Charging $80 for "cheap seat" tickets backfired; TCF Bank Stadium had lots of empty seats; SEE PIC

[Franisdaman]

The U of M charged a minimum of $80/ticket ($88/ticket after fees) for Iowa single game tickets. The prices went up from there.

For the Northwestern game, the U of M Is charging just $35/ticket.

Gotta feel bad for Goofer Nation! Looks like the $80 starting price was too high! Good luck next year when pricing your home game vs Wisconsin. I wonder if the Goofer Athletic Dept breaks even this year!


And check out this pic & tweet from the QC Times. The pic was TAKEN 10 minutes before kick off.

Steve Batterson‏@sbatt79 4h4 hours ago

#qctimes It's homecoming at Minnesota where fans bought into the idea and stayed home. 10 minutes before Hawkeyes, Gophers kick


CLICK ON PIC FOR LARGER VIEW

 

[Herky T Hawk]

Live about 40 minutes from the stadium. I thought about taking the family of four to the game until I saw the prices for the cheap seats. A couple weeks ago the cheapest price on stubhub was about $90 too.

If they’d charge $40-50 they would have sold a bunch more tickets and probably have had more revenue from concessions and parking.

 

[Gridiron24]

This is supposed to be one of Minnesota's biggest home games of the year, and the stadium is 75% full. I feel bad for their fans, those ticket prices are ridiculous

Had we beat Wisconsin two weeks ago, I think more Hawk fans would have made the trip

 

[MitchL]

Minnesota AD should realize the team they have. Everyone knew they weren't very good and that once the B1G started... they would struggle.

Those tix prices are outrageous.

 

[HawkNole09]

Minnesota AD should realize the team they have. Everyone knew they weren't very good and that once the B1G started... they would struggle.

They’re looking to build something. They don’t care about this year. They want to build a winning tradition and having 20,000 hawks fans there doesn’t help
Those tix prices are outrageous.

 

[Franisdaman]

Check out this pic & tweet from the QC Times. The pic was TAKEN 10 minutes before kick off.


Steve Batterson‏@sbatt79 4h4 hours ago

#qctimes It's homecoming at Minnesota where fans bought into the idea and stayed home. 10 minutes before Hawkeyes, Gophers kick


CLICK ON PIC FOR LARGER VIEW

 

[Auger]

Should take the pic 2 mins before kickoff. Most College Football fans file in just minutes before kickoff. 10 mins before kickoff in most stadiums is only going to look half full. Stadium was still only 75% full during the game though. Minnesota must have been hoping an undefeated Iowa was coming to town with those prices.

 

[iahawks10]

At kickoff, you could still see the golden M and plenty of open seats.

 

[Franisdaman]

These were taken with 4 minutes to go and Minnesota down 10.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW

 

[Hawkfan_08]

You could see the words on the seats all game and there were plenty of empty seats around the students. I bet Minnesota United draws more than the gophers.

 

[HawkOptimist]

It was smart, actually. They knew Iowa fans would flock up there in droves had tickets been, say, $35-40 a piece. Conversely, they knew Minnesota fans wouldn't show up no matter the price. Soooo, easy way to keep Iowa fans from taking over the stadium? Jack the price to $80 a ticket.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

It was smart, actually. They knew Iowa fans would flock up there in droves had tickets been, say, $35-40 a piece. Conversely, they knew Minnesota fans wouldn't show up no matter the price. Soooo, easy way to keep Iowa fans from taking over the stadium? Jack the price to $80 a ticket.

My thoughts exactly. Charge double and have half as many hawk fans

 

[ANYCHawk]

It was smart, actually. They knew Iowa fans would flock up there in droves had tickets been, say, $35-40 a piece. Conversely, they knew Minnesota fans wouldn't show up no matter the price. Soooo, easy way to keep Iowa fans from taking over the stadium? Jack the price to $80 a ticket.

Are people really going to travel hundreds of miles, pay for hotel/tailgate? And decide not to go to the game over $30?

 

[hawkcub]

Are people really going to travel hundreds of miles, pay for hotel/tailgate? And decide not to go to the game over $30?

Yeah I went up there with the idea maybe I can get something for 50 or 60 from a scalper. No Hotel but I did take a 3-hour drive and back. At kickoff no one would go below 80. 1 Guy wanted 125 I just walked away, then he started yelling at me don't walk away from me. Ended up just biting the bullet and paying the extra 30 right at kickoff. Missrd the first 7 minutes of the game. It takes a lot longer to get through their security then it does at Iowa.

 

[iahawks10]

Scalpers up there are cork screwers.

 

[Franisdaman]

Scalpers up there are sock cuckers.

your spell check sucks! i see 2 typo's!

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Yeah I went up there with the idea maybe I can get something for 50 or 60 from a scalper. No Hotel but I did take a 3-hour drive and back. At kickoff no one would go below 80. 1 Guy wanted 125 I just walked away, then he started yelling at me don't walk away from me. Ended up just biting the bullet and paying the extra 30 right at kickoff. Missrd the first 7 minutes of the game. It takes a lot longer to get through their security then it does at Iowa.

That's crazy! They were willing to eat the tickets over paying at cost? Sounds like a solid business plan.

 

[Franisdaman]

Yeah I went up there with the idea maybe I can get something for 50 or 60 from a scalper. No Hotel but I did take a 3-hour drive and back. At kickoff no one would go below 80. 1 Guy wanted 125 I just walked away, then he started yelling at me don't walk away from me. Ended up just biting the bullet and paying the extra 30 right at kickoff. Missrd the first 7 minutes of the game. It takes a lot longer to get through their security then it does at Iowa.

That's crazy! They were willing to eat the tickets over paying at cost? Sounds like a solid business plan.

Here's some numbers. As you will see, 2,600 tickets were never distributed (sold by the U of M or given out for free, etc) and many people who did have tickets simply did not show up..

TCF's capacity is 50,800. In comparison, US Bank Stadium (which replaced the Metrodome) seats 67,000 and can accommodate up to 70,000..Imagine if the Goofs still played there? That would open up 17,000 more tickets and would drive the price down and would encourage Iowans to drive up, buy tickets and spend money. Instead, I think the LACK OF SUPPLY, the COST, and their TV at home kept Iowa fans home.


The announced attendance was 48,199 (2,600 less of capacity), but this is total # of tickets distributed. Crazy that they could not sell this game out, but again, the cheapest ticket was an $88 (after fees) nose bleed seat. Maybe they should have thrown in a couple pizzas for each ticket purchased? . Obviously, based on the # of empty seats, not everyone used those 48,199 tickets that were distributed; it looks like a lot of the 48,199 ticket holders stayed home.

 

[pharmdfd]

I bought one for $80 5 mins before kickoff at the ticket office (didn’t care where the seat was) and stood in concession level and could see perfect. But after looking across to Iowa side and seeing empty seats in first few rows even around the 50 yard line I moved 2nd half

 

[The_Joker13]

I dont think prices are the main contributor. Minnesota sucks, and has sucked for a VERY long time.

 

[hawkcub]

I bought one for $80 5 mins before kickoff at the ticket office (didn’t care where the seat was) and stood in concession level and could see perfect. But after looking across to Iowa side and seeing empty seats in first few rows even around the 50 yard line I moved 2nd half

I would have done that too if I thought the cheapest I was going to get was $80. So I wouldn't have to to deal with the scalpers.

 

[Hawk fan in MN]

These were taken with 4 minutes to go and Minnesota down 10.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW

It was empty on the gophers side upper deck but I think the pictures above were before kickoff. The security sucked and it took forever to get in the damn stadium yesterday