Ideas that Work" is a periodic feature developed for The NCAA News by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators. Individuals interested in contributing information may telephone Trip Durham of Elon University at 336/278-6708.

Women's Expo
University of New Mexico
Darren Dunn, associate athletics director

To attract more businesses to women's basketball games and increase attendance, the University of New Mexico looked to meet the goals of businesses with high exposure numbers at games at an affordable cost. The university knew if it could get thousands of fans to a game, more companies would be interested in spending money with its program. The athletics department also sought to bring in new businesses that would not normally attend or advertise during sporting events. With those premises in mind, the Women's Expo for basketball was born.

Here is the sales pitch: One game was determined to be the Women's Expo. Companies then were asked to purchase 100 tickets to the game. In return, each company received booth space on the concourse to promote its business. The tickets were sold at the normal group-discounted rate (for New Mexico, $2 per ticket for groups of 100-499).

This idea works since companies can use the tickets as employee or customer incentives; they also get exposure in front of thousands of people. The benefit of the promotion for the institution is that ticket sales and revenue will be among the highest of the season; also, the institution is introducing new companies into advertising at its athletics venues.

For this event to succeed, two strategies must be implemented. First, organizers should inform companies about the opportunity; second, they need to make sure that people attend the expo in addition to the basketball game. To accomplish the first objective, New Mexico partnered with local chambers of commerce by including information in their monthly direct-mail pieces. Athletics staff also attended the chambers' networking receptions and distributed information at those events. The staff also focused on women-owned businesses. Second, to inform people about the expo, the athletics department distributed numerous press releases and reminded fans through public address announcements not only to attend the game but also to visit the booths during pregame, halftime and postgame.

New Mexico was able to fit 30 booths around the arena concourse (the booths are nothing more than 1 foot x 6 foot tables). That corresponds to more than 3,000 group tickets sold for the game. With the season-ticket base and other walk-up -- a crowd attracts a crowd -- New Mexico had Women's Expo attendance of 11,000 one year and 16,000 the next.

The goal this year is to move the expo to an annex building and surpass the 16,000 mark by selling 50 booths (or 5,000 group tickets). Another option is to have the promotion during a men's and women's doubleheader and allow the businesses to set up during both games if they purchase 200 tickets for the women's game or 100 tickets to each. If companies cannot use all of the tickets they have purchased, they can offer them to local underprivileged youth. The key is to make sure people attend the expo.

After the event, organizers should follow up with the companies that participated with a thank you note from the head coach and a short survey to get feedback. Companies can be treated as "season ticket holders" the next year in a renewal campaign to continually build the event.

This program can be used for any sport and does not have to be limited to women. The "expo" can focus on general health, business, sports, clothing or any number of other topics.

Military Appreciation Night
University of Hawaii, Manoa
James Donovan, associate athletics director for administration

During the 2001 baseball season, Hawaii honored the military during a promotional night. There is an immense military community in the area, and the university wanted to gain a few more fans. The goals were (1) to increase attendance, (2) create a more fun-filled atmosphere for the usual attendees and (3) generate a few more loyal Hawaii baseball fans from the military group. A game against Rice University was chosen because it was one of the most competitive on the schedule (Rice was ranked No. 2 nationally at the time).

Hawaii wanted to provide a special offer for the military groups, so it charged $1 per ticket for anybody with a valid military ID. In addition, the athletics department worked closely with the university's ROTC group.

The event included a pregame reception at Rainbow Baseball Stadium for top-ranking officials from the different services on the island. When the gates opened, several pieces of military artillery were on display outside the gates. The island's top K9 and his kennel master also were on hand. During the pregame, the Marine Forces Band of the Pacific performed on the field, culminating with the National Anthem and the Hawaii state song. It was accompanied by the university's Army ROTC Color Guard and the Air Force ROTC Rifle Drill Team.

Just before the songs, the top-ranking officials from four of the different services threw out the first pitch. Between innings, the university's marketing department proceeded with its normal promotions using military personnel picked from the crowd.

The last promo was the grand finale as the kennel master and his K9 acted out a skit in the outfield where the master acted as a padded decoy while the dog "attacked." The canine section of the Air Force base security squadron handled the "situation" by firing blanks into the air.

Military Appreciation Night was very successful. Attendance increased 50 percent, and the crowd was the second-largest of the season.

All-weekend-long promotion
Georgia Institute of Technology
Joeleen Akin, director of marketing and promotion

This is a promotion that will encourage students to attend all sporting events in a weekend. It works well during transition periods between football/volleyball and basketball or the transition between basketball and baseball/softball.

At each event, you give something -- food, T-shirts or similar items -- to a specified number of students arriving at the game first. At the end of the Friday and Saturday game, students must pick up a raffle ticket. At the Sunday event, students with tickets from Friday and Saturday are eligible to enter a drawing for something of greater value (plane tickets, television, etc.).

This will increase attendance and student awareness for sports of which they are less aware. It can be developed into an annual event.