gophers/ncaa

Many feel a winning program is the sole answer. Although winning helps, when you look at the 'geography' The U of M is the only Big Ten school located 'smack dab' in the middle of a major metro area. There are a lot of sports entertainment choices - even student ticket prices at Wolves game - which vie for really tight entertainment dollars. Yep- winning would help but you can trace an 'inverse relationship' between the arrival and rise of pro football in the Twin Cities and state with the fall of Gopher football fortunes from a fan support standpoint.

mrchips, the University doesn't discriminate regarding who's money they will accept for ticket sales. They will take it from anyone as long as they have tickets remaining to sell. And if they continue to make a good showing and win games or put on a good show, it will once again be the hottest ticket in town. And this will be without Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, obstructed view seats or any other malady that you want to mention. And by raising the prices over the past few years, they are attempting to cleanse their fan base of old-timers who complain all the time while sucking up the oxygen in the building. I maintain that they know exactly what they are doing and to prove my theory, let us wait and see what happens if they spank Michigan State on December 31 in the Barn before a packed house when school is NOT in session. If they win, I think it will be very difficult to get a ticket for future B1G games, student or general public sections.

nomorebrew, so I guess you want Cheryl Littlejohn back with her 4-5 wins A YEAR...and attendence barely 500. Plus the fact she put the Athletic Department in further NCAA trouble with the way she treated players. To her credit, she did recruit Whalen and McCarville.

Sid Hartman once said when local teams start to win more games each season those fans will return. Well I have been to a few Gopher games but I always sat with a restricted view. Now if these same students do want to attend because of performance, Then the U had better find some solutions. I have one suggestion. Take alot of these big games Like Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State and play them at the Target Center. Here they have the seating without obstructed seats. Now for older fans like me I would like to go to the target Center to watch my team play. Even when I went to games at the Barn I swear there were more adults there than students. I think its long over do that the Gophers change there mindset and sell them to any adult that wants to attend a game. And one more Suggestion and that is to tear down the Barn and build something like the target center. And if those students still do not want to come and watch this team, then sell those tickets to the general public and then u will see more fans attending those games.

I've written/emailed several STrib reporters with this question, but have yet to see a printed answer. Where would the U's athletic budget rank in the B10 (what a euphemism that is, eh?) if football and men's basketball and hockey were each to be 90% sellouts each season?

The two major sports at Gopher nation have both been consistent losers since I can remember and I go back to the 60's. It isn't complicated or a secret what it takes to fill the seats - a good product, just ask the Twins now that the curiosity of a new park has worn off.

Man there are some mentally challenged people writing on this discussion today! lloyd55423 labels Coach Kill an epileptic and claims that's why the football program is failing. Linnee911 says the Wolves game against the Sun is a better value than the sellout against Coach Izzo and Michigan State and kenw1952w points out that it really ISN'T a complex problem if the school's administrators would just read the advice posted here by the rocket scientists like himself. God help us all. I wouldn't walk across the street to see an NBA game with FREE courtside tickets and I made my living working for the NBA for several years. I can't wait to see B1G basketball in-person or on TV followed by the NCAA tournament. Let's shut-up and start the show.

When our Gophers start winning the first few B1G games, maintain their top 10-15 national ranking, and asssure themselves a good NCAA bid, the barn will again be packed with both students and fans and all the concerns about sagging attendance there will be forgotten. There is absolutely nothing like winning to turn a lagging situation around. It happens everywhere. Just look across the border at the Wisconsin teams.

A ho-hum team and someone's brainchild to charge for seat selection above the cost of a season ticket does not a good season make.

complex issue? how complex is it to 1) schedule worthy opponents 2) win. And I don't even have a graduate degree; go figure.