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YSU Penguin Athletics => YSU Penguin Athletics => Topic started by: petepossy on September 21, 2014, 09:15:01 AM
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We all know winning sells tickets but it seems like the university does little to nothing to try to help fill the stands. While they do have youth prices We have no family rates to make it affordable to come to a game. There are no ticket specials ( other than an unadvertised Mountain Dew can), no concessions specials or packages where you can get tickets and concessions value. Yes they give away a ton of tickets to schools for kids day but they do nothing to advertise kids day to the public let alone any other games. There is never a public push for season tickets or single game tickets. While the team is 3-1 there is no excitement in the community because we played no body and there is very little to no advertising. Our promotions do nothing to draw excitement or help sell tickets. It's simple business you need to spend money to make money
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Definitely need to spend some money to make money! It is very depressing to see that huge stadium not even half filled! At 3-1 there should be some excitement, but I can definitely understand why people wouldn't want to rush to the YO and pay to see non scholarship schools like Butler. Advertising needs to continue to become better, they have taken much bigger steps though over the past 4 years, but still need to spend a little bit more. Having Tressel around definitely brings a Buzz and spark of interest to the University! Let's Go Guins!
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I have seen little to no change over the past several years in any sort of advertising. A few shaky commercials on the three local stations (aired at odd hours) and bill boards that do little to create excitement (both most likely trade agreements). Absolutely no advertising on cable network channels, little to no excitement at local business (even the ones advertising at the stadium) and no effort to effectively market to family’s or the youth. In order to build a Penguins Nation you need to get the kids & families and make it fun for high schools kids, college students and young adults to want to come to the game rather than the countless other things to do on a Saturday. We have facilities, a great community, a beautiful campus it is a shame that basically no money is spent to promotes this stuff on the Athletics side.
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Well let's point the finger at the individual responsible for marketing and putting butts in the seats, that is Rick Love. http://www.ysusports.com/information/directory/Love_Rick
Let's cut straight to the chase. We have 13,000 students at YSU and he can't even get 10% of them to the football or basketball games. We play in a tremendous mid-major athletic conference in the Horizon League with top-level competition and regional rivals, yet his inability to get 2,000 at most games is getting quite pathetic. Furthermore, the promotions at these sporting events are laughable. Nobody is going to come for a keychain or water bottle or a stupid schedule magnet. So instead of having area businesses subsidize the purchase of those promotions, why not offer better ticket promotions, family discounts, high school tailgate days, military days, etc. Find a damn spot to light off fireworks in the middle of campus if you don't want the fireworks causing damage to the WATTS.
My favorite promotion playing right now is on Clear Channel and it is embarrassing. It goes something to the effect of, "There are 2 teams and 1 football and it belongs to us because it is a Youngstown state of mind." WTF does that even mean?!?!?!?!!?
It does not take a PhD to figure out how to market games. Go look at other schools, NDSU, UNI, JMU, and other schools social media accounts. They have top notch promo videos to get the community excited. They engage the community and get students excited. We don't!
We are a Division 1 school with a Division 3 athletic marketing dept.
Just my 2 cents...
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It is very safe to say that the Advertising is very half ass! And that advertising means alot to fans, students, and potential recruits! Needs to be vamped!
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I agree with much of what has been said on this thread. University marketing and promotion has been inept for about 25 years since Bruce Burge departed. Personally, I would outsource marketing, promotion, and ticket sales to a private, PROFESSIONAL company. I would negotiate a reasonable yearly fee and allow them to keep a percentage of the gate. That would provide INCENTIVE. Now, these guys get their pay checks whether we draw or not. Look at the example of the Covelli Center. After years of failure by allowing outsiders with little expertise or concern for the valley to operate the facility, the city hired Eric Ryan. He has turned the Covelli Center into a success as he understands exactly what acts to bring here and how to promote them.
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letsgoguins,
EXCELLENT POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Wait, YSU has an advertising department??
