As of yesterday the Gophers had sold 22,706 football season tickets, according to an email from an athletic department spokesman. Those are season tickets that don’t include student sales and the figure represents a major decline in season sales from last year’s final total.
The spokesman also reported that nonstudent season tickets last year totaled 27,885. With less than three weeks to the start of the Gophers season, the athletic department is off about 19 percent from last year’s final sales.
The last few years the public season ticket total is believed to be in the 27,000 to 30,000 range. If the Gophers didn’t sell any more tickets in 2016 they would be down 5,179 tickets from last year at TCF Bank Stadium (with a capacity of over 51,000). The department will expect to boost its total of 22,706 but time is growing tight.
A drop-off of 15 to 20 percent is a significant loss in ticket revenue. The decline has the attention of athletic department leaders who have reportedly cancelled a 2017 price increase. They may have done so not only because of push back from ticket buying customers but also because of media reports earlier this year the Big Ten Conference has negotiated a rich TV deal for its schools. The Gophers’ future TV revenue share reportedly will be over $44 million annually and that would make it easier to hold steady with ticket prices.
A price increase in 2017 was scheduled to be part of a three-year escalation in pricing announced in late 2014. Late this week the athletic department sent emails to ticket holders announcing the freeze in prices, according to a Sports Headliners source. Joe Christensen wrote about the change in pricing in today’s Star Tribune.
Many seats at TCF Bank Stadium have increased in cost by hundreds of dollars because of built-in donation fees attached to ticket prices (also labeled and reported as “scholarship seating fees”). At the time of the 2014 announcement the department explained the necessity for creating more revenues to counterbalance rising costs and to increase the operating budget for Gopher athletics.
However, there is a lot of pushback from unhappy season ticket holders, even though many realize expensive tickets have become common with football programs across the country. One source told Sports Headliners this summer he heard Gophers football season ticket sales for 2016 were off about 20 percent. Another source estimated 10 to 15 percent.
The Gophers were coming off a 8-4 regular season and 5-3 Big Ten record in 2014 when athletic director Norwood Teague announced changes in pricing. Minnesota was headed toward its first New Year’s Day Bowl game since 1962, and Jerry Kill was building his popularity as head coach. By season’s end last year the Gophers had finished 2-6 in the Big Ten and 6-7 overall after a Quick Lane Bowl win against Central Michigan. They also played the last part of the season without Kill who resigned in October because of health concerns.
Without the face of the program in Kill and coming off a disappointing season, it’s not surprising there is a major drop-off in season ticket sales now. The 2016 price increase is no doubt part of the cause. Also, adding to the problem is a home schedule that is less attractive than 2015 when marquee names Michigan, Nebraska, TCU and Wisconsin came to town. The best draws on this fall’s home schedule are Iowa and Northwestern. Next year is better with the main attractions lining up as Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Worth Noting
Best wishes are welcome for Gophers linebackers coach Mike Sherels who has had multiple hospitalizations and surgeries the last couple weeks including Thursday, according to a source. Sherels, 31, has been visited by Gophers players and is likely to remain hospitalized for awhile.
It appears likely Shannon Brooks, the Gophers leading rusher in 2015, will miss the opening game against Oregon State after surgery this week for a broken bone in his foot, according to another source. Speculation is Brooks might be out three to five weeks. Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys is expected to provide details about Brooks early this evening.
After Oregon State September 1, the Gophers play a tune-up game September 10 versus Indiana State and then have a bye before their final nonconference game against Colorado State September 24. A Brooks return for that game might be probable. Brooks, a sophomore, rushed for 709 yards and was a surprise impact player last season.
Redshirt sophomore Rodney Smith, the team’s second leading rusher last season with 670 yards, probably will become the team’s main ball carrier. His backup, junior college transfer Kobe McCrary, seems likely to receive major playing time, too.
McCrary, 6-2, 235 pounds, led the nation’s junior college players in rushing touchdowns last season with 22. Competing at Butler Community College in Kansas, and playing in one of the premier JC leagues in the nation, the Florida native rushed 225 times for 1,190 yards.
Ryan Burns, publisher of Scout’s GopherDigest.com, said McCrary is similar to Brooks in his ability to break or slip tackles. He also told Sports Headliners that while redshirt freshman James Johannesson had an eye-catching spring game for the Gophers and remains a promising player, McCrary “was brought in for a reason.” As Burns knows, Claeys isn’t likely to recruit junior college players with their limited years of eligibility unless they can help the team immediately. McCrary will have two seasons of eligibility at Minnesota.
Burns thought the Gophers had a potential breakthrough freshman in former Marshall High School receiver Drew Hmielewski but he will miss the 2016 season because of shoulder surgery and will be a medical redshirt. “At some time he will probably start practicing this fall,” Claeys said. “I don’t know when.”
Claeys definitely expects Hmielewski to participate in spring practice. Coming out of high school Scout ranked him as the No. 9 wide receiver in the Midwest.
This afternoon’s 4:45 p.m. Gophers practice at TCF Bank Stadium is the last one open to the public.