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Gophers Football Ticket Sales Decline

Posted on October 10, 2018 by David Shama

Ticket sales continue to decline for Golden Gophers home football games. In response to a request from Sports Headliners, the University of Minnesota reported that both non-student and student season tickets had declined 2,572 from last year.

As of late September, 21,682 non-student season tickets had been sold compared to 22,990 in 2017. The student season tickets total of 4,730 compared with 5,994 last year.

The public isn’t rushing to buy single game home tickets either. Announced attendance for four games so far includes three totals under 42,000 in TCF Bank Stadium with a seating capacity of 50,805. The attendance of 38,280 for the Fresno State game was the second lowest in stadium history since its opening in 2009.

There is also the eyeball test at each game that shows huge patches of unsold or unused seats all over the stadium, including many that are expensive seats. Buyers are paying for tickets but not showing up or successfully giving those seats away. This was evident even at the most attractive game on the 2018 schedule, last Saturday’s rivalry game against Iowa.

Announced attendances for college football games, including those at TCF Bank Stadium, have long raised eyebrows and caused speculation about accuracy. A Wall Street Journal article last summer reported that based on actual ticket scans at FBS games last year far fewer fans actually show up in their seats than what announced attendances indicate.

The Journal reported in its August 30 article that the Gophers announced total attendance in 2017 of 310,506 for seven home games contrasted with a tickets scanned total of 210,909. That resonates with last Saturday’s Iowa-Minnesota game at TCF Bank Stadium when despite an announced attendance of 48,199, it appeared that 10,000 to 15,000 fewer fans were in the building.

College football attendance decreased for a fourth consecutive season in 2017, and there are many reasons. HD TV delivers captivating pictures for those watching college football in the comfort of their homes without paying high ticket prices and investing time travelling to and from game sites. Then, too, the college game is lengthier than its NFL rival with longer halftimes and more clock stoppages during the four quarters of “action.”

Younger fans, including college students, often aren’t as interested in their hometown team as past generations. The argument of moving Minnesota’s games back to campus at TCF Bank Stadium to draw more students has proven highly questionable.

Whether a school has a winning team, of course, also has a big impact on attendance. Often, the schools that draw the smaller crowds in their conferences (like the Gophers) don’t have successful teams and in many instances haven’t for a long while. Add it all up and many universities, including those in the Big Ten such as Minnesota, find themselves with lots of empty seats but grateful for TV revenues in the range of $50 million this school year.

Interest in Gophers football began declining with the mid-season resignation of head coach Jerry Kill in 2015. Kill had the program on the rise and was a popular personality who connected with the public. Ticket buyers didn’t respond the same way with Kill’s successor, Tracy Claeys, who had one full season as head coach in 2016.

A couple weeks prior to the start of the 2016 season the University reported about a 19 percent decline in non-student season tickets. The total in 2015 had been 27,885 but in mid-August of 2016 the Gophers had sold 22,706 non-student season tickets.

Despite a winning Big Ten record and unexpected Holiday Bowl win in 2016, Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle and University president Eric Kaler terminated Claeys in early January of 2017. “I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program,” Coyle said in a statement.

University regent Michael Hsu said the message from administrators was there would be a “Fleck bump” in ticket sales by hiring P.J. Fleck, known as an exciting young coach from Western Michigan who was coming off a 13-1 season. Fleck had drawn national press coverage because of both his record and salesmanship. Hsu told Sports Headliners he had been reluctant to approve Fleck’s contract because it was not only considerably more compensation than Claeys earned, but also the athletic department was taking on the expense of over $3 million for buyouts of Claeys and his assistants.

In fact, there hasn’t been much “Fleck bump” in ticket sales. Last year, the Gophers’ first under Fleck, attendance for seven home games averaged 44,358—slightly improved over the average of 43,814 in Claeys’ only full season as head coach. That average was the lowest in TCF Bank Stadium history. The Gophers had averaged a TCF best 52,355 fans in 2015 when the Kill-effect was still in play and the stadium had a temporary larger capacity because the Vikings were playing there.

This season might set a new attendance low at TCF with the team off to a 0-2 Big Ten start, giving up 90 points in the first two league games. The Gophers could be underdogs in all of their remaining games. The remaining home schedule has three opponents with no marquee pull—Indiana, Northwestern and Purdue. Through four home games Minnesota is averaging 42,233 fans per game in announced attendance.

The “honeymoon” effect of TCF Bank Stadium has been gone for some time. As the weather turns colder, and the possibility of precipitation is in play, having an outdoor facility in this marketplace (compare to U.S. Bank Stadium) is a liability in selling tickets, and it causes those with tickets to stay away.