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We need to have more night games, with youth soccer, football and everything else being played you are not getting those kids and families. The game has to become an event to get the casual fan...the night games help that. Our marketing department is deadweight. Winning would help and this area is notorious for only rooting for winners due to being in between 2 markets.
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The "attendance" was announced at just over 16K. Care to guess how many actual butts in seats were here ?
Promos are bad. Ticket sales often padded with businesses buying some to inflate the numbers, but actual fans in seats ? 8)
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I wonder how many were actually in the seats yesterday.. I wish there was 16,000 in the seats, and the players wish and deserve to be playing in front of a larger crowd..
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I would say there were 10-11k last night.
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I wonder how many were actually in the seats yesterday.. I wish there was 16,000 in the seats, and the players wish and deserve to be playing in front of a larger crowd..
Agreed--my guess would be a little over 11k.
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That's not too bad I guess for a non conference game against a lower tier team. I did expect more though for a night game!
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I think a lot of the attendance issues goes along with the fact alumni leave the area after graduation. I know I did. If there was a large amount of alumni locally I bet it would help attendance.
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We all know why Love has this position. Can you imagine back in 1997 thinking he was the "Best" candidate? Do you think it was the time at CSU that set him apart from the other candidates? He is just another OVERCHAIRED employee that roams the halls of Stambaugh....
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I think a lot of the attendance issues goes along with the fact alumni leave the area after graduation. I know I did. If there was a large amount of alumni locally I bet it would help attendance.
Alumni moving has nothing to do with it. YSU is a commuter school with very little sense of school pride by students or alumni. All goes back to marketing.
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We all know why Love has this position.
I must be the only one who does not - Why?
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That's not too bad I guess for a non conference game against a lower tier team. I did expect more though for a night game!
Stadium looked more than half-full to me-which is 10.315 so 12k in the seats is believable to me.
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No butts in the seats is not a simple problem.
I have been going to YSU fb games since 1971, memory is not what it once was but I do not recall that there was ever a time where the crowds were overflowing. had some nice crowds at Fitch in that late 70's run. Even during the run in the 90's I was shocked at how long it took for the really big crowds to show up and that was only because YSU football was the place to be for the beautiful people (casual fans). Once the winning backed off all those frontrunners started finding excuses for not going. Most of these folks were never true YSU fans.
I was never a tailgater but I seem to recall that over the years restrictions have been put in place that some feel have hampered the experience.
This area has lost a lot of population, certainly this is part of the problem.
This is still a depressed area, lots of folks just cannot justify spending the cost of tickets/parking/concessions when the game is free on TV the same night and the next morning.
Being a commuter school ( yes there are some on campus students ) does play into it. We do not have 13,000 bored kids sitting in their dorms wondering what to do on a Saturday night. They drive in to school each day, a lot then go home and drive to their place of work to pay for school. No shock that they do not want to drive back for a game.
We are in a great football league but I do not think that most people in the area relate or care about these schools. Heck I do not get excited about schools from the dakotas, iowa or missouri.
Not sure how much I put into this osu thing, I live in OH but could not care less for that school. But it seems that for whatever reason lots of people think that being an osu fan is the cool or beautiful thing to do.
Youngstown itself has an image problem and that spills over to YSU
No simple solution either.
Win more games
Some home playoff game would help.
Playing some of those Ohio schools would spark some interest, but as we all know there are some rather large issues there, that I doubt will ever be resolved.
I agree that the athletic department does do a very poor job of drumming up interest. Replace these folks with people that know what they are doing or just fire them and outsource the job as someone suggested.
You need the best players you can get but more local players would help.
I think that JT will be a help because I feel that he will be able to change the perception of YSU that many people have. We are not third rate or even second rate, we are a first rate university with a lot of goods things going on.
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Interesting topic and I'm glad this is being discussed. I agree with the comments of many on this thread. There are certainly numerous causes to the problem at hand and right now winning may be the only answer, at least one would think.
