Welcome back. This is the second part in my little brainstorming session on how to improve Sycamore football attendance and ultimately, increase the program's fan support. The first part of this series focused on Team Familiarity, which was the number one factor per the A Model of the Factors Contributing to Fan Support at Small-College Athletic Events study. The synopsis for that factor was to create and foster a bond (emotional, if possible) to individual players, coachs and the football team through interaction, personal, if possible. This time we'll be taking a look at the second most important factor of that same study, "College Affiliation."
First, let's see what the article said on the "College Affiliation" point:
I can already see some of you guys salivating for this factor, and rightly so. If there is one thing I think Indiana State does very poorly, it is build a long term affiliation to the University. Why is this? Well, I personally think there is a big disconnect at the organization/department/program level and it's almost like every department, program and organization is always competing against one other instead of working together for the greater good of the University. Anyhow, here are some ideas I came up with to mesh "College Affiliation" and the football program to drive up football game attendance.
Departmental Reunion Tailgates
This one is credited to the wife and was the first idea she had when I was discussing the "Team Familiarity" issue with her. My wife graduated with a bachelors in Social Work and has had ZERO contact with anyone from her program (and the University to boot) since she left Indiana State in 1999. Aside from reading her the Sycamore alumni magazine, she literally has nothing keeping her attached to the University despite having the desire to reconnect with friends she had in the program, professors and what not.
So how about having a departmental reunion tailgate where you invite graduates of a certain degree program back to catch up and network? This is done to a degree at Homecoming, but I don't think it is anywhere near as effective as it would be if you did it for another game where there isn't other interests pulling people away -- Greek tents, for example. Not to mention you get someone from the Foundation out there to fundraise, someone from the Career Center to get networking info, so on and so forth. You can get even more in depth by having giving a campus facilities tour or whatever else you can come up with. It's an organic way to renew old friendships, fundraise, network and increase football game participation all at the same time. During halftime you ask them all to stand and give them a round of applause.
Beyond these specialized tailgates, I think you add in the VIP tailgate I mentioned in the previous thread as well as revamp the current tailgate setup to make it more accessible and a bigger deal. You've got to have a setup that will allow for folks to make some memories so when they're graduated and gone, they look forward to continue coming back each football weekend as an alum.
Traditions (Or lackthereof)
College football is all about traditions. You can't think about college football without naming some of the traditions that go on like the Notre Dame Victory March, the Old Oaken Bucket game, Chief Osceola and Renegade, so on and so forth. Traditions aren't also just big school fodder, either. Wabash and DePauw square off yearly in the Monon Bell Classic, which is a highly anticipated and attended rivalry -- so revered that it was named GQ's #3 reason on its "50 Reasons Why College Football is Better Than Pro Football" list back in a 1999 issue. However, when thinking about Indiana State football, how many steadfast traditions can you name? Honestly, I can't think of any that happened during my time on campus.
In one recent and relevent example, I think you look to Coach Hep during his time at Indiana. Indiana is known as a basketball school and typically has the worst team in the Big Ten. However, Coach Hep was able to come into Bloomington and get football into the discussion through introducing new traditions that got folks excited about football in Bloomington. Two hours prior to each home game, fans and players engaged in "The Walk," as Indiana coaches and players marched through the tailgating areas en route to the "crimson gates" at Memorial Stadium. Hoeppner also dubbed Memorial Stadium "The Rock," a nod to the stadium's limestone construction. A three-ton remnant from the original stadium construction was placed near the north end zone, as the IU coaches now challenge the Hoosiers to "Defend the Rock." Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the coaches and players join The Marching Hundred band to sing the school fight song after every home victory. None of these were original by any means, but they worked and they have lived on after Coach Hep's passing.
The bottom line is I think Indiana State needs to go about forming some traditions and seeing them through. It will be awesome to see something started when they're at Memorial and on their way up and then see them taken over to the new campus stadium when it is finally built! Additionally, this goes beyond just football traditions. Other sport traditions, Greek Life traditions and other campus traditions will all mesh together in building this pride towards Indiana State and making people want to come back to an continue experiencing those feelings, memories and traditions.
Merchandising (Or lackthereof)
This one is simple and I'm not going to spend too much time on it, but how frustrating is it when you want to open up your wallet and buy some Sycamore gear only to find out what you're looking for doesn't exist or you can't find something suitable. For instance, let's check out the offerings at the GoSycamores Official Online Store... you can't buy anything and it's been that way for some time now. Then you check out the University Bookstore and while they do have some items, I find it to be extremely limited size wise, overpriced or unflattering designs. Then if you want an replica jersey or shorts... fuggedaboutit!
Some of you may question how merchandising has any link to college affiliation. All I can do is provide a personal example. Back when I was still an undergrad, Nike came out the a collection honoring the Indiana State/Michigan State title game that included throwback jerseys, shorts and t-shirts. I bought a pair of the shorts along with every tee design they had and wore them proudly. In fact, some of you may remember me asking how to get a replacement pair because I got some paint on mine as I've worn them for almost 10 years now. I had planned on tossing them but couldn't do it and I still wear them all the time and proudly proclaim being an alum whenever someone asks about them, which has been surprisingly often over the life of the shorts.
