Lack of attendance at home matches.

[MNbadger]

MN does not televise it's high school tournament.  The Gopher Wrestling Team gets virtually no coverage other than the Minnesota Daily (campus paper).  There is women's hockey is covered all the time (just a story about one of their players last night on the news) and they average 1/2 the attendance that the Gopher wrestling team averages.  To top it off, they are perennial champions and still averaging 1/2 the attendance.

[Micah]

I doubt a single kid on the HS team I help coach right now can name more than 1 badger on the team.

Not that you are, Micah, but if you were to be complaining about the lack of awareness of the UW program by the potential fan base, e.g., HS wrestlers, then you should be promoting that awareness among your team. Not that you are, but those that care about the profile level of the UW team can certainly complain about the weak marketing of the team, but if one really cared, he/she could do something on his/her own end to get the job done. That said, that isn't your job as a HS coach...but if you were to be complaining (which you weren't) then you could do something about it.

The point is that the promotion of Badger wrestling isn't reaching down too deep to cultivate fan support. Personally, I don't care whether it is or not - I don't need the Badgers to be competing for a national title in order to be satisfied with the program. But if one did want that level of success for the program and were complaining about no kids on his team knew anything about the Badgers then that person has some means to affect the situation, e.g., promote the Badgers within your realm of influence.

It is not my job to promote the Badger wrestling program, I have much more important things to do with my time and their time.  It's my job to teach them to wrestle, work hard and grow up.  You are also assuming I care if the kids know anything about the Badger program.  I was merely just pointing out an obvious target market for the Badger program 😀

I have also coached football and never had to promote the Badger football team 😀

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

Are all head coaches sent a UW Wrestling Poster? I remember we always had one sent to the school years ago...

[Micah]

I am not the head coach so not sure and coaching this year was last second thing for me.  I am guessing no though because we don't have a Badger poster but do have other posters.

[npope]

I doubt a single kid on the HS team I help coach right now can name more than 1 badger on the team.

Not that you are, Micah, but if you were to be complaining about the lack of awareness of the UW program by the potential fan base, e.g., HS wrestlers, then you should be promoting that awareness among your team. Not that you are, but those that care about the profile level of the UW team can certainly complain about the weak marketing of the team, but if one really cared, he/she could do something on his/her own end to get the job done. That said, that isn't your job as a HS coach...but if you were to be complaining (which you weren't) then you could do something about it.

The point is that the promotion of Badger wrestling isn't reaching down too deep to cultivate fan support. Personally, I don't care whether it is or not - I don't need the Badgers to be competing for a national title in order to be satisfied with the program. But if one did want that level of success for the program and were complaining about no kids on his team knew anything about the Badgers then that person has some means to affect the situation, e.g., promote the Badgers within your realm of influence.

It is not my job to promote the Badger wrestling program, I have much more important things to do with my time and their time.  It's my job to teach them to wrestle, work hard and grow up.  You are also assuming I care if the kids know anything about the Badger program.  I was merely just pointing out an obvious target market for the Badger program 😀

I have also coached football and never had to promote the Badger football team 😀

Micah, please read more closely - I said that you weren't complaining and thus, not responsible for such efforts. I was merely referencing some of the things you said to make my point. I fully agree with you.

[MNbadger]

In the Tribune today/this morning...ZERO coverage of the #12 gophers hosting #5 Nebraska.  There will still be a great crowd at the Pav. 

[digimon]

My son wrestled for Minnesota. He was a back-up for his entire career. The Gophers do a great job promoting and filling their wrestling venue for duals. Each home match they highlight 2-3 wrestlers from MN and invite their hometowns. Those communities charter busses and fill the stands with youth wrestlers, MS wrestlers, HS wrestlers, and hometown adult fans. Then after the duals they set-up tables and 4-5 wrestlers sign autographs. Like Ben Askren said - if you don't put much effort in promoting the attendance numbers will be minimal. JRob always said " If nothing changes....nothing changes"

[MNbadger]

Yes, Digimon but some were talking about promotion in the press.  It is poor at best.  They do promote through the Guillotine and the MN Daily (campus paper).  My point is that it appears to me that the wrestling community in WI is not attending/supporting the Badgers.
the Badgers now have all ten wrestlers nationally ranked.  Will wrestling people show up or not?  Lots of complaints about the coaching staff but now they are very competitive and what will we see?  There should be minimally 2000-3000 people there on the 27th. 

[Handles II]

MNBadger,

What influence, if any, do you think it has to have top ranked, or perennially strong teams like Augsburg, St. Cloud, Johnnies, RCTC all within and hour of Minneapolis?

We have Wt.Water, but that's it within an hour, maybe UW-Platt if you push it.

Could having strong wrestling as a whole benefit the gophers?

I do feel there is more of an Iowa-like feeling in MN about wrestling than there is in WI. That might just be a perception.

[MNbadger]

I think that wrestling is more popular in MN than it is in WI to some degree.
I look at Madison and draw a "2 hour" circle around it and think there are plenty of wrestling communities in that circle.  As I said before, there are tons of fans at Gopher matches inside a "2 hour" circle of The Pavilion.  Honestly, there are plenty of fans from further away too.
Maybe it is what it is and you are correct.  The thing is, then why are some lamenting it?  Maybe this is as good as it gets.  Get in the car, show up, become a regular.
The only way to increase attendance is to attend.  You have PSU coming in.  WI is not going to win but there will still be great wrestling.
Anything less than 2000 fans is ridiculous. Really 3000 is where it should be.

[npope]

But you know, it wasn't always that way. Before JRob, UM wrestling languished in the backwater of DI. If wrestling has become relatively more popular in the state of MN at all levels, it has happened in recent decades - which coincides with JRob's arrival. I think putting a "winner" on the mat is the single most important key; you simply have to be a dynamo to even start the conversation about drawing a crowd. And I don't think people can compare football and BB to wrestling - they simply operate in different universes. Is wrestling possibly a "cult" sport; it carves out its acolytes and they become ardent devotees? I don't know, but I do know that JRob and his approach to marketing the team is central to this discussion. The UW will NEVER approach the marketing success of the UM until the UW matches the on the mat success. There is a chicken-and-the-egg scenario going on here.

[bman]

14,000 in Carver Hawkeyes for the meet with Penn State. They have flames around the mat shooting up during the  introduction for each match. The giant Jumbotron is being used etc...
The formula can be duplicated.  Don't forget J Rob was a Kurdelmeier and Gable assistant for a dozen years.

[bigG]

14,000 in Carver Hawkeyes for the meet with Penn State. They have flames around the mat shooting up during the  introduction for each match. The giant Jumbotron is being used etc...
The formula can be duplicated.  Don't forget J Rob was a Kurdelmeier and Gable assistant for a dozen years.

I'd love that fanfare and all; but all that was the evolution of many years of building. There just aren't enough dynamos for everybody.

That IA/PSU dual was great. Make those types of matches happen with consistency, and the flames will follow.

[MNbadger]

Having flames and that sort of stuff takes money.  MN has done it periodically but not for some time.  I suppose it is a chicken and egg thing but are you willing to pay for it?  The money has to come from somewhere.  Wrestling people are not always the first to spend cash.

[LaValle]

https://twitter.com/BadgerWrestling/status/823670904538431489