"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.

Basketball ticket artist contest
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Chip Bryant, assistant athletics
director for marketing

Who: Area elementary, middle and private school students.

What: Teachers are invited to submit student artwork for the annual basketball ticket art contest.

When: One ticket artist is recognized during halftime at each home basketball game. The winning artists receive four tickets to the game that features their artwork. Winners are presented with a framed ticket, a basketball autographed by the team and a Fazoli's (title sponsor of the program) gift certificate. During the 2002-03 season, there with 18 home games with 18 students recognized as ticket artist winners.

How: Each spring, a letter is sent to all principals and art teachers at area elementary, middle and private schools inviting students to participate in the basketball ticket art contest. Students are asked to draw images related to the Tennessee men's basketball program, including coaches, players, Smokey (the mascot), cheerleaders, dance team, the crowd, the arena and any other ideas they may develop. The marketing department chooses two to three designs from each grade as the best representations of the basketball program. The selected artwork is sent to the ticket printer for inclusion on the season tickets.

Results: The promotion raises awareness of the men's basketball program to about 24,000 students at various schools throughout the Knoxville area. The contest creates grass-roots marketing opportunities for the marketing department. Recognizing the students at games helps to drive traffic from the schools' principals, art teachers, ticket artist winners, parents, other family members and peers. The schools and students look forward to the ticket artist contest on a yearly basis and embrace the opportunity to participate in this unique contest. Fans appreciate and acknowledge the athletics department's effort to develop young fans.

Youth Basketball Nights
St. Mary's College (California)
Andy McDowell, assistant athletics director for marketing

Who: The target audience for this promotion was local youth basketball teams grades 8 and under.

What: "Youth Basketball Nights" was created with three goals: (1) Increase single-game attendance/atmosphere by providing the opportunity for youth basketball players to attend at no charge, (2) increase single-game ticket sales by charging parents and family members, and (3) build a connection between these new fans and coaches/players by hosting interactive activities before and after the game.

The promotion consisted of letting up to 20 youth basketball teams per night sign up to attend a selected game free of charge (players and coaches only), participate in a pregame chalk talk with members of the school's coaching staff and meet student-athletes at a postgame autograph session. Parents and siblings of players were charged full price for admission.

When: The promotion took place during three men's and three women's games.

How: This promotion was implemented by producing fliers and a press release that were posted on the school's Web site, e-mailing the flier and link to the school's Web site to the organizers of local youth basketball leagues (city leagues, Catholic Youth Organization leagues, etc.), asking league organizers to post information on their Web sites and to distribute information to their coaches, and by having sports marketing representatives attend coaches workshops to advertise the promotion.

Results: More than 100 youth basketball teams participated this year. In fact, teams had to be turned away at two games because of space limitations for the pregame chalk talk. On average, the promotion increased single-game attendance on those nights by 46 percent and single-game ticket revenue by 60 percent. The influx of youth players made a significant difference in the game atmosphere as well because the teams all sat together and were spirited from start to finish. The teams and families were grateful for the program, especially for the opportunity to interact with the coaches before the game and the opportunity to meet the student-athletes after the game.

Embassy Suites Season Ticket Holder of the Game
University of Delaware
Curt Krouse, director of sports
marketing

Who: Football season ticket holders.

What: A sponsor is required to donate prizes; coordination with the ticket office is needed for nominations.

When: All home football games, between the first and second quarter.

Where: Any sport that has season ticket holders.

How: All football season ticket holders receive a nomination form and cover letter from the Delaware head football coach with their renewal invoice. Winners are selected based on their level of involvement (that is, number of years as a season ticket holder, attendance at road games, booster club membership). During the summer, six winners are selected (one per home game); organizers then coordinate at which games the recipients will be honored.

At the game, the person is recognized with a scoreboard message and a public address announcement. The PA announcer reads an excerpt from the nomination letter, which is included in its entirety in the game program. The winner receives a weekend stay at the Embassy Suites and a gift from the university bookstore, such as a jacket or a blanket. A member of the ticket office presents the prizes, and a member of the sports-marketing department takes a photo of the winner. A copy of the picture is given to Embassy Suites for its University of Delaware athletics display cabinet inside the lobby.