Case in point, last year we hosted #1 NDSU when we were ranked in the top 10 in the country. One would think a top 10 contest, at home, honoring Jim Tressel with playoff implications on the line would pack the place... It didn't. We were lucky to get 10,000 butts in the seats that day. I know I was among the many on here upset with the lack of promotion of this game internally. The promotion was giftwrapped on a silver platter and the marketing of the game left a lot to be desired. It is pretty damn sad a metro area of 565,000 people (North Dakota has 720k for reference) can't find 15-20k on a consistent basis to fill the play 5-7 times of the year. I can assure you if you combine the crowds at all the area HS games on Friday nights it would easily exceed a YSU crowd. Howland-WGH and Mooney-Boardman alone one night would have outdrawn the first two YSU games combined. Yes, the population may be declining, but it was declining at a faster rate when we were winning titles.
I also think social media marketing should be revamped. I 'liked' NDSU Athletics on facebook and they run a top notch account. They post videos and have that fan base very excited about their Bison.
I will leave you with this...
NDSU Highlight video from this past weekend: http://youtu.be/BmzLF6r1UTI
YSU Highlight video from this past weekend: http://youtu.be/QYyb51OKzcc
Videos say a lot..
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A few things:
1. NDSU and YSU are apples an oranges. I would bet if you had this same thing available in 1997, we would be more excited as well. This is a team coming off of 3 championships & we had better darn well hope they do not get a 4th and tie us. We are a team coming off 3 lack-luster years.
2. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd yesterday. The tailgate lots were very nicely crowded.
3. Marketing was a topic of conversation all over the lower lost yesterday. It started with how many people are showing up because Tressel spends a good hour there! have been gathering so may ideas on marketing from the fans ...it is just amazing how the university can ignore this. Some of the ideas I am hearing are nothing short of brilliant. Good or bad, these are the school's consumers and the university should listen. I may start a thread and begin posting these.
The one that shocked me was when I put up Penguin Kamikaze flag, just how many people wished the team would run out on to the field with that again. I thought I was the only one that hates the US flag idea and wants the Kamikaze. We discussed that since it has been so long since we had any titles, that we should simply have one flag for each win in the season. So right now, they would run out behind 3.
The other coming up constantly is the lack of flyover.
The one that I sort of started, but it grew, is a "presentation of the flags" at the beginning of each season. Some were saying to do it at the spring game, with others saying to wait for the home-opener. The idea is that we select 4 people of honor to present the national title flags each year & make a big deal out of it. Try to really bring in some names if possible.
One man had a what I thought was great idea. That we ring a chime like a clock. Similar to mass on Sunday, each Saturday He says at least once ever 10-30 minutes ...all day. Then the last chime is really extreme and the team takes the field during it. I think it is just a great idea. Kind of an modern version of the old victory bell.
I still say that we play Manfred Mann's 1960's version of "The Mighty Quinn" constantly and it becomes our anthem .."you ain't seen nothing like the Mighty Guins"!!
Everyone seems to like the band playing over the Ghetto music ...I really ike what the band is doing this year ...keep it up.
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IAA Fan,
By all means, start that separate thread that features fans' suggestions for marketing and promotion. We all know that the athletic department monitors this site. It is a shame that fans must do their job, but so be it.
As far as the depressed area excuse, I am not buying it. Recently, our unemployment figures were lower than the state average. Our population is smaller, but we have done a fine job of reinventing ourselves after the living hell of the loss of the steel mills. Like most large and medium-sized cities, our biggest problem is an underclass that is unemployable....addicted to drugs and welfare. Those people were never YSU fans, then or now.
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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I am a part time faculty member at YSU in the school of business. Here's my two cents.
If you all want marketing to change, I recommend you contacting this person. http://ysusports.com/information/directory/bios/brown-john
I contacted him last year regarding some basketball marketing ideas I had. Long story short, marketing for bball games got better. He and I do lunch every few months and I share with him suggestions that my section and I come up with to make the games more exciting.
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Really would be great to see a nice size crowd for the Western Illinois game at home under the lights. If the Guins take care of business in Missouri, should see a nice turn up in the stands against Western Ill.
