Gophers need to row harder

Football is in bad shape almost everywhere unless you have a solid contender. I see that Iowa's revenue is up, but I'm sure that coincides with ticket price hikes and them adding a new section to the donation list. I also think this new tax law where you can't deduct the donation anymore is really gonna hurt some of these programs.

The younger folks just aren't into football as much and when you hammer people with a massive donation, you better have a damned good program with a robust secondary market for tickets.
 
The Gophers are just in a tough spot. Minneapolis is a pro sports town and the Gophers are way down the list in terms of popularity. And as you said, now even their hockey team isn't as good and they're not selling tickets.

Its crazy, they have one of the better college football stadiums in the nation in terms of comfort and its easy to get there but not a lot of people are willing to come out and see it.

This is where Iowa is lucky they don't have a pro sports team. Iowa football is always going to be king.

My concern for Iowa going forward is when are they going to remodel Kinnick to appeal to the changing fan? The "core" or "traditional" fan population is aging. Kinnick is going to need to be remodeled much like the new addition. Focus on comfort. Fewer but more comfortable seats and luxury boxes. Basically make it look like a huge sports bar.

Also need to focus more on the younger fan base. Where are they going to be able to place bets in Kinnick? They're going to need non-luxury lounges with good internet access, more variety in concessions, large screen tvs that display realtime fantasy results, etc.

The days of bench seats, pizza/hotdog/pretzel/soda concessions are gone. Barta are crew need to get ahead curve before its too late.
 
Its about a lot of things. HS participation is down even in Texas. I live in a highly educated community where its really obvious in the types of parents involved in educationsl level. Thats naturally going to impact college attendance. Football was the driving sport. This portion is brain health driven.

Fiascos like Baylor, PSU, and OSU drive away some fringe fans. Even MSU type stuff. The cult of college sports sickens some.

Population demographics is changing. There used to be an Iowa HS sports paper that did an article on my hs when they lost a game which was rare. Now the school had 1/3 of the students and they are a mediocre 8 man school. Never saw that coming. Their long time coach was highly abusive.

I have 3 boys who were stellar athletes. All had concussions. 2 of them have issues as adults stemming from that and one has significant issues. Someone mentioned the questioning Rob did about KF keeping a player out of the NFL as maybe the time we've been lied to. You'll never convince me the biggest lie isn't about the number of concussions.

The other problem is what is occurring to the middle class. Middle class population is shrinking. Hispanics arent by a group as newer immigrants arent into football. When one drops from middle class to lower middle going to games is just not in the budget.

We are just seeing the bigging of decline. Iowa may hold interest for a longer time. IL is going to have a hard time ever rebuilding the fan base.
 
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Isn’t this a reason why we can’t pay athletes? I realize the NCAA makes a gazillion dollars off television, but a lot of these athletic departments are operating in the red. It is an arms race and you have to keep up.
 
HawkGold said:
Hispanics arent by a group as newer immigrants arent inyo football.
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One of my guilty pleasures is watching NFL fan fight videos. There are some good videos out there of the Rams (post move), Chargers, Cowboys and 49ers fan fights. Not a lot of Norwegians or Danes fighting in those videos, bud.
 
trj said:
Isn’t this a reason why we can’t pay athletes? I realize the NCAA makes a gazillion dollars off television, but a lot of these athletic departments are operating in the red. It is an arms race and you have to keep up.
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Correct. You can't pay 100 male athletes on the FB and MBB teams and then pay the women nothing, so any material payment would be giant.
 
Xerxes said:
The Gophers are just in a tough spot. Minneapolis is a pro sports town and the Gophers are way down the list in terms of popularity. And as you said, now even their hockey team isn't as good and they're not selling tickets.

Its crazy, they have one of the better college football stadiums in the nation in terms of comfort and its easy to get there but not a lot of people are willing to come out and see it.

This is where Iowa is lucky they don't have a pro sports team. Iowa football is always going to be king.

