I know we've had this conversation before. I am working on an ad hoc committee to throw around ideas on boosting attendance. Attendance for all sports has lacked in the past at KSU and we're seeing what other schools have done that were successful.

Reaching out to students and the community are obvious. The last thread conversation we had was that winning is good (not always controllable by marketing), some sports won't be as popular as others, incentive programs work well, promo items do alright in boosting attendance.

Nick M Wrote:I know we've had this conversation before. I am working on an ad hoc committee to throw around ideas on boosting attendance. Attendance for all sports has lacked in the past at KSU and we're seeing what other schools have done that were successful.

Reaching out to students and the community are obvious. The last thread conversation we had was that winning is good (not always controllable by marketing), some sports won't be as popular as others, incentive programs work well, promo items do alright in boosting attendance.

Here's what we did at ETSU. We got our average basketball attendance up to 8,600 in the 1990's. Then we found a less exciting conference to move to, along with a few other ignorant moves, and here we are with less than half that in attendance.

That's pretty sweet. We went from winning national championship to not being able to play in the post season.

NickM,
Has interest/attendance in KSU athletics always been low, even during your championships in basketball? Does KSU play in the shadows of your Ga.Tech (I know we suffer from that with U.Tennessee).

I'm just trying to get a feel for your campus. With such a thriving and improving athletics program, I'm surprised there's not more "buzz" about KSU athletics. It sounds like you're definitely doing the right thing by forming a committee. Good luck

We're in UGA's shadow mainly. To a smaller extent, Tech. UGA is the flagship school for undergrad, athletic programs, get hammered university. There's no getting around that and the hats people wear reflect that. It's also the fact that we have no football to rally behind in the south, and we all know how important that is.

During the championship years, it was strong but only as big as the facilities could hold so no way of knowing if we've gotten better or worse. Attendance records are a joke as I assume they are at most schools. The Spec (old gym) seemed more packed with fans and the new gym looks empty. Adding 3000 more seating capacity and it's hard to tell.

We're mainly looking for marketing ideas to get students out to events. Promotions, activities, give-aways, posters, magnets. Anything along those lines that have been particularly productive to boosting attendance.

Give-aways are really only going to boost attendance if you've got a great product. Posters and magnets aren't going to boost your attendance. Having a night honoring an important former athlete is always a way to draw a big crowd. When the Bucs honored Calvin Talford which coincided with our game against formal conference rival UTC we had a huge crowd. There was also a great crowd on hand for the honoring of Mister Jennings despite the fact it was a Saturday afternoon game.

Maybe bringing in Willie Harris from the Braves might be someone that could boost attendance.

Wow, what a great idea. I know we have had some guest speakers, Dominique Wilkons, give speeches before but an honor night would be cool. And Willie being a current player with a world series ring is pretty sweet.

Winning cures all. If you want to draw fans- win.

The other thing you can look to is make sure you don't build an arena that is too big. This is ETSU's problem- compounded now by the fact the fire marshall has decided their current arena must always have 6,000 empty seats and ETSU hasn't discovered the concept of curtains yet.

There is a difference between going to the game/concert/circus/play/movie that is sold out and one that isn't. Go to something that is sold out, you brag on that to your friends- take the tickets to work- "Look what I Got!"

NOBODY does that if the event is going to be a half-sellout. You may be excited to see your favorite band or team, but you generally don't thump your chest and if you do you come off looking poorly.

It's called the "Sellout Mentality" and is a staple of Sports Marketing 101.

Good example of this are the Cleveland Indians. Worst drawing team in the majors- the joke franchise they based "Major League" on- using "We play in the largest stadium in the major leagues" as a drawing point but never able to fill it up. Just too many seats to do so on a regular basis.

They move to Jacobs Field. 41,000 seats and start to win. 465 straight sellouts for a team that just 10 years earlier only drew 665,000 fans for the ENTIRE SEASON!

Hyping it's going to sell out is a good idea. Maybe I should start talking to some sports management people. That'd be an easy one to find and pick their brains.

There are several things you might try (although I don't know how effective they are).
1. Make sure that your student newspaper is actively involved (i.e. covers the games, has an "upcoming events" section for sports, etc.)
2. Signs announcing upcoming sporting events IN AREAS WHERE YOUR COMMUTING STUDENTS will see them.
3. INVOLVE YOUR FACULTY. Getting the faculty to the games and supporting the teams translates into student support.
4. GIVE TICKETS AWAY, lots of them and as many as possible to kids/kids organizations. Have Scout Day, YMCA/YWCA day, etc. This helps you to build a fan base for the future. The earlier you can capture the fancy of a potential fan, the more likely they are to remain "brand loyal".
5. Make sure your COACHES are actively involved in the community (Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, etc.)
6. Consciously build your athletic "brand" or "trademark". If you don't the community will build it for you and it may not be what you want.
7. Make sure that your athletes ALWAYS wear your school's apparel when representing your school or while traveling. (This sounds like such a simple idea, but I've seen ETSU cheerleaders in Auburn sweatshirts just before the games.) If your team doesn't have pride in your university, then why should others?
8. Make yourselves THE regional team. If there are other small colleges nearby, offer them free admission with their student ID on certain nights (obviously not on nights those colleges have sporting events).
9. Remember you are selling entertainment. You must make the game day experience OUTSTANDING so that you will have repeat fans. Simple as that may seem: clean restrooms, well staffed concession stands, a variety of snacks at the stands, event hosts that are there to help (not to simply act as a security guard), clear lines of sight for the seated fans, etc.
10. Be fan friendly for those with disabilities.
11. Gain the support of your Greek community, they can be powerful advocates for your athletic program.
Just some ideas.

good ideas bucdoctor

sad thing is i write for school paper, and they really have a pisspoor sports section, though it is getting better. I plan on writing a huge basketball preview for this season and i also got the go ahead to write an article about Striped Crew. hopefully those will help a little. i plan on pushing a lot this year on advertising for the games and making the articles look good. what sucks is the paper is only once a week. we really should have it at least twice a week. It really is almost pointless when ppl get the paper and their reading about a game that happend 5 days b4 the article came out.