The performance, the atmosphere (lack of) helped the decision, but the lack of desire to go near Minneapolis played a huge part in my decision to stop.
I'm not a MPLS guy either but come on... You're safe hopping off 280 or 35W, driving up University for five minutes from either direction, and parking in Lot 37 for a few hours before heading home.
Malcolm Yards has become my pregame spot and I don't feel any safety concerns in that district either.
It’s not a personal safety concern, I’ll leave it at that to avoid topics not meant for this site.
I kinda wonder how much of no-shows is due to scalpers buying up seats in certain sections and people not wanting to pay for those tickets. That and corporate buyers buying up seats that no longer have as much allure to casual fans.
There's a lot of different factors like Bonin said, the no shows are definitely a problem but if you can't fill the cheap seats then it's either a matter of those seats still being too expensive or other factors that contribute to a lack of interest. The non-premier games like Alaska are certainly affordable but the premier games have their cheapest seats at like $55, that's definitely part of the issue even if it doesn't explain everything.
I kinda wonder how much of no-shows is due to scalpers buying up seats in certain sections and people not wanting to pay for those tickets. That and corporate buyers buying up seats that no longer have as much allure to casual fans.
Scalpers are not stupid. I don't think there are really many left in Gopher hockey because they know they can't get rid of the tickets.
I also think there are not that many corporate seats. I think there are just a lot of rapidly aging folks that have had tickets forever and don't worry about the money and just go when to the few games a year they want to.
A study of the season ticket holder demographics would be interesting.
you guys have been talking about this for years the u gets there dough up front they dont care if people show up
I also think there are not that many corporate seats. I think there are just a lot of rapidly aging folks that have had tickets forever and don't worry about the money and just go when to the few games a year they want to
I hope I'm rich enough someday to drop a couple grand on season tickets and go to 3 games a year when I'm bored. 
I also think there are not that many corporate seats. I think there are just a lot of rapidly aging folks that have had tickets forever and don't worry about the money and just go when to the few games a year they want to
I hope I'm rich enough someday to drop a couple grand on season tickets and go to 3 games a year when I'm bored.
You might underestimate how many people there are that can do that in the Twin Cities
I kinda wonder how much of no-shows is due to scalpers buying up seats in certain sections and people not wanting to pay for those tickets. That and corporate buyers buying up seats that no longer have as much allure to casual fans.
There's a lot of different factors like Bonin said, the no shows are definitely a problem but if you can't fill the cheap seats then it's either a matter of those seats still being too expensive or other factors that contribute to a lack of interest. The non-premier games like Alaska are certainly affordable but the premier games have their cheapest seats at like $55, that's definitely part of the issue even if it doesn't explain everything.
The problem is the on ice product.
It's like a dog food manufacturer that develops a new brand of dog food, but dogs won't eat it. Lowering the price, putting a squeaky toy in the bag, designing a fancier bag or changing its name won't solve the problem. The dogs still won't eat the product.
Do we really think the on-ice product was bad last year though? I get that you're looking at this from a more qualitative perspective but the team was largely successful.
Unfortunately last year no fans were allowed
Streaming and various other viewing options are becoming the norm, along with the age-old arguments, IMO.
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
I also think there are not that many corporate seats. I think there are just a lot of rapidly aging folks that have had tickets forever and don't worry about the money and just go when to the few games a year they want to
I hope I'm rich enough someday to drop a couple grand on season tickets and go to 3 games a year when I'm bored.
You might underestimate how many people there are that can do that in the Twin Cities
I know one of them. They look at it as a donation, their way of supporting the U.
The performance, the atmosphere (lack of) helped the decision, but the lack of desire to go near Minneapolis played a huge part in my decision to stop.
Oof. We'll really miss ya.
The performance, the atmosphere (lack of) helped the decision, but the lack of desire to go near Minneapolis played a huge part in my decision to stop.
Oof. We'll really miss ya.
Thanks, that means a lot coming from whoever you are.
I know one of them. They look at it as a donation, their way of supporting the U.
I hate this thread bend as I'm tired of the storyline and people going into their bunkers on their opinion... but [mention]Norm[/mention] has hit the nail on the head here. Ticket prices to many between the blue lines are a way to support University of Minnesota athletics. They don't see it as a value proposition of 'can I resell the tickets for what I paid for them' -- which is where some of you base your argument when complaining about ticket prices. College athletics are very different than professional athletics. Money spent on the Wild go 50% to players, some to the coaches/front office/admin and then the rest to the owner's bank account. Money spent at Minnesota goes to support the student athlete experience at the University and the coaches/admin to make that happen -- the salaries for coaches and admin does seem crazy, but it is the market.
During the pandemic when ticket revenue went to $0, the contributions went from $10.5M to $15.5M. I think you can easily explain the difference through some electing to convert their tickets refunds to donations.
I know one of them. They look at it as a donation, their way of supporting the U.