.
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I'm always skeptical of the pro vs college angle. College and pro fans are largely different groups. It's not about affording two tickets. MInnesota has the VIkings and the Gophers. Iowa has the Hawkeyes and the clones with a much smaller population and sells far more tickets to the combined events...and Wisconsin has no trouble supporting both the Badgers and Packers. (BTW, if you're ever at a Vikings game you'll see plenty of ND, SD and Iowa plates. The draw isn't only on the Minnesota market.).

Of course, the classic response from Minnesotans is..."there's nothing else to do in those places, there's so much more to do up here"... right before they go fishing. What they're really saying is, "I'd rather do any one of a number of other things...than go to a Gopher game".

There are two things that undermine the Gophers (OK, three)
1. When they moved to the Metrodome it totally killed the "tailgating on campus" vibe...which is what college ball is all about and why people like me come back to Iowa City, Ann Arbor,etc. They lost an entire generation (or more) of fans.
2. The U of M, though huge, has always been a commuter college to a large extent. On or near-campus housing has increased in the last 5-7 years but the student population "on campus" still isn't much bigger than Iowa's.
3. I'll say it again, the attitude up here toward sports is unbelievably cynical. I think we sometimes take for granted just how much love there is for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Our fans are tremendously supportive.

I'm sure even PJ "Mr Postive" Fleck is getting a feel for just how tough a sell his program is going to be.
 
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The Gophers just aren't that popular of a sports team here in the Twin Cities. Most of my friends up here are Gopher fans, but once they lose 2 games they just give up on the season and look to the NBA or the Vikings. The Vikings are huge up here and the Wild are a pretty big deal as well. The rest of the sports are just sorta...there.

Also, if you look at the Gopher football schedule this year...its terrible. They got totally screwed. Here are their home games this year: Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, and 3 crappy nonconference games.

Talking about attendance in general...people just aren't that interested in live sporting events anymore. Except for the NBA, attendance is largely down everywhere...in every sport. Look at the student section in every college game...the kids just aren't into sitting on bleachers for 3 hours and not being able to use their cell phones.

Personally, I was a 10 year season ticket holder, and once I gave them up I couldn't figure out why I had them in the first place. Dealing with the horrible traffic jams, bathroom lines, $20 parking, cell phone not working, crappy stadium food options, and being crammed into bleacher seats for 3 hours...is really pretty stupid. Especially when the alternative is the 70" flat screen in my man cave.

Places like Iowa are really going to struggle with attendance in the near future. Long gone are the days where younger fans are just fine with bleacher seats, hot dogs and walking tacos. IMO older people who like it are just used to it and accept it. Younger fans tend to demand more for their dollar....especially when the alternative is HDTV at their house or a bar.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
Then they by definition...not "Fans".
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Well they went to the U and watch all their games, but they have so many other options to choose from. In Iowa if the Hawks suck its a long winter of us living and dying with every game. That's not the reality up here. When the Gophers suck it just doesn't matter as much to them because they still have the Wild, the Vikings and to some extent the Timberwolves.
 
mopkins said:
Well they went to the U and watch all their games, but they have so many other options to choose from. In Iowa if the Hawks suck its a long winter of us living and dying with every game. That's not the reality up here. When the Gophers suck it just doesn't matter as much to them because they still have the Wild, the Vikings and to some extent the Timberwolves.
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Yep. I'm just saying "Fan" is short for "Fanatic". Sounds more like they're followers than fans. Fans don't bail on their team.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
Yep. I'm just saying "Fan" is short for "Fanatic". Sounds more like they're followers than fans.
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I hear what youre saying I think its just a different reality than us Iowans are used to. If the Hawkeyes are having a bad year we rant, rave, and obsess about it on the message boards and Twitter. Whereas the Gopher fans just sorta turn the page to the Vikings or Wild.

