ATTENDANCE AND HOW TO IMPROVE

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:53 pm

Flipper wrote:Geez...people think I'm a caustic smart ass?

Flipper, I don't think you're a caustic smart ass.

The evidence is irrefutable.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:55 pm

Holiday in Cambodia.

golfertk14 · Post by **golfertk14** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:59 pm

BelieveNBG wrote:I just read an article about how a university raised their attendance by 20%. They actually put alot of marketing efforts into getting it done. Now, there's a thought. Some things they did:

-Coca-Cola came in and gave out 4 bicycles to fans along with free t-shirts to the first few hundred fans

-Cheerleaders toss t-shirts during every home game

-Parachutes drop coupons for free pizza, nachos, hot dogs, etc.

-Take a kid to a game, tickets are given to students at local elementary schools

-Halftime entertainment from the community

They put a major emphasis on trying to involve the community... Along with winning.

I think those are great ideas, just don't share them with lunkheads like these guys

It sounds uncanally like a Cavaliers game by the way.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 7:43 pm

Flipper wrote:

Flipper, as if you weren't already, you just became my favorite poster with the Dead Boys reference. What a great mediocre punk band!

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:24 pm

The. Best. Ever.

golfertk14 · Post by **golfertk14** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:22 am

does no one listen to smashmouth anymore???I'm getting old.

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:23 am

Did anyone, other than 14 year-old girls, EVER listen to Smashmouth?

redskins4ever · Post by **redskins4ever** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:03 pm

Those are all great ideas already done by BG and then some...

BRing a Kid to the game... last home football game of the season... and kids get in free with parent....

Pepsi Cans... and the Meijer Tailgate package...

Free Food... well the athletic department doesn't control that aspect of things...

Free giveaways... When I was working in the sports marketing department they gave away a bike, x-box, and other half time prizes... and it isnt as if those things have changed.

Marketing is much more then just throwing money at people and saying come buy my product. Its about identifying what it is that the consumer needs. What will it take for the consumer to say I need to be at this game. Its Needs vs. Wants. I want an SUV on 22 inch rims... but I need a car. If you make BG football more important than watching some other team, then you have done your job correctly.

BG's attendance will be fine with BG back in the east they will have OU, Miami, and Toledo as all good games to draw from. Add in a parents day weekend, homecoming, and one decent OOC and BG could easily average 25k.

Heck if you get NIU and Toledo at Home in the same season plus Miami and are contending for a MAC Championship you might need to talk about Stadium expansion.

BelieveNBG · Post by **BelieveNBG** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:43 am

My opinion is that marketing has done a poor job of selling this football team. An example of this is that when the team was ranked in the top 25, other than the internet, I saw no evidence of this fact. Maybe I missed all that advertisement, but if I missed it, there wasn't enough. Average 25K...hmmm...I sure hope you're right. I would love to see it.

golfertk14 · Post by **golfertk14** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:45 am

Flipper wrote:Did anyone, other than 14 year-old girls, EVER listen to Smashmouth?

flipper, flipper, flipper....when was the last time you heard smashmouth other than "AllStar"? They have had MANY hits that were better than that.

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:49 am

redskins4ever wrote:Heck if you get NIU and Toledo at Home in the same season plus Miami and are contending for a MAC Championship you might need to talk about Stadium expansion.

r4e: You made a lot of good points in your post. This last quote sticks out because it is indicative of an underlying issue. In 2003, with NIU (Gameday), Toledo and the MACC game at home, BG drew well. In 2004, with a parade of blowouts, BG didn't draw well. We need to get the program to a point where it draws good crowds even when the schedulemaker doesn't set up a series of ready-made sellouts.

I wouldn't expect BG to sellout a lot of games with the 2004 schedule, but we should be able to consistently put 20,000 in the stands, regardless of the opponent. I am convinced that we need to stop worrying about individual poromotions, giveaways and advertisments and get serious about a comprehensive marketing plan that addresses short- and long-term issues.

CapitalFalcon · Post by **CapitalFalcon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:07 am

Well...I guess I'll jump on this dead horse...HI-HO SILVER!

Before we start saying marketing should do this or that (I'll admit they dropped the ball a few times, no pun intended) we really need to look at campus. There is no reason that BG shouldn't have 18k in the stands every weekend! The school needs to help mobilize the student body and make the football games THE weekend event during the fall. I don't care if we are playing the Cleveland All Girls School of the Blind...There should be a festive, excited energy at the stadium regardless of who we play!

There should be no excuses..."Of it was going to be a blow-out, that why students didn't come." "It was too cold." BS! You a freakin'g college student! You are supposed to do things normal people wouldn't!

GET OUT THERE AND SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL!

I think this stems from a true lack of esprit de corps on campus. I found BG to be a pretty apathetic campus. The administration needs to really work on getting BG's story out there! I hope they really plan some big things for the centennial year! I have found many alums that have the view of "oh...yeah...i went to bg..." When instead it should be "DAMN RIGHT I WENT TO BG!" The only way that happens to to continue down the road we are on and accelerate it! Academic standards need to be increased. There should be a shared feeling that students CHOSE to be at BG, rather than, this is where they were able to get in. My feelig is that only when there is that comradery felt on campus and with being a BG alum, will there not be attendance issues.

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:15 am

redskins4ever wrote: BG's attendance will be fine with BG back in the east they will have OU, Miami, and Toledo as all good games to draw from. Add in a parents day weekend, homecoming, and one decent OOC and BG could easily average 25k.

Has anyone done a comparison of our attendance when we were east under UM and west? No one, and I mean no one I know gets up for Eastern Michigan. Even as bad as Kent was in the past, the game had meaning.

redskins4ever wrote:Heck if you get NIU and Toledo at Home in the same season plus Miami and are contending for a MAC Championship you might need to talk about Stadium expansion.

Let's not get carried away...

[sarcasm]Maybe if we were in CUSA our perception would be so much better nationally that our attendance would skyrocket[/sarcasm]

BelieveNBG · Post by **BelieveNBG** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:16 am

SO TRUE, CapitalFalcon...

That's why I say marketing needs to really emphasize the quality we have on the field. They need to really promote our achievements. Students walk around believing they need to be inside watching Ohio State, while the reality was that our team had a better product. If we sell our product folks won't care who we are playing. They will come to see BG, not to see BG play NIU.

CapitalFalcon · Post by **CapitalFalcon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:49 am

I agree with you Believe! But is marketing tasked with external marketing, or internal marketing? I don't know. But I would assume assume to be effective, you would need two teams. One tasked with appealing to the general public, and one tasked with rallying the troops on campus. But both teasm would have to be synergistic to to ultimate goals...synergistic...Oh my God...I have been in consulting WAY too long...

ATTENDANCE AND HOW TO IMPROVE

Re: ATTENDANCE AND HOW TO IMPROVE