With attendance figures suffering, the University of Minnesota on Thursday announced reduced season ticket prices for Gopher men’s basketball and men’s hockey.
Starting next season (2019-20), basketball season tickets will start as low as $340 and hockey will start at $500. The university claims the basketball prices are the lowest they’ve been since the 1995-96 season, with the hockey prices the lowest they’ve been since 1999-00.
Basketball reductions
Specifically, the price cuts affect Zone 5, which are $190 cheaper, and Zone 4, which have been reduced from $640 last season to $490 next season.
Zone 5 has also been expanded to include sections 204, 205, 209, 210, 216, 217, 221 and 222.
Tickets in Zone 5 do not have a “contribution” price the way every other zone at Williams Arena has, and those can get expensive as you can see in the seating map below.
Hockey reductions
Similar price cuts are available at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Specifically, zones 3 and 4 are $100 cheaper than they were a year ago, and Zone 4 now includes sections 3 and 23.
Zone 3 has an additional price that the Gophers call a “contribution” fee whereas Zone 4 does not.
“I think it’s important to listen, collect information and then make the best decisions for our programs,” said Athletics Director Mark Coyle. “That’s what our staff did. They took feedback, studied the data and were able to find solutions. Our goal is to make Gopher athletics accessible to as many fans as possible, and I believe we have done that.”
The Gophers say the men’s basketball team averages about 17 home games per season, so the $340 season tickets average out to $20 per game. The men’s hockey team plays about 20 home games each season, so the $500 seats average out to $25 per game.
Fans interested in season tickets for next season can click here for more info.
According to NCAA statistics, the Gophers averaged 11,850 fans per men’s basketball game at Williams Arena this past season. That ranked 29th in the country but just 10th in the Big Ten.
In men’s hockey, the Gophers averaged 7,944 fans per home game. While ranking third nationally, it filled just 79.4% of the 10,000-seat arena, the sixth consecutive year the fill rate has dropped.
- 2017-18: 87.3%
- 2016-17: 95.9%
- 2015-16: 98.5%
- 2014-15: 99.8%
- 2013-14: 115.5%
- 2012-13: 99.5%
- 2011-12: 95.4%
- 2010-11: 95.4%