Embracing the Local Community
Memorial Stadium seats 12,000 people. According to attendance figures from GoSycamores.com, Indiana State averaged 4,540 fans per game with a high of 7,216 fans and a low of 2,878 fans -- about a 38% capacity rate. With over 100,000 residents in Vigo county and more when you throw in the entire Wabash Valley, the opportunity to fill Memorial is there. The question is what can be done to “build a bridge” to make sure the City and Area embraces this University and feels a vested interest in its success.
One such thing I think would go a long way is to push back game times on Saturdays to accomodate for youth football families. Indiana is becoming more and more football crazy and you lose sport affiliation folks when your games are going on at the same time as games of their children. I should note that this was raised and will in fact come to fruition next season as no game kicks off before 3:05 pm. This is also doubly exciting for us out-of-towners. As an alum that will be driving from Fishers, this is also very beneficial to folks that have several plus hour drives to get to campus.
Another idea could be to honor local civic groups, military divisions, prominent school sports teams or the like that have made a significant impact within the Area, State or Country. Considering Indiana State draws students from many areas within the Wabash Valley, devoting 5-10 minutes of a halftime to honor these groups can get quite a few more people into see the improving Sycamore football product while doing something fantastic for the community. I know this is done for teachers and students periodically, so it only makes sense to expand this because I'd imagine the ROI would be pretty darn good.
Sycamore Sam
We've had this discussion. What is Sycamore Sam? Is he a fox, a squirrel or rabid fox-squirrel hybrid? When you think of some other local colleges and their mascots, what comes to mind when you think of Purdue? Purdue Pete. Notre Dame? The Leprechaun. Even Ball State has it's Cardinal. While a mascot isn't of supreme importance, I'd rather not have any mascot like Indiana over having one that makes no sense like Sam. If we are to keep a mascot, there needs to be something done to come up with something more representative.
The bottom line here is to build that sense of affiliation to Indiana State in students, faculty, administration, alumni and the local community. Whether you do this by simply making it possible for them to attend by moving game times back so they don't conflict with familiy activities or whether you provide them unique opportunities to reconnect with former classmates and teachers, this is mission criticial to achieve that purpose. It's always nice to feel like you're valued as a customer and not just another number, and being a smaller school, I think this is where Indiana State can do things that the Indianas and Purdues cannot.
A Model of the Factors Contributing to Fan Support at Small-College Athletic Events by Alan Brokaw, Dr. George Stone & Michael Jones, URL: http://www.thesportjournal.org/artic...thletic-events
First, let's see what the article said on the "College Affiliation" point:
I can already see some of you guys salivating for this factor, and rightly so. If there is one thing I think Indiana State does very poorly, it is build a long term affiliation to the University. Why is this? Well, I personally think there is a big disconnect at the organization/department/program level and it's almost like every department, program and organization is always competing against one other instead of working together for the greater good of the University. Anyhow, here are some ideas I came up with to mesh "College Affiliation" and the football program to drive up football game attendance.
Departmental Reunion Tailgates
This one is credited to the wife and was the first idea she had when I was discussing the "Team Familiarity" issue with her. My wife graduated with a bachelors in Social Work and has had ZERO contact with anyone from her program (and the University to boot) since she left Indiana State in 1999. Aside from reading her the Sycamore alumni magazine, she literally has nothing keeping her attached to the University despite having the desire to reconnect with friends she had in the program, professors and what not.
So how about having a departmental reunion tailgate where you invite graduates of a certain degree program back to catch up and network? This is done to a degree at Homecoming, but I don't think it is anywhere near as effective as it would be if you did it for another game where there isn't other interests pulling people away -- Greek tents, for example. Not to mention you get someone from the Foundation out there to fundraise, someone from the Career Center to get networking info, so on and so forth. You can get even more in depth by having giving a campus facilities tour or whatever else you can come up with. It's an organic way to renew old friendships, fundraise, network and increase football game participation all at the same time. During halftime you ask them all to stand and give them a round of applause.
Beyond these specialized tailgates, I think you add in the VIP tailgate I mentioned in the previous thread as well as revamp the current tailgate setup to make it more accessible and a bigger deal. You've got to have a setup that will allow for folks to make some memories so when they're graduated and gone, they look forward to continue coming back each football weekend as an alum.
Traditions (Or lackthereof)
College football is all about traditions. You can't think about college football without naming some of the traditions that go on like the Notre Dame Victory March, the Old Oaken Bucket game, Chief Osceola and Renegade, so on and so forth. Traditions aren't also just big school fodder, either. Wabash and DePauw square off yearly in the Monon Bell Classic, which is a highly anticipated and attended rivalry -- so revered that it was named GQ's #3 reason on its "50 Reasons Why College Football is Better Than Pro Football" list back in a 1999 issue. However, when thinking about Indiana State football, how many steadfast traditions can you name? Honestly, I can't think of any that happened during my time on campus.
