Topic: NHR: Nebraska Volleyball draws 92,000 fans

[Ovaltine Jenkins]

https://youtu.be/ub1vkIzsihE?si=4ml6U11bylCiKumF

[mu79grad]

I would love to see Marshall do an all-out promotion such as this with the soccer team playing and hopefully filling The Joan.  It would be tremendous PR and a great opportunity to make some added cash.

[coalherd]

Marshall's women's basketball team, several years back, had a Head Coach who eventually moved on to Texas, perhaps at Steven F. Austin.  She came up with a "JAM the CAM" game which they did for a few years.   Promoted it heavily, had a lot of ticket "specials" and other promotions.  I think one year the game opponent was perhaps Maryland and it drew around or over 5,000 fans.  Had good numbers in subsequent "JAM" games, but the promotion eventually died out IIRC.  Maybe it can be revived in the future with a new coaching staff now in charge!

[ThunderDent]

It's all how you market it.

I worked in the EKU athletics dept one year as an intern, back in around 2000. No fans drew well there for about anything. But the main parking lot for the students was the basketball arena (where our offices were).

We did a lot of promotion for FB and for MBB (John Brannen was on staff there with Travis Ford and we wanted to make it as great as we could with 2 Marshall guys in the house).

For WBB I really wanted to promote one game for them, because they had literally no one come to their games, and the girls were decent players. They'd play pick-up games with us at lunch. They could bomb 3s, and dribble well. But couldn't play inside with me at 6'4". And I'm no basketball player.
Anyway, another WV native was on the staff there (Joanna Bernabei ... who is now the HC at Boston College). We were friends and I wanted to really promote a game.

So picked 2 things and made them happen.

1- FREE PIZZA for all students at halftime.
(Thanks to now defunct Pizza Magia)

2- Made up a flyer to put on the cars in the parking lot. Every day for a 2 weeks leading up to the game. And posted it around campus and around town.
They were playing I think Tennessee State. I picked one stat that Tennessee St was up in (scoring or something) nationally. And they were listed right ahead of UCONN WBB in the top 5 in the country in that stat. Plug it on the flyer to promote it.

That game was a sell-out. Packed the house.
They had never played in front of a crowd like that and it was so exciting for everyone.

It doesn't take much work. You just have to promote it right. And for those sports, you can't go to the well all the time. Usually just once.

----
Side note in 1998-99 I ran the book for Marshall womens VB. They played in Gullickson because the HC was being redone. That atmosphere was electric every game because it only seated 1000 and people were literally on top of you in the rafters. Great memories.

[coalherd]

Teams have to be playing at least at some "base level" of success or else NO amount of promotion is going to be successful, IMO.  Unfortunately, as of now that doesn't appear to be the case with the HERD Volleyball team.  They lost in their own Invitational today to Akron 3-2, followed by another 3-2 loss to Coppin State!  COPPIN STATE!!  Looks like it will be a LONG Season for the HERD Volleyball squad!!