NDSU looks at possible football game at Target Field

[HerdBot]

I won't blindly accept something without details. Game day was free for NDSU and didn't require a 7 hour round trip, hotels, etc... This game won't even be televised outside of the normal coverage and we'll be lucky to get the Startribune to cover it. And If way less than 20k show up and the stadium is at 50% capacity, it will look small time and could have no impact. And what is the break even point? What if we make less than we would at home? That money comes out of the athletic budget.

Now if we can draw 40k people I think it's a no brainer. But I am concerned people are way over estimating our fan bases desire to see a cup cake game. Would you be excited to drive 7 hours round trip and rent hotels to see Delaware State? People want to see GOOD GAMES!

This entire post is speculation and opinion being driven by you not wanting to have to drive and contains 0 fact. It's like the portly one wrote it. You said it in your first sentence that you can't make a decision without any of the details and then use the rest of the post to spew the opposite of that. Bisonp is exactly right, if this were to succeed the benefits would far outweigh any of the downside that the blind attackers are complaining about.

I think this is a moot point now anyway. ML said that we wanted the game in '18 and on the news last night DSP said that the earliest the next game would be is '19 so let's move on until we have a reason to come back.

I don't mind driving. I own property between Minneapolis and Fargo. It's an inconvenience but I'll do it. Let's face it, you list your location as New Brighton MN which is pretty darn close to the Twin Cities...

If anything I said was speculation, everything I was responding to would be speculation. They were kind of rhetorical comments.

I can say this. Do you really think we will get the game on a legit Twin Cities TV station like FSN North? If I was a betting man I would say no. This could play a big role in the decision. Would the TV deal be worked out beforehand or would we HOPE someone picks it up.

I'm not even opposed to the idea but lets not rip fans off by putting a cupcake game together. It's an insulting and arrogant move. Not all fans think big picture like we do.

[kab1one]

There are two points of view here.

One- We can't draw 35-40k to a game in the twin ciites. If we can't the brand and popularity isn't as big as some want to think. Then the idea that 30,000 tickets can be should in Fargo is a reach then too. The brand has maxed in Fargo. And its been alluded to that football is probably getting topped out with fees and increased ticket prices.

two- Need to go to Twin Cities (or somewhere) to grow the brand. To me this is the low hanging fruit that was alluded earlier. The mention of building softball, baseball, wrestling and basketball programs will not in my opinion have a return on investment. If you area going to be involved in bison athletics in Fargo, you want to be involved with Football. Same issue in Grand Forks with hockey. So do you through and spend money on sports that historically have not attracted patrons, but need or cut your losses and make and investment in the Twin Cities.

To me the Twin Cities is the low hanging fruit because NDSU has barely put its toe in the water to attract donors, sponsors and alumni back to the university. As someone noted out of town people travel. They all aren't from the FM area. When I lived in the cities there was 6k at a St. Cloud state game to watch the bison get beat badly. That was over 20 years ago.

Go to Minneapolis and as part of the "event" that includes a game. Have a bison bidder bowl. Get the ex nfl bison alum and fly them in, hell if you are worried about selling tickets the football game, set up a stage and have a concert and dance.

Read what the other schools are doing with this. Alabama playing in Dallas in the kick off classic is a destination. An event.

All tied around building the brand.

[bisonaudit]

There are two points of view here.

One- We can't draw 35-40k to a game in the twin ciites. If we can't the brand and popularity isn't as big as some want to think. Then the idea that 30,000 tickets can be should in Fargo is a reach then too. The brand has maxed in Fargo. And its been alluded to that football is probably getting topped out with fees and increased ticket prices.

two- Need to go to Twin Cities (or somewhere) to grow the brand. To me this is the low hanging fruit that was alluded earlier. The mention of building softball, baseball, wrestling and basketball programs will not in my opinion have a return on investment. If you area going to be involved in bison athletics in Fargo, you want to be involved with Football. Same issue in Grand Forks with hockey. So do you through and spend money on sports that historically have not attracted patrons, but need or cut your losses and make and investment in the Twin Cities.

To me the Twin Cities is the low hanging fruit because NDSU has barely put its toe in the water to attract donors, sponsors and alumni back to the university. As someone noted out of town people travel. They all aren't from the FM area. When I lived in the cities there was 6k at a St. Cloud state game to watch the bison get beat badly. That was over 20 years ago.

Go to Minneapolis and as part of the "event" that includes a game. Have a bison bidder bowl. Get the ex nfl bison alum and fly them in, hell if you are worried about selling tickets the football game, set up a stage and have a concert and dance.

Read what the other schools are doing with this. Alabama playing in Dallas in the kick off classic is a destination. An event.

All tied around building the brand.

Harvard had a three day alumni blowout 2 years ago in DC when they played @ Georgetown. Talk about a cupcake opponent; and yet...

[NDSU1980]

Exactly. The benefits, if successful, far outweigh the negatives if it fails. That is not really debatable.

