Marketing College Hockey

[kdilks]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

My guess is that the 13% number is non-university fans, at a lot of schools students are free, so they are not counted as a marketing statistic. Also adding tv exposure not a lot of 18-24 year olds have digital cable packages to get Fox College Sports or ESPNU in their dorms or off campus apartments. The 13% is probably other 18-24 year olds that are not students in the communities that still attend games, buy merch., etc.. In one example I've seen a lot of students at college hockey games bring friends who come stay the weekend just to go to the hockey games.

I don't know how it is at other schools, but the cable package in the dorms at Michigan includes ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN News/ESPN Classic/Fox Sports Detroit/CBC College Sports/NFL Network/NHL Network/Big Ten Network. I'd think that in general college dorms have enough people so that the school can cut a deal with the cable company and include some of those premium channels. And at the very least, anybody on a college campus can get streaming video on ESPN3.

Personally, I'd like to see more hockey content available on ESPN3. As it stands, all they have is the occasional KHL game.

[ajt6954]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

Very interesting thread...really hits home for me...so whoever started it, thanks! The secret to marketing college hockey, especially schools in their college hockey infancy (teams with less than 15 years at D1), is to build a relationship with the local community. Flagdude alluded to this earlier in the thread and is right on. Get the local restaurants involved, local charities, local cub/boy scout troops...key is LOCAL. Allow the community to interact with the team and start building a relationship....thus building credibility.

On the flip side, the college/university needs to invest the time and energy into these programs. Many of the schools leading the attendance race have either a major collegiate athletic conference backing the schools individual efforts or a national championship (in some cases, several) in their back pockets. These, along with proper staffing, are the resources many of the schools towards the bottom of the attendance ranks lack. Unfortunately, until the support from the respective college/university is devoted specifically to the hockey programs (men and women), certain teams will continue to suffer in mediocrity and notoriety.

[LTsatch]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

(that wasn't too appreciative of we lowbrow SCSU fans and our course ways).

You are so coarse that you can't spell coarse correctly!

I like this definition though


Coarse--Lacking delicacy, taste, or refinement; unpolished: "He had coarse manners but an absolutely first-rate mind".

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

Very interesting thread...really hits home for me...so whoever started it, thanks! The secret to marketing college hockey, especially schools in their college hockey infancy (teams with less than 15 years at D1), is to build a relationship with the local community. Flagdude alluded to this earlier in the thread and is right on. Get the local restaurants involved, local charities, local cub/boy scout troops...key is LOCAL. Allow the community to interact with the team and start building a relationship....thus building credibility.

On the flip side, the college/university needs to invest the time and energy into these programs. Many of the schools leading the attendance race have either a major collegiate athletic conference backing the schools individual efforts or a national championship (in some cases, several) in their back pockets. These, along with proper staffing, are the resources many of the schools towards the bottom of the attendance ranks lack. Unfortunately, until the support from the respective college/university is devoted specifically to the hockey programs (men and women), certain teams will continue to suffer in mediocrity and notoriety.

Another thing we can attribute to the need for more being done is a recent change in the NCAA rules. A few years ago, it was a rule that nothing could be placed on the boards beyond the blue lines (or was it just behind the net?). This meant less of a chance to get that word out during the game. I look at a rink like Yale's, and they have absolutely no advertising along the rink whatsoever, with the exception of self-promotion. I can't think if there are any other rinks like this; any further knowledge? However, at least when I looked at the newer rules for this year, you're allowed advertising all the way around, so companies, make the most of it! I'm not saying you have to go to the levels of European hockey where the faceoff circles are advertisements and there's about 3 or 4 companies on the jerseys, but fill those boards up. No need for whitespace.

[LTsatch]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

FD08, I do not recall seeing advertising in any of Yale's athletic facilities, most likely a local or Ivy League preference. They do thank sponsors/supporters on the scoreboard though. I recall Dartmouth a couple of weeks ago with a similar setup. Each rink also had deals with local youth and student groups for the concessions, which are used as fundraisers for those groups. I think the demographic info in the article may be flawed when it comes to "old guard" northeastern schools, we tend to retain our older fan base, if it wasn't for students the average age of attendance at a Yale game would be at least 40.

