Reading the two Wright State message boards, I have seen a lot of good ideas to help increase attendance at the basketball games. I seen people suggest ticket
giveaways both single game and season tickets. Some other suggestions have been food giveaways/discounts and all-you-can-eat deals included with a ticket, or
special entertainment at the game. While others have suggested military nights and other specific occupation or company nights. These are just a few of the
ideas, and all of these are good ideas for upping attendance for a specific game or two, short-term. But this will only temporarily increase attendance for the
casual fan that is not a die-hard raider fan, and not necessarily increase the revenue for the athletic department with all the giveaways.
My feeling is that the Wright State Athletic Department needs to think more about atmosphere and enjoyment of the games. Just getting these casual fans to the game for a single promotion may hook a few fans to keep coming out, but the majority of these fans will just wait for another promotion until they return, especially if they are not thoroughly impressed with the game and the Nutter Center. I think with the talent the Raiders are returning, and recruiting being impressed with the game will not be a problem, the atmosphere and the Nutter Center them seem to be where things need to be improved.
First off, the best way to improve the atmosphere, is to get as many students out to the game as possible, and secondly we need to get them involved in the game. When students get involved, it gets the entire arena more involved in the game, making it a fun expereince for all. And vice-versa the more the students are involved, the more likely they are to return to more games in the future. If they enjoy the games now, they are even more likely to become season ticket holders later. So getting the students out and involved in the games seems to me to be the key that can help both now and in the future attendance of WSU. So my theory is that we should be primarily running promotions and game activities geared towards the students, and then secondary promotions like the ones listed above to get the average fan out to the games. My third and final segment of this promotions trilogy blog will contain some of the ideas I have to get and keep the students returning to the Nutter Center. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments section.
My feeling is that the Wright State Athletic Department needs to think more about atmosphere and enjoyment of the games. Just getting these casual fans to the game for a single promotion may hook a few fans to keep coming out, but the majority of these fans will just wait for another promotion until they return, especially if they are not thoroughly impressed with the game and the Nutter Center. I think with the talent the Raiders are returning, and recruiting being impressed with the game will not be a problem, the atmosphere and the Nutter Center them seem to be where things need to be improved.
First off, the best way to improve the atmosphere, is to get as many students out to the game as possible, and secondly we need to get them involved in the game. When students get involved, it gets the entire arena more involved in the game, making it a fun expereince for all. And vice-versa the more the students are involved, the more likely they are to return to more games in the future. If they enjoy the games now, they are even more likely to become season ticket holders later. So getting the students out and involved in the games seems to me to be the key that can help both now and in the future attendance of WSU. So my theory is that we should be primarily running promotions and game activities geared towards the students, and then secondary promotions like the ones listed above to get the average fan out to the games. My third and final segment of this promotions trilogy blog will contain some of the ideas I have to get and keep the students returning to the Nutter Center. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments section.
