David Primus

Pretty sure the song is Tool - 46&2

FYI - the ticket office is still making calls. Takes a significant amount of time to both get & keep this organized and make sure we reach each person going down the list. Probably don't have to tell this group, but please do call back ASAP if you miss the call from the ticket office.

For what it's worth - we have a couple hundred student tailgate passes for every game. First come, first serve at the student ticket office in Memorial Union until they're gone. And free. Students who don't plan ahead can buy one on gameday - Alerus Center will sell it to them, plus they can setup in the same lot as other students who got one ahead of time.

I don't think I'm getting a good understanding of where you see the problem lies. I'm fairly certain a good portion of the $50/spot people do show up most weeks and would be upset if they were "forced" to show up early to get the spot they have been guaranteed in the past (what if we did the same with season tickets inside?). Feel free to reach out to me (email: david.primus@athletics.UND.edu). You obviously know the history of that area pretty well, and I'd be interested in hearing more on that as well as better understanding your concerns. Thanks and GO UND!

FBAlum, great questions and I understand where you are coming from. For a number of years now (at least since before I was here), the Alerus Center has marketed reserved season tailgate spots. In recent years, UND Athletics has become more involved with the marketing/selling of those spots and demand has continued to increase. That demand has gone from about half of that "private tailgate alley" area to nearly the full thing. With the amount of requests we get to move or add spots each year (and very rarely seeing spots dropped), we're under the impression there would be backlash against going "first come/first serve" for those spots. We're actually down to a very small amount in that entire area that are not sold as season spots anymore. In fact, overflow of tailgating spots purchased on a single-game basis now is in the student lot - so on high demand games for single-game tailgating, you'll have "regular" fans tailgating in the student lot. In addition, students are located right next to many of those season spots now, and many aim to be near the grass and closer to the action. This year is also the first year that Champions Club members are officially allowed to tailgate in their designated spots. Lots are split between donor levels, but parking/tailgating is first come/first serve. Not a whole lot taking advantage of that benefit now, but that will grow, especially once tailgate alley is sold-out on a season basis. I would suggest that we are planning and thinking big - hoping to see the crowds, and tailgaters, continue to grow. We don't see tailgating confined to just "tailgate alley" long-term, and more spread across the entire parking lot. As for those who drive in late, I certainly hope no one is spending $50/year/spot just to park. For $5/game, they can get a whole lot closer to the main entrance. I'd venture a guess that most of those people just decided to take a weekend off from tailgating - or are out of town and gave their passes to a friend for the day. Hope that explains some of our logic.

Care to enlighten me? I can't imagine students are upset with the free tailgating passes, the free shuttle ride over, the free food provided by different organizations each week, or the other events that NoDak Nation has going on out there (corn hole tournament, music, etc.). Not to mention the hospitality that a lot of our awesome "private" tailgaters provide, often inviting in students for food & conversation. I'd argue we're (UND Athletics) pretty open to concerns/comments from fans, plus NoDak Nation is out there every week and is the "voice" of the student section. If "a lot" of students are upset about something, "a lot" of students are also not sharing those concerns with anyone who can try to make a change.

Just presenting facts here.... We released a bunch of new fan initiatives for students & general public throughout Monday 9.22 via REA, UND and NoDak Nation social media outlets. Judging by the RT's and favorites on this tweet, students were well aware before the lottery of the change: https://twitter.com/NoDak_Nation/status/514074132061757440 The release on 9.23 was a wrap-up release of everything that was announced on Monday 9.22 - the time stamp on that release currently shows "updated" meaning there was an error/omission/change after the initial release. Student hockey "lottery" was 9.23 and 9.24 at 9pm/10pm

Next Sunday the 21st, 3-5pm More info here: http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=209613483&SPID=6405&SPSID=58684

For what it's worth, we did the same promotion last year ($1 tickets, though no puck giveaway, and we fell short of the attendance record by 7). The previous record was 3,200 - set at the first ever UND Women's Hockey game. I really hope that UND fans and the Grand Forks community are incredibly proud of the support they showed last night - not too far from doubling the previous record! With all the fans & families that made it, likely many for the first time, I hope many will decide to return and support in the future (starting with 7pm tonight). This team deserves it!

Green & White Account: undsports.com/students

Sunday, Sept. 22nd 3-5pm

Jumping in here. NoDak Nation (official student group) is "running" the yell leaders this year. As referenced earlier in the thread, our first goal within UND Athletics is to get the students there. Last year was a good start (student attendance up 26.6% to be exact), but it's just that, a start. In regards to cheers/traditions - it is my view that tradition cannot be forced, only encouraged. We are trying to set things up in a way that allows new traditions, or the bringing back of old traditions to be organic and from the students/team. For students who are in this thread/on this site (108498, SWSioux MN, etc.) and others who may be reading, I encourage you to get ahold of me via email (David.Primus@athletics.UND.edu) and I can put you in touch with the yell leaders for next year. I know they would love help from the "inside" of the student section to get cheers/yells/etc. going (they certainly won’t be able to do it by themselves) and no doubt they're open to ideas. David Primus UND Athletics Director of Marketing P.S. Football season ticket commercial started running today, will be posted to YouTube today/tomorrow as well. I encourage everyone to like/follow the teams on Facebook/Instagram and Twitter and help us pack the Alerus Center this Fall! Going to be a fun year!

Students can pick up free tailgating passes the week of the game at the student ticket office in Memorial Union. There's about 300/game in total and they usually go pretty quick. Once they're gone and day of game, there is no free parking/tailgating for students. However, there is a free shuttle that runs from outside of Wilkerson to the Alerus Center starting 3 hours before the game until after game ends. For doors open - NoDak Nation members get in 10 minutes before all other students, in case you're aiming for a front row seat.

Hey everyone, appreciate your excitement, but NoDak Nation is really a student fan group (the old Sioux Crew), with social media accounts run by students. They're hyped up for this weekend (of course - after all, single-game Men's Hockey student tickets sold out earlier than any other series this year), and are especially excited because of some things they have planned for Friday/Saturday for students. They're just trying to communicate their excitement/hype/interest about this weekend via social media. Sorry to be a debbie downer on all this talk, but just be aware of where the tweet originated. Going to be a fun weekend! GO UND!

While I can't answer scheduling questions (not my area) - just want to point out that the future schedules are all available on the UNDSports.com website. Here's a link to next seasons' awesome schedule: http://www.undsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=58644&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500&Q_SEASON=2013 Check the drop down box above the countdown to look at schedules for other seasons (obviously a work in process)