(11-04-2014 08:20 AM)TribeNiner Wrote: (11-04-2014 07:58 AM)nogretheogre Wrote: (11-03-2014 09:27 PM)TDenverFan Wrote: Looks like the administration noticed the poor attendance at the last game, and is trying to fix it. All the students got flyers advertising the game in their mailbox. Glad that they're actually trying to inform people about these games, there's generally very little press when the team plays
Direct intracampus mail to students is nearly free. This should happen for every game. Flyers should go out on Thursday.
Agree. I've long said that the importance of student attendance is more than just making the stands look fuller for atmosphere and recruiting. IMO, it plays an integral role in how the students feel about/remember the college when they become alums. Successful sports are one of the best ways to contribute to the student experience and continue to engage alumni post-graduation.
This again goes back to last week's Delaware game thread in which we had the same exact conversation.
Just to re-post the comment from last week, highlighting my own perspective (as someone who works for Tribe Athletics Marketing as an intern, and as someone who has been a W&M student the last 4 years):
"What do you guys think are some good ways to recruit students to games? You have to keep in mind that the culture has COMPLETELY changed on campus since a lot of you alumni were students here (judging by my experience now as a Senior, and by the comments I've read about years past/speaking to alumni, etc.).
Students at W&M seem to be more focused than ever on studying. The other half are kids that I think are most interested in sports (mostly those in Greek life), but are the ones that are "too busy partying on the weekend," or "don't care," or think "our sports are terrible (because our football/basketball isn't like UVA/Tech and is not in the ACC)." Those are the most common complaints from people that I KNOW are very passionate about sports, talk about pro sports all the time, and SHOULD be going to our games. Very frustrating to see these guys/girls not care about their own college sports programs as much as they care about pro teams and 'partying.'
Also, the marketing budget for Tribe Athletics isn't unlimited, and it can be hard to offer incentive plans (giving away free things), or implement other things that cost money. Again, I think it's a cultural issue on campus. But what would you guys suggest? How should we be attempting to recruit students who typically don't go to the games (both academic/Greek), to come to the games? I'm curious to see what people on this forum can come up with."
To directly address what has been said in this thread, this weeks' game flyers which were placed directly in the students' CSU boxes were far from free. Tribe Athletics uses multiple avenues to try and get information out there and recruit students to the games, some of which include, but are not limited to: Tribe gameday signs, direct mail in CSU boxes, posters inside of academic buildings, game-day incentives/promotions, and listing games on literally every e-newsletter on campus.
Again, the issue of student attendance is fundamentally, at its core, a cultural problem (refer to my post from last week). The students currently on campus truly do not think that going to our games is worth their time. Arguments can be made as to why this is the case. Is it the type of students W&M is accepting? Is it because we're not nationally ranked in every sport we play? Or is it the fact that we don't have an FBS football program? You can argue any way you want, but we can't just sit here and complain about it! We need to come together and figure out initiatives that will get this changed--and we need to figure out the root of the problem, because it's hard to market to an audience that simply does not care.
Roll Tribe.