In an interview last month with Sports Headliners, Kaler acknowledged the attendance problem at Minnesota and elsewhere. “We’re not alone in this situation across the country,” he said. “As you know, attendance at sporting events has dropped off nearly everywhere. Of course, I expected more people to come (to Gopher games), but nothing brings people to a stadium better than a winning team. I think as P.J. begins to put more w’s up on the board, (and) the young men continue to perform, our attendance will rebound.”

Fleck’s recruiting classes have ranked higher than what Gophers fans have known over the years. Fleck, Kaler and other leaders at the U are counting on more talent in the seasons ahead. “I am very pleased with the decision that Mark and I made to hire P.J.,” Kaler said. “He is exactly what we expected him to be. …He is setting a foundation that I think will hold up a very, very strong team as time goes forward.”

When does Kaler believe the Gophers can start filling up their stadium for every game? “Oh, I don’t have a timeframe for it, Dave. But I do think when we start routinely beating Wisconsin, we will sell out.”

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Ed Duren Interception a Gopher Classic

Posted on October 5, 2018October 5, 2018 by David Shama

When Minnesota renews its football rivalry against Iowa tomorrow at TCF Bank Stadium at least a few former Golden Gophers will think back to October 15, 1966. On that date Ed Duren, a husky defensive lineman, had the thrill of his career when he intercepted an Iowa pass and ran 95-yards for a fourth quarter touchdown in Minnesota’s 17-0 win at old Memorial Stadium.

Duren, 72, died last week in the Twin Cities of complications from diabetes. A visitation was held Monday in St. Paul, and a number of his teammates were at the mortuary including Jim Carter, who encountered Leon Trawick. “We were teasing and laughing about that run,” Carter told Sports Headliners.

Anyone who saw the play recalls it with affection. Duren was built stoutly at about 6-1, 240-pounds. He was on the field to plug holes at the line of scrimmage, not run a near 100-yard race. But that’s exactly what he got an opportunity to do when teammate Ezell Jones tipped an Iowa pass by Ed Podolak.

The football popped up in the air and Duren grabbed it at the Minnesota five-yard line. The big fella headed for the end zone, lumbering at a slow pace while observers wondered if he might drop to the ground from exhaustion. “It took him a day and a half,” Carter joked.

Carter remembered that a couple of faster teammates ran alongside the plodding lineman and wanted him to hand off the football. “It (the return) took forever. I got a kick out of it,” Carter said.

The 1966 team had a mediocre 4-5-1 record but bigger things were ahead the next year. Duren’s senior season of 1967 produced a Big Ten championship for the Gophers when they tied Indiana and Purdue for first place. He was named to the Big Ten’s all-conference second team defense.

Duren’s interception run is the second longest in Minnesota history, after Gary Hohman’s 99-yarder in 1969. Duren’s signature moment meant a lot to him, as did the 1967 Big Ten title and the championship ring commemorating the achievement. Just days before his death Minnesota-based Jostens replaced the original championship ring that had been stolen from him.

Al Nuness played a role in that kindness. Nuness, now retired, worked for Jostens for more than 20 years and was a friend of Duren’s dating back to the 1960s at Minnesota. “That’s kudos to Jostens to turn that around (in a short period),” Nuness said.

Nuness was a Gophers basketball player when Duren was in school. Players from the two sports lived in the same campus dormitory. “It (the interception) was one of those things we all laughed about together in the dorm,” Nuness said.

To this day folks are still chuckling and remembering Ed with fondness.

Worth Noting

Prayers to my friend Tom Sakal, captain of the 1967 Gophers, who is battling cancer. He has been a winner all his life—with the Gophers, in the Vietnam war, as an insurance executive and husband to wife Rosemary.

The Minnesota and Iowa teams that play tomorrow at TCF Bank Stadium have identical 3-1 overall and 0-1 Big Ten Conference records. The Gophers lead the all-time series 62-47-2 but results this century have been poor. Iowa has won five of the last six games. Since the 2000 season the Gophers have five wins in the series.

Among the many intriguing freshmen prospects on the Gophers’ roster is 6-9, 400-pound offensive lineman Daniel Faalele, who is likely to be redshirted. “He’s just an incredibly strong guy,” coach P.J. Fleck said. “He’s only got to get stronger, which is scary.”

