Re: Has UND lost in conference realignment?
I think its an interesting debate and here's my take on comparing the two fanbases. The Gophers are definitely more followed and a bigger/more powerful program. I believe their fanbase is bigger but there are a lot more casual Gopher fans. The UND fanbase swings above its weight, much more impressive than you would expect from a smaller school. Furthermore, I think UND has a larger fanbase of loyal/dedicated fans than the Gophers do. This evidenced on road trips when UND brings a large contingent of fans to away rinks. To put this in perspective, I believe if the Final Five was held anywhere than the Twin Cities, UND would have more fans at the games than even the Gophers do. Heck even at the Final Five UND/Minnesota games, Sioux fans often make-up as much as 40% of the fans in the Gophers own backyard. At Mariucci, I've seen games where 1/3 of the fans had Sioux jerseys on. Perhaps a good analogy is that the Gophers are the biggest money/profile school in hockey (like the Dallas Cowboys of college hockey) while UND is a VERY robust fan base like the Green Bay Packers.
As for attendance, UND is obviously much stronger. I think the UND ticket office does a better job selling than the Gophers do and part of it is that UND hockey is the biggest thing going on in North Dakota. I have no doubt that UND ticket revenues exceed Minnesota Gophers ticket revenues. With Wisconsin attendance down, UND probably gets more ticket revenues than any other college hockey program. What they don't have as mentioned earlier is a good tv deal like FSN is to the Gophers. Also, being a smaller school versus Minnesota (Big Ten School in a 3.5 million person metro) hurts its revenues in other areas (tv deals, merchandise, etc.). This probably explains why Gopher hockey likely has higher revenues than any college hockey program.
Frankly, the degrading of UND's fanbase and Grand Forks is getting childish. I know the UND haters like to attribute UND's following to Grand Forks being extremely boring. However, there are PLENTY of fans that travel from Fargo or even the Twin Cities during the weekends to see UND hockey. I guarantee you there are few college hockey programs with fans willing to travel hours to watch hockey games. Although UND has become a hated program, I can't help but notice the player profiles from other hockey programs where the players say their favorite road trip/opponent arena and atmosphere is overwhelmingly Ralph Engelstad Arena and Grand Forks, not Mariucci. And honestly of all the college hockey arenas I've been to in the WCHA, none puts together a production quite like UND from the combination of noise (drunk Sioux fans), energy (large student section, good band), excitement, and magnificent shows (laser shows, fireworks).
I think its an interesting debate and here's my take on comparing the two fanbases. The Gophers are definitely more followed and a bigger/more powerful program. I believe their fanbase is bigger but there are a lot more casual Gopher fans. The UND fanbase swings above its weight, much more impressive than you would expect from a smaller school. Furthermore, I think UND has a larger fanbase of loyal/dedicated fans than the Gophers do. This evidenced on road trips when UND brings a large contingent of fans to away rinks. To put this in perspective, I believe if the Final Five was held anywhere than the Twin Cities, UND would have more fans at the games than even the Gophers do. Heck even at the Final Five UND/Minnesota games, Sioux fans often make-up as much as 40% of the fans in the Gophers own backyard. At Mariucci, I've seen games where 1/3 of the fans had Sioux jerseys on. Perhaps a good analogy is that the Gophers are the biggest money/profile school in hockey (like the Dallas Cowboys of college hockey) while UND is a VERY robust fan base like the Green Bay Packers.
As for attendance, UND is obviously much stronger. I think the UND ticket office does a better job selling than the Gophers do and part of it is that UND hockey is the biggest thing going on in North Dakota. I have no doubt that UND ticket revenues exceed Minnesota Gophers ticket revenues. With Wisconsin attendance down, UND probably gets more ticket revenues than any other college hockey program. What they don't have as mentioned earlier is a good tv deal like FSN is to the Gophers. Also, being a smaller school versus Minnesota (Big Ten School in a 3.5 million person metro) hurts its revenues in other areas (tv deals, merchandise, etc.). This probably explains why Gopher hockey likely has higher revenues than any college hockey program.
Frankly, the degrading of UND's fanbase and Grand Forks is getting childish. I know the UND haters like to attribute UND's following to Grand Forks being extremely boring. However, there are PLENTY of fans that travel from Fargo or even the Twin Cities during the weekends to see UND hockey. I guarantee you there are few college hockey programs with fans willing to travel hours to watch hockey games. Although UND has become a hated program, I can't help but notice the player profiles from other hockey programs where the players say their favorite road trip/opponent arena and atmosphere is overwhelmingly Ralph Engelstad Arena and Grand Forks, not Mariucci. And honestly of all the college hockey arenas I've been to in the WCHA, none puts together a production quite like UND from the combination of noise (drunk Sioux fans), energy (large student section, good band), excitement, and magnificent shows (laser shows, fireworks).
