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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Pontiac program paying dividends in scholarships
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By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
In the last three years, NCAA institutions have benefited from a Pontiac-sponsored, fan-interactive promotion that brought more than $1 million into general scholarship funds.
The Pontiac Game-Changing Performance is a result of collaboration among the NCAA, CBS and ESPN. It allows fans to vote on their favorite performances on the court or field in men’s basketball and football. Women’s basketball has a similar promotion that does not involve fan interaction.
Weekly winners of the fan vote from plays selected by broadcast personalities earn a $5,000 donation to the institution’s general scholarship fund. Fans then vote for the overall game-changing performance of the season (football) or tournament (basketball), and that institution receives a $100,000 donation to the institution’s general scholarship fund.
Pontiac created the program as a way to become more deeply woven in to the fabric of the NCAA.
“We call it fusion marketing,” said Chris Hornberger, advertising manager for Pontiac. “We don’t want to just stamp our logo out there — we want to provide value to it.”
The ongoing scholarship program provides tangible rewards for institutions as well as an opportunity for fan interaction. Beginning with the 2006 football season, Pontiac is also distributing $5,000 scholarships to a “fan winner” who has voted for the game-changing performance.
Fan interest in the program has grown, with about a 10 percent increase in participation for the football event each year. Broadcast is a key element of the program due to the fan-participation component, so expansion to other sports and divisions is not yet planned. However, as other events gain in popularity and television exposure, some expansion could be possible. Hornberger said women’s sports are a market that Pontiac is interested in pursuing.
“Our focus is to improve our interaction with women’s sports,” he said. “We do a lot with softball and women’s soccer, including sponsorship of those events. Women’s sports are a growing component.”
The next incarnation of the game-changing performance begins with the start of the men’s basketball tournament March 14. The first four selected plays will be announced on CBS March 16, and fans will have the opportunity to vote until Sunday, March 18, when the winner is announced.
In 2006, Northwestern State University received the $100,000 scholarship donation at the end of the Division I men’s basketball tournament for a last-second three-pointer that eliminated the University of Iowa from the tournament in the first round.
Greg Burke, Northwestern State athletics director, said the play and the accompanying recognition from Pontiac helped the institution maintain an identity and essentially stay in the tournament long after the team stopped winning.
“We may have been eliminated in the second round, but that shot kept us in the tournament because they kept showing it,” Burke said. “I was so happy for our university and for our community because of everything that shot did for us. It’s invaluable for the profile of our university. It goes beyond basketball.”
Burke said that to a mid-major like Northwestern State, the scholarship donation was significant. The school turned the $100,000 into an endowed scholarship.
“I think that shot will live forever within our university community to always benefit our students from a financial perspective,” Burke said.
The Pontiac Game-Changing Performance is a result of collaboration among the NCAA, CBS and ESPN. It allows fans to vote on their favorite performances on the court or field in men’s basketball and football. Women’s basketball has a similar promotion that does not involve fan interaction.
Weekly winners of the fan vote from plays selected by broadcast personalities earn a $5,000 donation to the institution’s general scholarship fund. Fans then vote for the overall game-changing performance of the season (football) or tournament (basketball), and that institution receives a $100,000 donation to the institution’s general scholarship fund.
Pontiac created the program as a way to become more deeply woven in to the fabric of the NCAA.
“We call it fusion marketing,” said Chris Hornberger, advertising manager for Pontiac. “We don’t want to just stamp our logo out there — we want to provide value to it.”
The ongoing scholarship program provides tangible rewards for institutions as well as an opportunity for fan interaction. Beginning with the 2006 football season, Pontiac is also distributing $5,000 scholarships to a “fan winner” who has voted for the game-changing performance.
Fan interest in the program has grown, with about a 10 percent increase in participation for the football event each year. Broadcast is a key element of the program due to the fan-participation component, so expansion to other sports and divisions is not yet planned. However, as other events gain in popularity and television exposure, some expansion could be possible. Hornberger said women’s sports are a market that Pontiac is interested in pursuing.
“Our focus is to improve our interaction with women’s sports,” he said. “We do a lot with softball and women’s soccer, including sponsorship of those events. Women’s sports are a growing component.”
The next incarnation of the game-changing performance begins with the start of the men’s basketball tournament March 14. The first four selected plays will be announced on CBS March 16, and fans will have the opportunity to vote until Sunday, March 18, when the winner is announced.
In 2006, Northwestern State University received the $100,000 scholarship donation at the end of the Division I men’s basketball tournament for a last-second three-pointer that eliminated the University of Iowa from the tournament in the first round.
Greg Burke, Northwestern State athletics director, said the play and the accompanying recognition from Pontiac helped the institution maintain an identity and essentially stay in the tournament long after the team stopped winning.
“We may have been eliminated in the second round, but that shot kept us in the tournament because they kept showing it,” Burke said. “I was so happy for our university and for our community because of everything that shot did for us. It’s invaluable for the profile of our university. It goes beyond basketball.”
Burke said that to a mid-major like Northwestern State, the scholarship donation was significant. The school turned the $100,000 into an endowed scholarship.
“I think that shot will live forever within our university community to always benefit our students from a financial perspective,” Burke said.
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