In one recent and relevent example, I think you look to Coach Hep during his time at Indiana. Indiana is known as a basketball school and typically has the worst team in the Big Ten. However, Coach Hep was able to come into Bloomington and get football into the discussion through introducing new traditions that got folks excited about football in Bloomington. Two hours prior to each home game, fans and players engaged in "The Walk," as Indiana coaches and players marched through the tailgating areas en route to the "crimson gates" at Memorial Stadium. Hoeppner also dubbed Memorial Stadium "The Rock," a nod to the stadium's limestone construction. A three-ton remnant from the original stadium construction was placed near the north end zone, as the IU coaches now challenge the Hoosiers to "Defend the Rock." Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the coaches and players join The Marching Hundred band to sing the school fight song after every home victory. None of these were original by any means, but they worked and they have lived on after Coach Hep's passing.
The bottom line is I think Indiana State needs to go about forming some traditions and seeing them through. It will be awesome to see something started when they're at Memorial and on their way up and then see them taken over to the new campus stadium when it is finally built! Additionally, this goes beyond just football traditions. Other sport traditions, Greek Life traditions and other campus traditions will all mesh together in building this pride towards Indiana State and making people want to come back to an continue experiencing those feelings, memories and traditions.
Merchandising (Or lackthereof)
This one is simple and I'm not going to spend too much time on it, but how frustrating is it when you want to open up your wallet and buy some Sycamore gear only to find out what you're looking for doesn't exist or you can't find something suitable. For instance, let's check out the offerings at the GoSycamores Official Online Store... you can't buy anything and it's been that way for some time now. Then you check out the University Bookstore and while they do have some items, I find it to be extremely limited size wise, overpriced or unflattering designs. Then if you want an replica jersey or shorts... fuggedaboutit!
Some of you may question how merchandising has any link to college affiliation. All I can do is provide a personal example. Back when I was still an undergrad, Nike came out the a collection honoring the Indiana State/Michigan State title game that included throwback jerseys, shorts and t-shirts. I bought a pair of the shorts along with every tee design they had and wore them proudly. In fact, some of you may remember me asking how to get a replacement pair because I got some paint on mine as I've worn them for almost 10 years now. I had planned on tossing them but couldn't do it and I still wear them all the time and proudly proclaim being an alum whenever someone asks about them, which has been surprisingly often over the life of the shorts.
Embracing the Local Community
Memorial Stadium seats 12,000 people. According to attendance figures from GoSycamores.com, Indiana State averaged 4,540 fans per game with a high of 7,216 fans and a low of 2,878 fans -- about a 38% capacity rate. With over 100,000 residents in Vigo county and more when you throw in the entire Wabash Valley, the opportunity to fill Memorial is there. The question is what can be done to “build a bridge” to make sure the City and Area embraces this University and feels a vested interest in its success.
One such thing I think would go a long way is to push back game times on Saturdays to accomodate for youth football families. Indiana is becoming more and more football crazy and you lose sport affiliation folks when your games are going on at the same time as games of their children. I should note that this was raised and will in fact come to fruition next season as no game kicks off before 3:05 pm. This is also doubly exciting for us out-of-towners. As an alum that will be driving from Fishers, this is also very beneficial to folks that have several plus hour drives to get to campus.
Another idea could be to honor local civic groups, military divisions, prominent school sports teams or the like that have made a significant impact within the Area, State or Country. Considering Indiana State draws students from many areas within the Wabash Valley, devoting 5-10 minutes of a halftime to honor these groups can get quite a few more people into see the improving Sycamore football product while doing something fantastic for the community. I know this is done for teachers and students periodically, so it only makes sense to expand this because I'd imagine the ROI would be pretty darn good.
Sycamore Sam
We've had this discussion. What is Sycamore Sam? Is he a fox, a squirrel or rabid fox-squirrel hybrid? When you think of some other local colleges and their mascots, what comes to mind when you think of Purdue? Purdue Pete. Notre Dame? The Leprechaun. Even Ball State has it's Cardinal. While a mascot isn't of supreme importance, I'd rather not have any mascot like Indiana over having one that makes no sense like Sam. If we are to keep a mascot, there needs to be something done to come up with something more representative.
The bottom line here is to build that sense of affiliation to Indiana State in students, faculty, administration, alumni and the local community. Whether you do this by simply making it possible for them to attend by moving game times back so they don't conflict with familiy activities or whether you provide them unique opportunities to reconnect with former classmates and teachers, this is mission criticial to achieve that purpose. It's always nice to feel like you're valued as a customer and not just another number, and being a smaller school, I think this is where Indiana State can do things that the Indianas and Purdues cannot.
A Model of the Factors Contributing to Fan Support at Small-College Athletic Events by Alan Brokaw, Dr. George Stone & Michael Jones, URL: http://www.thesportjournal.org/artic...thletic-events