Side note: with as many pro teams as Minnesota has, its hilarious that they never win. Vikings/Wolves/Wild have never won a title, Twins haven't since 91, Gophers have been largely irrelevant for awhile now. They're like the new Cleveland.
 
mop, all that being true, it's still pretty crazy they've only sold 37,000 tickets for their first game. That's when excitement should be at it's peak.
 
trj said:
Isn’t this a reason why we can’t pay athletes? I realize the NCAA makes a gazillion dollars off television, but a lot of these athletic departments are operating in the red. It is an arms race and you have to keep up.
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That's not it at all. I remember when cost of attendance scholarships were being discussed, and Pollard was against it. When he was asked how much it would cost, he said 750K a year. That's absolute chump change compared to what these athletic programs are raking in. Now I'm sure Kinnick looks great with the new north endzone... but that was 89 million dollars. You can pay a lot, a LOT of players for that much.
 
BryceC said:
That's not it at all. I remember when cost of attendance scholarships were being discussed, and Pollard was against it. When he was asked how much it would cost, he said 750K a year. That's absolute chump change compared to what these athletic programs are raking in. Now I'm sure Kinnick looks great with the new north endzone... but that was 89 million dollars. You can pay a lot, a LOT of players for that much.
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Sure...until you start including paying ALL athletes. Then, not so much. And of course, how long until you must pay OTHER students...WITH football money?
 
BryceC said:
That's not it at all. I remember when cost of attendance scholarships were being discussed, and Pollard was against it. When he was asked how much it would cost, he said 750K a year. That's absolute chump change compared to what these athletic programs are raking in. Now I'm sure Kinnick looks great with the new north endzone... but that was 89 million dollars. You can pay a lot, a LOT of players for that much.
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Except that's not how that would work. That's not how ANY OF THIS WORKS
 
BryceC said:
mop, all that being true, it's still pretty crazy they've only sold 37,000 tickets for their first game. That's when excitement should be at it's peak.
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You're not wrong, but the game is on a Thursday night against a terrible opponent...New Mexico State...who already lost to Wyoming 29-7. Not to mention the fact that the state fair is in town all week.

On top of that the Gophers are picked to be terrible this year and are starting a WALKON true freshman. Things are bleak
 
HawkGold said:
Its about a lot of things. HS participation is down even in Texas. I live in a highly educated community where its really obvious in the types of parents involved in educationsl level. Thats naturally going to impact college attendance. Football was the driving sport. This portion is brain health driven.

Fiascos like Baylor, PSU, and OSU drive away some fringe fans. Even MSU type stuff. The cult of college sports sickens some.

Population demographics is changing. There used to be an Iowa HS sports paper that did an article on my hs when they lost a game which was rare. Now the school had 1/3 of the students and they are a mediocre 8 man school. Never saw that coming. Their long time coach was highly abusive.

I have 3 boys who were stellar athletes. All had concussions. 2 of them have issues as adults stemming from that and one has significant issues. Someone mentioned the questioning Rob did about KF keeping a player out of the NFL as maybe the time we've been lied to. You'll never convince me the biggest lie isn't about the number of concussions.

The other problem is what is occurring to the middle class. Middle class population is shrinking. Hispanics arent by a group as newer immigrants arent into football. When one drops from middle class to lower middle going to games is just not in the budget.

We are just seeing the bigging of decline. Iowa may hold interest for a longer time. IL is going to have a hard time ever rebuilding the fan base.
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Touching on your middle class point. Another issue and quite a big issue is a middle class family raising active children. People just aren't going to commit to season tickets when paying for youth sports or other child's activities. Hell, our baseball is $900 plus for one boy for 12U baseball. We have two in the club. Throw a vacation in and football tickets goes down the priority level fast, when can watch at home on the flat screen HD. There's just not enough $$$ to go around for everything. I wanted so bad to take my boys to one game this year, We've done the pre-season directional schools in the past or a Maryland game. I wanted to take the family to one nice high caliber game at Kinnick like Wisconsin. Hell, single game tickets are $95 for adults and children. We'd be in or a $500 plus 6 hour activity. Screw it, now if we go we are back looking at Iowa vs UNI or another mediocre game.

Well, I just checked single game Minny tickets for the Iowa game and the least expensive is $147 a ticket. Not doing that. Good luck Minnesota!
 
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I live in the Rochester area, and let me tell you, there is just as much Hawk garb walking around here as their is Goof. Heck even clown wear comes close.
Vikings are king here....can't wait till cousins gets hurt in the first series.....
 
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