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said junior safety Amani Hooker from Minneapolis wasn’t highly pursued by other Big Ten schools when he was at Park Center High School. Hooker, though, has impressed as a Hawkeye starter and certainly would look valuable in a Gopher uniform Saturday with safety Antoine Winfield Jr., Minnesota’s best player, out for the season after foot surgery.

Minnesota likely will use walk-on freshman Jordan Howden as Winfield’s replacement in the starting lineup against Iowa. He struggled filling in for Winfield two weeks ago against Maryland. The Las Vegas native excelled in prep football and track in Las Vegas where he finished fourth in the state 100 meters with a time of 11.21.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen has at least 100 receiving yards in each of the team’s first four games this season. He needs 100 receiving yards at Philadelphia on Sunday to become the third player in NFL history with at least 100 receiving yards in each of his team’s first five games to start a season.

Results of a study on collisions by birds with the exterior glass at U.S. Bank Stadium are expected next spring. The Vikings, Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, Audubon Society and professional researchers are involved with the two-seasons study.

Twenty-five Vikings games have been played at U.S. Bank Stadium since the facility opened and for 13 of those dates the massive pivoting doors that bring outside air into the building have been open.

The Wild can probably play with any NHL team if a core of key players stays healthy. Problem is Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon and Eric Staal all have histories with injuries.

Thehockeywriters.com is among those who don’t see a successful season for the Wild, predicting a sixth place finish in the seven-team Central Division. An article by Larry Fisher on Tuesday said Suter won’t be the same player after his severe ankle injury, Koivu and Staal “will start showing their age,” and Devan Dubnyk’s “days as a top-10 goalie or even a top-20 goalie are numbered.”

The Twin Cities-based WCHA office reports 12 alumni from member schools are on NHL opening week rosters including three Minnesota natives, David Backes (Robbinsdale) from the Bruins, Casey Nelson (Stillwater) from the Sabres and Tyler Pitlick (Minneapolis) from the Stars.

Former Gophers All-American Conner McHugh is training in the breaststroke for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Brother Max is a Gopher freshman and a possible Olympian someday in the breaststroke.

Simone Kolander, the former Gophers All-American soccer player and daughter of ex-Minnesota basketball standout Chad Kolander, is one of 25 interns working in the U Athletic Department.

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Gophers Lost ‘The Juice’ 50 Years Ago

Posted on September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 by David Shama

Golden Gophers football then and now in today’s column. Read on for a history lesson, and also insight about Saturday’s game against Maryland.

It was 50 years ago today, September 21, 1968, that Minnesota lost to USC in one of the grand games in Gopher football history. The buildup and hype to the game at old Memorial Stadium on the Minnesota campus was extraordinary. The Trojans were college football’s defending national champions. The Gophers had shared the 1967 Big Ten title with Indiana and Purdue.

USC was a glamour team featuring senior All-American halfback O.J. Simpson who would go on to win the 1968 Heisman Trophy. Yes, for those who need a history lesson, the same Orenthal James Simpson—nicknamed the “Juice” for his orange juice-like initials—that was charged in 1994 with killing his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

Minnesota had talented players, too, including All-American defensive end Bob Stein. USC’s John McKay was a national championship coach and Minnesota’s Murray Warmath had coached the Gophers to the 1960 national title.

In the weeks leading up to the game there was a buzz around town seldom seen with Gophers football before or since. It was Minnesota’s opener and the game drew a crowd of 60,820 crazed fans to Dinkytown. It would be the largest crowd at Memorial Stadium until the Gophers abandoned the “Brick House” after the 1981 season and moved into the Metrodome.

Warmath was known from International Falls to Austin as a defensive authority and military-like taskmaster. Stop the other team. Gain field position with a strong punting game. Don’t make mistakes. If you’re worried about the offense screwing up, punt the ball on third down and let the defense take over winning the game.

Warmath, then 55, had been the Golden Gophers head coach since 1954. Before that he was head coach for two seasons at Mississippi State. This assignment of stopping Simpson and USC was hardly his first “rodeo.”

Sometime during the offseason of 1968 Warmath got an unusual idea. He decided to let the grass at Memorial Stadium grow long in an attempt to slow down Simpson who not only was powerfully built but had track star speed.

How long was long? “Unusually long,” said former Minnesota offensive tackle Ezell Jones.

Fullback Jim Carter was a teammate of Jones in 1968 and also recalled the long grass. “It was deep,” Carter said. “I don’t know if it was six inches or what. But the problem with that strategy is, it didn’t work.”

The grass was long and the field was wet from rain, but the Gophers couldn’t do enough to contain Simpson in a 29-20 loss. Simpson ran for four touchdowns and had 375 all-purpose yards, according to Warmath’s biography, The Autumn Warrior by Mike Wilkinson.