I hate this thread bend as I'm tired of the storyline and people going into their bunkers on their opinion... but @Norm has hit the nail on the head here. Ticket prices to many between the blue lines are a way to support University of Minnesota athletics. They don't see it as a value proposition of 'can I resell the tickets for what I paid for them' -- which is where some of you base your argument when complaining about ticket prices. College athletics are very different than professional athletics. Money spent on the Wild go 50% to players, some to the coaches/front office/admin and then the rest to the owner's bank account. Money spent at Minnesota goes to support the student athlete experience at the University and the coaches/admin to make that happen -- the salaries for coaches and admin does seem crazy, but it is the market.
During the pandemic when ticket revenue went to $0, the contributions went from $10.5M to $15.5M. I think you can easily explain the difference through some electing to convert their tickets refunds to donations.
Yes. This person I'm speaking of makes no attempt to use, resell, or give away their tickets. It's just "I had a good experience (including going to games) and a good education as a student at the U, this is how I will support it."
I know one of them. They look at it as a donation, their way of supporting the U.
I hate this thread bend as I'm tired of the storyline and people going into their bunkers on their opinion... but @Norm has hit the nail on the head here. Ticket prices to many between the blue lines are a way to support University of Minnesota athletics. They don't see it as a value proposition of 'can I resell the tickets for what I paid for them' -- which is where some of you base your argument when complaining about ticket prices. College athletics are very different than professional athletics. Money spent on the Wild go 50% to players, some to the coaches/front office/admin and then the rest to the owner's bank account. Money spent at Minnesota goes to support the student athlete experience at the University and the coaches/admin to make that happen -- the salaries for coaches and admin does seem crazy, but it is the market.
During the pandemic when ticket revenue went to $0, the contributions went from $10.5M to $15.5M. I think you can easily explain the difference through some electing to convert their tickets refunds to donations.
Yes. This person I'm speaking of makes no attempt to use, resell, or give away their tickets. It's just "I had a good experience and a good education as a student at the U, this is how I will support it."
I can make it easy for them to give them to me. 
Unfortunately, that form of support (buying good tickets and then mostly ignoring them) seriously messes with the atmosphere, and is part of what started the slide in attendance (in addition to many other factors... not claiming this is the whole story). The fact that people weren't there filling the place up took away a decent amount of energy, which helped push others to not bother to show up, etc.
And again, there are a lot of factors at play here, but I would definitely contend this is one of them.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
I know one of them. They look at it as a donation, their way of supporting the U.
I hate this thread bend as I'm tired of the storyline and people going into their bunkers on their opinion... but @Norm has hit the nail on the head here. Ticket prices to many between the blue lines are a way to support University of Minnesota athletics. They don't see it as a value proposition of 'can I resell the tickets for what I paid for them' -- which is where some of you base your argument when complaining about ticket prices. College athletics are very different than professional athletics. Money spent on the Wild go 50% to players, some to the coaches/front office/admin and then the rest to the owner's bank account. Money spent at Minnesota goes to support the student athlete experience at the University and the coaches/admin to make that happen -- the salaries for coaches and admin does seem crazy, but it is the market.
During the pandemic when ticket revenue went to $0, the contributions went from $10.5M to $15.5M. I think you can easily explain the difference through some electing to convert their tickets refunds to donations.
Yes. This person I'm speaking of makes no attempt to use, resell, or give away their tickets. It's just "I had a good experience and a good education as a student at the U, this is how I will support it."
That's all well and good. If there are in fact a lot of people like your friend, they are unwittingly contributing to the game attendance and lousy atmosphere problems at Mariucci Arena. If they don't give a sh*t that the seats go unused, why don't they just donate the money and open up seating to someone that might actually use them?
Because then they don't have their seats for the one game they want to go to each year.
This has been enlightening and you can't kick those people out of those seats.
It obviously makes no sense to most of us and it's only 2 seats. But it makes you wonder if there are more folks that think this way.
If they don't give a sh*t that the seats go unused, why don't they just donate the money and open up seating to someone that might actually use them?
When you say open up the seats do you mean for someone else to buy? The problem with that is there isn't anyone lined up to buy those high value seats when they could just buy a cheaper seat and move.
The U will keep selling them those seats. Interesting that this appears to be a much bigger problem than at other schools. I have hypothesized that the demographics of Gopher season ticket holders skew very, very old and those would probably be a lot of the "donation" mindset people skipping games.
This narrative seems far fetched on a larger basis. What were these people doing when there was 9K plus attending every game?
If they don't give a sh*t that the seats go unused, why don't they just donate the money and open up seating to someone that might actually use them?
When you say open up the seats do you mean for someone else to buy? The problem with that is there isn't anyone lined up to buy those high value seats when they could just buy a cheaper seat and move.
Yes, I meant they could still donate to the U while at the same time dropping the tickets, thus opening those seats up to other prospective buyers. If those vacated seats in the center section become available, there very well could be people that would upgrade from their current locations. Also, possible first time ticket buyers would jump at the opportunity to buy those seats.
This narrative seems far fetched on a larger basis. What were these people doing when there was 9K plus attending every game?
Well that was like 10 years ago and those people (probably skew older age wise, generally speaking) were ten years younger and the team was better. Assuming that’s true that’d make a big difference.
