FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Retired Old Rat]

Think about the money you'll save driving 20 miles round trip instead of 80 to Northfield.

Is this basically a payday for Olaf, courtesy of Johnnie fans? Taking a page from the UST playbook? The ratio of SJU fans to Olaf fans will be bigger than if the game were actually played at Olaf.

I like the night game idea — I just wish it were in August or September instead of November.

No tailgating!

[hazzben]

I love the idea of doing a game at TCO. Agree that a night game on Nov 14 could be really chilly, you're rolling the dice. But it's not like the B1G doesn't have night games that time of year in the same geographic footprint.

I don't think those prices are out of line for the venue. I'd love to see Bethel do a game there, though it's hard to give up a home game for it. Maybe a similar game against Olaf or GAC where it's a neutral site and taps into both twin cities alumni bases. The key is that the venue won't dwarf the turnout.

[faunch]

Think about the money you'll save driving 20 miles round trip instead of 80 to Northfield.

Is this basically a payday for Olaf, courtesy of Johnnie fans? Taking a page from the UST playbook? The ratio of SJU fans to Olaf fans will be bigger than if the game were actually played at Olaf.

I like the night game idea — I just wish it were in August or September instead of November.

No tailgating!

How much of that $$$ is ending up in the Vikings / Wilf's pockets.

[faunch]

$20 per ticket and $20 for the pre-game hospitality event to watch a game with a 30 point spread. And I wonder the charge will be for food and drink once in the "hospitality" zone?

https://gojohnnies.com/news/2026/7/28/football-sjus-nov-14-game-vs-st-olaf-moved-to-6-pm-at-tco-stadium-in-eagan.aspx?fbclid=IwY2xjawTVqDpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFseVNJdjltTEV3UDRQUFp5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk-82V2G4Hgtyflb-BbFRmHMxaRBDeBVQRWcmorcdJD0c24tpwGpMJIxyc3c_aem_PqKavRHutKhY7kZPFvPImA

Apparently the D3 Cross Country National Championships are being held at Carleton on Nov. 14 which could be the reason the game was moved to TCO.

[Patrick Coleman]

It's a regional championship, but yes. National championship is a week later, hosted by Carleton.

[Texas Ole]

$20 per ticket and $20 for the pre-game hospitality event to watch a game with a 30 point spread. And I wonder the charge will be for food and drink once in the "hospitality" zone?

As a TCU fan my response is that at least the game isn't being moved to Ireland.  So we are moving what should be a home game for our Seniors to a neutral site.  WTF!  Takes an opportunity for the Olaf students a chance to watch a game at home.  Not a fan at all!  If we were talking about a late season game in a dome I would support it, but this is ridiculous.  The only other reason I could see St. Olaf doing this is that there were concerns about light that late in the season.

[faunch]

$20 per ticket and $20 for the pre-game hospitality event to watch a game with a 30 point spread. And I wonder the charge will be for food and drink once in the "hospitality" zone?

As a TCU fan my response is that at least the game isn't being moved to Ireland.  So we are moving what should be a home game for our Seniors to a neutral site.  WTF!  Takes an opportunity for the Olaf students a chance to watch a game at home.  Not a fan at all!  If we were talking about a late season game in a dome I would support it, but this is ridiculous.  The only other reason I could see St. Olaf doing this is that there were concerns about light that late in the season.

A source shared that the Vikings reached out to the Olaf a while back about have the game at TCO. I'm only guessing but having a refining cross country race on campus at noon would probably have required pushing the football game back to 2 or 3 pm.
The Oles final home game last season against the Piper drew 346 fans. Two years ago in November when the Ole hosted the Johnnies there were about 5,700 in attendance.
For the Ole players that have spent their careers hovering around the .500 mark it presents a fun opportunity to play in a unique environment...and maybe it's a bit of a payday for the program.
If the Johnnies come into the game undefeated and the weather is decent (35 degrees and above) it could be a good crowd...like 5,000-6,000 SJU fans and maybe 150-200 Ole fans.
If the Johnnies have 1 loss the crowd could still be pretty good.
If the Johnnies have losses to UW-LAX and BU and are on the playoff bubble and the weather is ****ty...maybe 3,000 fans.

[hazzben]

$20 per ticket and $20 for the pre-game hospitality event to watch a game with a 30 point spread. And I wonder the charge will be for food and drink once in the "hospitality" zone?

Takes an opportunity for the Olaf students a chance to watch a game at home.  Not a fan at all!  If we were talking about a late season game in a dome I would support it, but this is ridiculous. 

Given St. Olaf averaged 965 fans at home games last year, and anecdotal experience (both as a player and fan and talking to my wife who is an Olaf grad), I'm not sure that St. Olaf students are queueing up en masse to attend home games. Outside of Carleton.

Case in point, in 2023 when the game was at Olaf, there were a wopping 564 fans vs SJU. I'm assuming SJU was at least half of that number. So let's call it 25 disappointed St. Olaf students, and 20 of them are probably girlfriends who would make the 30 minute drive to TCO.