this is to serve a double purpose. i am putting together a marketing plan as if football was cleared to return to etsu. assuming a major facelift for the dome and returning to the socon how do you build back up the fan base and make buc football come back strong?

Tim Smith Mini-Bobblehead Night!!!!

Say what you want but those things were cool.

(04-06-2011 08:16 PM)Thrower12 Wrote:  this is to serve a double purpose. i am putting together a marketing plan as if football was cleared to return to etsu. assuming a major facelift for the dome and returning to the socon how do you build back up the fan base and make buc football come back strong?

I think it can never be too early to start discussing fund raising, coaching possibility, re-doing the Dome, building a stadium. It would give the school and the student body the shot in the arm they need and get energized. Great idea.

(04-07-2011 05:03 AM)bucfan81 Wrote:  

(04-06-2011 08:16 PM)Thrower12 Wrote:  this is to serve a double purpose. i am putting together a marketing plan as if football was cleared to return to etsu. assuming a major facelift for the dome and returning to the socon how do you build back up the fan base and make buc football come back strong?

I think it can never be too early to start discussing fund raising, coaching possibility, re-doing the Dome, building a stadium. It would give the school and the student body the shot in the arm they need and get energized. Great idea.

the money is out there from supporters to build this program back up. plenty of wealthy folks who either played ball here or when to school during the football era would be willing to give this place a huge jump start to rebuilding this program.

Get pledges for season tickets. If we could show the university a significant signed number of people committing to season tickets it would be a very good start. I would also look for ten to fifteen "angels" or major contributors to come on board with pledges in the upper six figures. These "angels" should take the leadership role, perhaps including an emeritus President Stanton.

I think we are stuck with the mini-dome so the plan to refurbish the dome for football might very well be job one.

I think looking at club football as a first step after that to show that we can get fan support (either we can or we can't...face it...if we can't there is no point in bothering).

There would have to be a movement from the existing student body to show interest. I'm concerned at how little support there is for basketball, and as a person who attended many home football games here I've got to say that during Coach Hamilton's tenure the turnout was embarrassing year in and year out. Those who oppose football can easilty point to that fact and would expect some evidence that change is in the air.

The advertisements in the newspaper and in the student paper are amateur and nasty. I think if you are a marketing person you might want to get with the existing football group and give them some advice.

(04-07-2011 01:47 AM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  Say what you want but those things were cool.

I agree. I still have mine and there was a big crowd that night

1. Don't assume anything. Renovation of the dome WILL NEVER WORK. The sightlines cannot be fixed and therefore the dome is useless. There are two stadium options. Option One: Retrofit the Soccer stadium, use the existing home bleachers as the away seats/temporary pressbox/camera placement and build a larger home side on the other side of the field. A videoboard will need to be installed, along with extra restrooms, concessions, etc... One end of the field should have the fieldhouse, outfitted with lockerrooms, coaches offices, press room, and most importantly, a letterman's club. This should be for former letterwinners in any sport to come and gather, talk about old times, etc... No amount of donation should get ANYONE who didn't letter in a sport into this lounge area. Build a separate donor area elsewhere.
2. Make going family friendly. When I say family friendly, I'm not talking about kid's games, spirit nazis and no signs of beer anywhere, I'm talking about the tickets. Pricing should be tiered based on home games. Games against D-2's or non-scholarship FCS teams should be priced at a level that is VERY AFFORDABLE. In an era where big time college football programs have made tickets so expensive it's almost impossible to take your kids to more than one game a year, this provides an affordable alternative. Certain parking areas on campus should even be FREE on gamedays.
3. Nascar/Nashville Predators model. One of the things that made NASCAR wildly popular in the old days was accessibility of its' stars. I can't think of how many times I've met Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, etc... and living in Nashville the Predators have followed that model. Their players visit schools, and not just the low guys on the totem pole. Players like Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Pekka Rinne get involved in the community down here, teaching kids about the game, chasing goals, hard work, etc... ETSU players MUST do this, and more than just in Johnson City/Washington County schools. This gets a young generation a group of guys that they not only can look up to but can say that they've met them and know who they are. Summer football camps are also key. QB camps, 7 on 7's, lineman camps, do it all. This formula does work, just look at the Predators attendance, and the amount of kids playing hockey down here.
3. Good product. Build a championship product on the field. The 4-7/7-4 won't cut the mustard. An exciting offense that scores points. Regular playoff appearances and wins will help.
4. Don't worry about what UTK is doing, but be mindful to schedule favorably. We know the Vols will play Florida the third week of September, Bama the 3rd-4th week of October depending how many Saturdays are in the month, and Georgia early in October. On years that Florida and Alabama are played in Knoxville, ETSU should schedule away games or have one as the open date. Same with Georgia. When the Vols are in Athens, play a home game. Schedule kickoffs (TV pending) at times that will give people the opportunity to come see ETSU live, but watch UT on TV. That said, the people who go to Knoxville, that's not ETSU's market, it's the people who don't go that the Bucs have to win. It's what Chattanooga is doing, MTSU is working to do, and what App has done with people not going to Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Knoxville, and Blacksburg.
I've posted ad nauseum about Tickets, traffic and toilet paper, those things remain true. But lastly, recruit East Tennessee/Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia whenever possible. I'm realistic enough to know that most kids that play ball up there aren't FCS level players, but there's some that are. From Knoxville to Roanoke, ETSU has to win those recruits. In the Tri-Cities, I say it's up to everyone up there to challenge high school football players and coaches to get with it. They see the numbers and what it takes to play at that level, so push their players to be that.
The bottom line is winning over young people in the region, either as players or as fans. It will start small, but as ETSU wins over younger fans, those fans will have families that they'll bring back and it'll continue to grow. This does work, look ath Boise State, TCU, Florida, UT-C, App, and even a school like Va. Tech.