This narrative seems far fetched on a larger basis. What were these people doing when there was 9K plus attending every game?
Staying home. I have a hard time believing this is a widespread part of the problem, just one example.
Great news.
[media] https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1491538382610042881 [/media]
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Him naming the company Omaha Productions is fantastic.
Anson Carter is implying Russo of something not very good. Listen to the very end.
[media] https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1491658796439015427 [/media]
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Anson Carter is implying Russo of something not very good. Listen to the very end.
[media] https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1491658796439015427 [/media]br>
Guy makes a terrible take regarding the Wild's depth and ability after the Winter Classic, taking time to particularly make fun of reporters (doesn't name Russo in particular but it's clear who he is referring to) and gets corrected in a mostly respectful tweet by Russo saying the team went like 9-0-1 after that game while missing as many as 8-9 guys per game. So a week later he goes on TV and does this.
This is going to get ugly.
Not much of a fan of Russo, but I hope he absolutely buries Carter over this nonsense. What a POS.
Absolutely hilarious that in the middle of Carter's garbage about "we don't know what we're talking about" Gretzky brings up "that kid in Calgary " because he has no idea who Jacob Markstrom is.
I don't care if he doesn't know a single player in the league, it's better to have the Great One talking about hockey than not.
Respect to Anson for being able to get out of bed with that chip on his shoulder.
Wow... what an :censored:
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
I know TNT wants to bring the same unscripted success that the basketball studio show has to hockey, but holy cow. Carter needs to realize that this isn't doing rink side reporting for Notre Dame Hockey anymore and when he has a "hot take" about a team, he is going to get pushback. He either needs to grow thicker skin or ignore twitter since it appears he can't handle it when someone disagrees with him. I hope he makes a public apology to Russo, but I doubt it will happen. I heard Russo on Mr Smugs show today and he really didn't want to talk about it too much other than he has gotten a lot of support from others today and told his Mom not to enter the fray.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Kudos to Russo for not wanting to grant this anymore more oxygen. He's getting plenty of support.I look forward to TNT's apology.
Kudos to Russo for not wanting to grant this anymore more oxygen. He's getting plenty of support.I look forward to TNT's apology.
I saw people tweeting that they were looking forward to Russo's response, yeah no. Russo has absolutely nothing to gain from commenting. Carter made himself look like a fool, don't interrupt him.
Kudos to Russo for not wanting to grant this anymore more oxygen. He's getting plenty of support.I look forward to TNT's apology.
I saw people tweeting that they were looking forward to Russo's response, yeah no. Russo has absolutely nothing to gain from commenting. Carter made himself look like a fool, don't interrupt him.
Totally agree. Russo might be the most connected NHL beat writer. My bet is Carter is getting inundated with calls/texts defending Russo.
Kudos to Russo for not wanting to grant this anymore more oxygen. He's getting plenty of support.I look forward to TNT's apology.
I saw people tweeting that they were looking forward to Russo's response, yeah no. Russo has absolutely nothing to gain from commenting. Carter made himself look like a fool, don't interrupt him.
Totally agree. Russo might be the most connected NHL beat writer. My bet is Carter is getting inundated with calls/texts defending Russo.
From scrolling through Twitter, just about every major hockey writer/analyst has come to Russo's defense. I'm sure he greatly appreciated them having his back.
Ridiculous that they had to though.
I always liked Anson, but man...what a Timmy Dipsh*t thing to say.
“It’s the wrong month…we know exactly what’s happening”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is he accusing Russo of being racist?
“It’s the wrong month…we know exactly what’s happening”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is he accusing Russo of being racist?
Yes, unless he has some evidence, this is very bad.
Yes. Yes he is.
For further evidence, note the final sentence before break: "Sounds all white to me."
Whether you like Michael Russo's work or not, he absolutely doesn't deserve this.
“It’s the wrong month…we know exactly what’s happening”. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is he accusing Russo of being racist?
Pretty much, yeah. Sorry, Mr Carter, Russo called you out because you were demonstrably wrong, not because of your skin color.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
The other 3 guys leaning away from him and then pointing out that they were leaning away from him is hilarious…then he keeps yapping.
As a black kid playing hockey, I'm sure Anson Carter was subject to the kind of horrific insults we can only imagine so I don't blame him for having his guard up. That said, he couldn't have handled this any worse. I'm interested to hear his follow up because this isn't going away until he addresses it.
The other 3 guys leaning away from him and then pointing out that they were leaning away from him is hilarious…then he keeps yapping.
Tocchet bailed and McHugh tried to save him. Gretzky looked more comfortable August 9th 1988.
[media] https://twitter.com/RussoHockey/status/1491921361421451269 [/media]
[media] https://twitter.com/RussoHockey/status/1491921558503366657 [/media]
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Our long national nightmare is over. ?
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Our long national nightmare is over. ?
Thank you Greyeagle Ford! 
Nice to see two people work out a difficult situation together, forgive, understand, and move on. Why can’t more folks do this? And hopefully the Twitterverse will let it go too. Kudos to them for acting like adults. Hopefully sets a good example for others.
Granted all I know is what I’ve read here.