After the game Simpson expressed his admiration for Minnesota’s defense. “Simpson praised the Gophers, saying he had never been hit harder than he was that day,” Wilkinson wrote.

Those who saw the game have enduring memories but topping most any list is Minnesota’s fourth quarter kickoff return for a touchdown that gave the Gophers a 20-16 lead. The play started with George Kemp catching the USC kickoff and starting up the field. Suddenly, with tacklers coming toward him, he stopped and threw a cross-field lateral pass to teammate John Wintermute who had an open field in front of him and a path to the end zone.

Murray Warmath (photo courtesy Minnesota athletic communications)

The play shocked not only USC but also Gophers fans who long ago had labeled their coach unimaginative. “That was awfully risqué for coach Warmath,” Carter said. “(Normally) three running plays and a cloud of dust was about as risqué as he got. Having a play like that on the kickoff was pretty amazing.”

The other day somebody recalled the kickoff play was copied “by every high school coach in the state,” and that they used it on ensuing Fridays. Whether that’s reality or myth, the memory of the play will never be forgotten by those who attended that famous game.

The 1968 squad was the last of Warmath’s powerful teams. That group went 5-2 in Big Ten Conference games and tied for third place in the standings. They could play—as they showed against USC—with any team in America. Warmath, with recruiting deteriorating, had losing seasons in 1969, 1970 and 1971, and then was forced out as head coach.

Between 1960 and 1968 Warmath’s Gophers won one national championship, two Big Ten titles and split two Rose Bowls. During their best stretch, from 1960-1962, Minnesota’s record was 22-6-1.

The Gophers have had nine coaches between Warmath and P.J. Fleck. None of the coaches since Warmath has been able to make the Gophers consistent winners in the Big Ten and therefore return Minnesota to national prominence.

Fleck was 2-7 in conference games in his first season of 2017. Tomorrow he takes his 3-0 nonconference team to College Park, Maryland for Minnesota’s opening Big Ten game in 2018.

The Terps are 2-1 and the results include a season highlight win over Texas and an inexplicable home loss to ho-hum Temple, 35-14. Maryland has that kind of a roller coaster program. Third-year coach DJ Durkin has recruited effectively but he is currently on administrative leave while the school investigates the football program’s culture.

The Terps are at least an average Big Ten team in talent, perhaps better. They were labeled before the season as the potential surprise team in the Big Ten’s East Division. The Gophers have an unusually inexperienced roster and are playing on the road for the first time this season. The game looks like a tossup—and a huge opportunity for Fleck and the Gophers to move within two wins of bowl eligibility, with eight more games remaining after Saturday.

Among the positives for Minnesota is the fan apathy at Maryland Stadium, formerly Byrd Stadium. Two years ago redshirt junior and walkon quarterback Conor Rhoda made his first college start at Maryland Stadium. “…It was not too electric of an atmosphere,” Rhoda told Sports Headliners this week.

Rhoda was an effective game manager in the quiet atmosphere, helping Minnesota to a 31-10 win. “After the first play I didn’t even notice the stands, or notice anybody out there,” he said. “It just felt like practice to me, which was a big relief.”

Rhoda completed seven of 15 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown in front of an announced crowd of 41,465. Minnesota’s offense was running game dominant with Rodney Smith at 144 yards and Shannon Brooks gaining 86.

Rhoda said going on the road changes routines and preparations for players. A first away game can particularly be a challenge. The task is only made more difficult if played in a noisy and even hostile environment.

Tomorrow the Gophers will send another walkon quarterback out on the field at Maryland Stadium, Zack Annexstad. Rhoda, who now works in sales for a Minneapolis tech company, expressed confidence about Annexstad’s first road start. As with other observers of Minnesota’s first three games, Rhoda has been impressed with the poise of the true freshman quarterback.

“I don’t have any doubts that Zack will feel comfortable after a snap or two in there, and he’ll feel just like he’s playing at TCF (Bank Stadium),” Rhoda said.

Rhoda has met Annexstad and also knows his family including older brother Brock who is a redshirt freshman wide receiver for Minnesota. “He (Zack) seems like a mature kid and he knows how to handle himself in a Big Ten environment,” Rhoda said.

Rhoda, who was one of the Gophers’ two starting quarterbacks last year, knows Tanner Morgan better than Zack Annexstad. Morgan redshirted last season and is now Annexstad’s backup. “Tanner has got nothing but awesome things to say about him,” Rhoda said.

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