[JF_Gophers]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

If the in-arena ads are for booze, porn or video games then they will get me to buy their products. Anything else, and I couldn't care less about their advertising.

Then again, maybe I am not their target market...

[Dirty]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

If the in-arena ads are for booze, porn or video games then they will get me to buy their products. Anything else, and I couldn't care less about their advertising.

Then again, maybe I am not their target market...

Alcoholic loner loser? No, probably not.

[JF_Gophers]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

Alcoholic loner loser? No, probably not.

I do have extra money to spend though, and I am in the largest age group. So I got that going for me. Oh, and I don't live in my mom's basement.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

FD08, I do not recall seeing advertising in any of Yale's athletic facilities, most likely a local or Ivy League preference. They do thank sponsors/supporters on the scoreboard though. I recall Dartmouth a couple of weeks ago with a similar setup. Each rink also had deals with local youth and student groups for the concessions, which are used as fundraisers for those groups. I think the demographic info in the article may be flawed when it comes to "old guard" northeastern schools, we tend to retain our older fan base, if it wasn't for students the average age of attendance at a Yale game would be at least 40.

The recent pictures that DarthBruno put up of Meehan show advertisements, and there isn't any whitespace on the boards at Lynah, so I would assume it is a preference of your school rather than the league.

As for demographics, it's always going to be flawed, because different locations offer different opportunities. Take Colorado College, for example. Their arena is about 4 miles from campus, so the typical supporters at their games are the townies, not the students. Then, take a look at the larger cities with oppotunity, where there are plenty of younger people (mid-to-late 20's). They are likely to be more in touch with their college fanbase, or even know some current students, so that helps matters.

RPI's concessions are run by the various sports teams (lacrosse, soccer, basketball, etc.) as fundraisers; I'm sure there are plenty of schools that do this.

[Dirty]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

I do have extra money to spend though, and I am in the largest age group. So I got that going for me. Oh, and I don't live in my mom's basement.

I wish I did. I would've had hot water this morning.

[goldy_331]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

(that wasn't too appreciative of we lowbrow SCSU fans and our course ways).

Is anyone appreciative of the lowbrow SCSU fans? (other than SCSU fans)

[Runninwiththedogs]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

I wish I did. I would've had hot water this morning.

You could do with a cold shower now and then.

[St. Clown]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

You are so coarse that you can't spell coarse correctly!

I like this definition though


Coarse--Lacking delicacy, taste, or refinement; unpolished: "He had coarse manners but an absolutely first-rate mind".

It was a simple typo, the A and U keys being right next to each other on the keyboard and all.

Okay, so I was off work and hadn't been thinking all day. I wasn't about to start for this place.

Is anyone appreciative of the lowbrow SCSU fans? (other than SCSU fans)

That's completely beside the point.

We weren't many in attendance, but we sure were glared at as if we were. The Denver fans seated in front of us sat on their hands the whole game. In truth, it reminded me a lot of my first visit to new Mariucci when I was seated in a section with all the blue-hairs back in 2001.

[Yuppie Scum]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

So, I'm not completely sure that a TV package is the silver bullet for college hockey marketing. This is because most of the games, at least in HEA, are on the weekend. Also, a lot of games are going on at the same time, so if you're a fan of one team, you won't necessarily be able to keep up with the other ones. If an arrangement was made to have Tuesday Night Hockey or something where there would be a featured game of the week in HD, that would be pretty awesome.

I think the best bet probably will be just to keep the prices down, pack in as many students as possible, and arrange fan trips (including student "party bus" tours) between campuses.

More media attention by the papers would be nice too, but I must say I kinda like the fact that ESPN hasn't corrupted NCAA hockey yet.

Oh.. and beer.

[Gainzo]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

I can't speak about other schools but the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell is all about advertising. The ribbon boards show everything from Coors Light to the local Pizza Place. When Lowell is on a power play it is called the "Fred C Church* power play"

We even have a premium seating/exclusive club called the LowellBank Pavilion.

*Fred C Church is a local insurance company.