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Really would be great to see a nice size crowd for the Western Illinois game at home under the lights. If the Guins take care of business in Missouri, should see a nice turn up in the stands against Western Ill.
I'm coming up from Georgia to go to this game.
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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I am a part time faculty member at YSU in the school of business. Here's my two cents.
If you all want marketing to change, I recommend you contacting this person. http://ysusports.com/information/directory/bios/brown-john
I contacted him last year regarding some basketball marketing ideas I had. Long story short, marketing for bball games got better. He and I do lunch every few months and I share with him suggestions that my section and I come up with to make the games more exciting.
I agree with what you said of Mr. Brown. He would be more than willing to entertain any and all ideas thrown out there on this message board. He wants to make the overall experience better.
Happy to see him join the team.
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Where the hell is YSUGO? He has some great ideas
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Too much nostalgia here. The 70's, 80's and 90's existed in a time when you could watch 3 games on Tv throughout the day, two on Sundays, one on Monday. Now EVERY game can be seen, all day Saturday and Sunday. This allows is for people to get their football fix without leaving the comfort of their home, not pay money to be in the elements watching 2nd tier football. Now I realize that's a sore subject as some think the MVC is the "SEC of FCS football". To many that's like winning the Superlotto and getting a check for 5 bucks. I'm not saying that an FCS championship is worth 5 bucks, but the majority of causal fans out there think just that.
What sells a football game? Name recognition? There is some, but football isn't the first thing that comes to peoples minds when the city of Youngstown is spoken about. Opposition recognition? very little, 90's Championships? nobody really cares anymore. Your not gonna put butts in the seats by marching out 20 year old flags. A flyover wont rattle anybody's windows enough to bring them out from watching Fla. vs Alabama on a 55 inch screen in HD drinking cheaply. NDSU might win FCS championships hand over fist but ask the majority of fans of college football who they are the majority won't know. Case in point, how many people know about Mount Union's dominance in division 3? Not alot. Alot of regional people don't know about them.
The remedy isn't marketing or nostalgic marches, and it isn't Tressel. The answer is winning. You win, you spend more money and you win some more. Then when the time is right like it was in the 90's, you move up! Then you spend more money then you win some more, then you move up to a bigger conference. One that competes for bowl games and national championships. Now you have name recognition, now you have Opposition Recognition, you have nationally recognizable players, you have something to advertise besides 20 year old flags. The remedy is not being satisfied with the 5 dollar check. If this is not something an institution is not prepared to do. Then that team will be hovering in mediocrity.
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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I am a part time faculty member at YSU in the school of business. Here's my two cents.
If you all want marketing to change, I recommend you contacting this person. http://ysusports.com/information/directory/bios/brown-john
I contacted him last year regarding some basketball marketing ideas I had. Long story short, marketing for bball games got better. He and I do lunch every few months and I share with him suggestions that my section and I come up with to make the games more exciting.
If you have his ear show him this:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjMR8QJJ8-k
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOb4Fu-HHk
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSEyXq9XVLI
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzLF6r1UTI
If you don't show him those at least show him this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xjqKMrAYbw
We are waaaaaay behind the time in terms of how we project ourselves in the current age of media. We recruit nationally and we can be seen nationally every week but all of the media is cheap local and substandard. Recruits can only see what we have available and you never know who it is going to reach. We need to advertise our facilities on video clips. We need to show everything in high definition. Compare anyone of those to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IPtIfnWMhI
There is no comparison. We need to make videos of our success and share them via social media. It really gets out there. It will be shared everywhere.
Also I would like to point out the subliminal messages in NDSU's season ticket commercial. They talk about how important the fans are. We don't mention it in our video. Fire stretch internet it is substandard. Somebody needs to take control of this over there. The local agencies are horrible at advertising. I could do better with a hand held video camera. We don't even broadcast in HD.
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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I am a part time faculty member at YSU in the school of business. Here's my two cents.
