U of M students not paying to fill their own TCF Bank Stadium

TCF Stadium ticket sales are weak

Swanky new stadiums only go so far: The University of Minnesota is reporting that it's having a hard time selling tickets to students to watch their very own Golden Gophers ahead of the 2010 season, just a year after the same seats sold out well in advance. That's an eye-opener, because other Big Ten teams with vastly larger stadiums have no such problems filling seats. What gives? Well, a spotty record, perhaps.

Hat tip to the Minnesota Daily:

"I've just given up on this football team," said University graduate student and former season ticket holder Carl Mullen-Schultz. "I've decided to focus on our basketball team."

Said team, with a new stadium, compiled at 6-7 record last season, 3-5 in the Big Ten, including four wins and three losses at home. In January, offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar and defensive coordinator Ted Roof both resigned.

Meanwhile, over at Ohio State, who also drubbed the Gophers last year, 30,000 tickets sell out in less than 36 hours, according to Bill Jones, Ohio State's associate athletics director of external relations.

"I would say we could easily sell more than 45,000 [student season tickets]," Jones said, adding that in addition to culture and tradition, success is a big part of ticket sales.

Ouch.