHL fans.