I'm not asking anybody to "blindly accept" anything. I'm asking them to not "blindly attack" the idea and give Larsen some benefit of the doubt that he'll do what's in the program's best interest. It may not happen, but it's still something worth looking into.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. ZERO upside for NDSU in this idea. I wish the idea would just go away.

[HerdBot]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. ZERO upside for NDSU in this idea. I wish the idea would just go away.

There is plenty of upside. You just can't throw some shitty opponent in there and expect knowledgeable Fargo Bison fans who go to the game every week and understand the difference between Delaware State and Jacksonville State to get pumped up about it and go simply because it's a football game. Maybe you can trick Minneapolis fans though

[StL Bison Fan]

There is plenty of upside. You just can't throw some shitty opponent in there and expect knowledgeable Fargo Bison fans who go to the game every week and understand the difference between Delaware State and Jacksonville State to get pumped up about it and go simply because it's a football game. Maybe you can trick Minneapolis fans though

You know, now that you mention it, we could play JSU. There would be room for their band

[Bison Bridge Guy]

There is plenty of upside. You just can't throw some shitty opponent in there and expect knowledgeable Fargo Bison fans who go to the game every week and understand the difference between Delaware State and Jacksonville State to get pumped up about it and go simply because it's a football game. Maybe you can trick Minneapolis fans though

This is a money making opportunity for the Twins/Target Field, no? Does anyone know details of what the actual financial benefit to the participating schools would be?

[kab1one]

This is a money making opportunity for the Twins/Target Field, no? Does anyone know details of what the actual financial benefit to the participating schools would be?

Here's the roadmap to doing this

http://joefavorito.com/2014/11/21/be...ankee-stadium/

[HerdBot]

There are two points of view here.

One- We can't draw 35-40k to a game in the twin ciites. If we can't the brand and popularity isn't as big as some want to think. Then the idea that 30,000 tickets can be should in Fargo is a reach then too. The brand has maxed in Fargo. And its been alluded to that football is probably getting topped out with fees and increased ticket prices.

Someone said Simmers has enough season ticket requests to probably hit 30k as of right now. From what I understand, those are real numbers. But most of those would probably be much closer to home. Can't really compare Fargo attendance to Minneapolis. Bisonation has a ton of fans in the western part of the state which is an eternity away from Minneapolis. Lakes area. I would absolutely love to see 45K show up and I'll eat crow if it happens. Would love to be wrong.. .just not convinced

two- Need to go to Twin Cities (or somewhere) to grow the brand. To me this is the low hanging fruit that was alluded earlier. The mention of building softball, baseball, wrestling and basketball programs will not in my opinion have a return on investment. If you area going to be involved in bison athletics in Fargo, you want to be involved with Football. Same issue in Grand Forks with hockey. So do you through and spend money on sports that historically have not attracted patrons, but need or cut your losses and make and investment in the Twin Cities.

Football is obviously a huge driver but basketball has the potential to be a massive money maker. Ask UNI how important basketball is. They pay their head coach 900K per year. With the new arena, plenty of quality seats to sell, and a growing tradition.. it's where the money can be made.

I just don't see why we can't try and make a program like Wrestling into something big. We have a big tradition with D2 national championships and tons of alumni, former wrestlers, etc... and we're in the flippin Big 12, going into a kick ass arena, and will be hosting teams like Iowa State. If they can't leverage that to sell some tickets they don't know what they are doing.

Womens baskeball? Do we realize that SDSU has turned it into a borderline revenue sport and USD won the WNIT? Why can't we do the same thing they are doing? In our hey day we averaged almost 4,000 per game. Heck if we could do half of that were talking a nice chunk of revenue.

To me the Twin Cities is the low hanging fruit because NDSU has barely put its toe in the water to attract donors, sponsors and alumni back to the university. As someone noted out of town people travel. They all aren't from the FM area. When I lived in the cities there was 6k at a St. Cloud state game to watch the bison get beat badly. That was over 20 years ago.

Go to Minneapolis and as part of the "event" that includes a game. Have a bison bidder bowl. Get the ex nfl bison alum and fly them in, hell if you are worried about selling tickets the football game, set up a stage and have a concert and dance.

I agree on hitting the Twin Cities market and I agree there is a ton of money to be had if they can figure out a way to expand the brand. But I don't agree that a shitty game will draw huge. FM area Bison fans are smart. They know a dog of of game when they see one. They put up with it locally because of the tailgating and no travel. But who knows... maybe people would be so excited about Target Field. I guess I've been there a hundred times and it doesn't do much for me unless the game is good. Either way I'll be there

Read what the other schools are doing with this. Alabama playing in Dallas in the kick off classic is a destination. An event.

They are playing Texas AM thought.... right? Wouldn't be the same if they were playing a team like, say, Western Michigan or an FCS Cupcake.
All tied around building the brand.

see bolded...

[bisonp]

This is a money making opportunity for the Twins/Target Field, no? Does anyone know details of what the actual financial benefit to the participating schools would be?

That's tougher to gauge, because we don't know the financials of Fargo games to begin with. I'm sure ML does though.