U acknowledges the obvious: It costs too much to watch hockey, basketball

The University of Minnesota has figured out the price point at which college sports fans won’t shell out the cash anymore.

The athletic department announced on Thursday that season tickets for men’s basketball will drop to $340 in some sections — a $190 drop. Six sections overlooking the court will drop by $150.

Hockey will drop from $600 to $500. It’s the second straight season that hockey will drop by $100.

“I think it’s important to listen, collect information and then make the best decisions for our programs,” said Athletics Director Mark Coyle said in his news release.

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.

We live in a vibrant community and state where entertainment options are endless. We have to be extremely competitive and creative with the options we offer, while still making sure that we provide every opportunity for our student athletes.

We will continue to explore additional options for all our sports in the future.

It didn’t really require much studying of the data, though. Nothing speaks louder than empty seats.