If you all want marketing to change, I recommend you contacting this person. http://ysusports.com/information/directory/bios/brown-john
I contacted him last year regarding some basketball marketing ideas I had. Long story short, marketing for bball games got better. He and I do lunch every few months and I share with him suggestions that my section and I come up with to make the games more exciting.
If you have his ear show him this:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjMR8QJJ8-k
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOb4Fu-HHk
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSEyXq9XVLI
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzLF6r1UTI
If you don't show him those at least show him this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xjqKMrAYbw
We are waaaaaay behind the time in terms of how we project ourselves in the current age of media. We recruit nationally and we can be seen nationally every week but all of the media is cheap local and substandard. Recruits can only see what we have available and you never know who it is going to reach. We need to advertise our facilities on video clips. We need to show everything in high definition. Compare anyone of those to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IPtIfnWMhI
There is no comparison. We need to make videos of our success and share them via social media. It really gets out there. It will be shared everywhere.
Also I would like to point out the subliminal messages in NDSU's season ticket commercial. They talk about how important the fans are. We don't mention it in our video. Fire stretch internet it is substandard. Somebody needs to take control of this over there. The local agencies are horrible at advertising. I could do better with a hand held video camera. We don't even broadcast in HD.
The best may be this awesome highlight tape from last year when Eastern Washington shocked Oregon State: http://vimeo.com/74015628
Regarding streaming, we obviously have the tools to broadcast in full HD if we can do it for the Horizon League Network. I'm sure they can figure out a premium version of UStream to still charge for it.
Furthermore, being you don't live up here, the games on MyYTV are now broadcast in full HD, which makes me wonder why on earth our highlight tapes are not in HD and why the audio is embarrassing on them???
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Too much nostalgia here. The 70's, 80's and 90's existed in a time when you could watch 3 games on Tv throughout the day, two on Sundays, one on Monday. Now EVERY game can be seen, all day Saturday and Sunday. This allows is for people to get their football fix without leaving the comfort of their home, not pay money to be in the elements watching 2nd tier football. Now I realize that's a sore subject as some think the MVC is the "SEC of FCS football". To many that's like winning the Superlotto and getting a check for 5 bucks. I'm not saying that an FCS championship is worth 5 bucks, but the majority of causal fans out there think just that.
What sells a football game? Name recognition? There is some, but football isn't the first thing that comes to peoples minds when the city of Youngstown is spoken about. Opposition recognition? very little, 90's Championships? nobody really cares anymore. Your not gonna put butts in the seats by marching out 20 year old flags. A flyover wont rattle anybody's windows enough to bring them out from watching Fla. vs Alabama on a 55 inch screen in HD drinking cheaply. NDSU might win FCS championships hand over fist but ask the majority of fans of college football who they are the majority won't know. Case in point, how many people know about Mount Union's dominance in division 3? Not alot. Alot of regional people don't know about them.
The remedy isn't marketing or nostalgic marches, and it isn't Tressel. The answer is winning. You win, you spend more money and you win some more. Then when the time is right like it was in the 90's, you move up! Then you spend more money then you win some more, then you move up to a bigger conference. One that competes for bowl games and national championships. Now you have name recognition, now you have Opposition Recognition, you have nationally recognizable players, you have something to advertise besides 20 year old flags. The remedy is not being satisfied with the 5 dollar check. If this is not something an institution is not prepared to do. Then that team will be hovering in mediocrity.
I agree with most of the above. IMO, the most effective things that would increase attendance are:
1. win....and get FREE positive publicity in the local media....and in the national media if you make the post-season
2. win
3. win
4. play teams fans care about....may require a new way of thinking about the schedule.....play away at Ohio MAC teams...consider two blood games.....consider dropping out of the MVFC and replace the NDSU game with another PAID blood game...prolly would be more winnable than NDSU.....The OVC is ranked 5th by Massey in conference strength...consider the OVC and tear your conference-mates apart prior to a nearly guaranteed auto-bid....take the savings in the travel budget and upgrade the coaching staff or facilities or spend it on #5....
5. If you resort to gimmickery...go all in....fireworks...fly overs....dramatic player entrances onto the field....hell...maybe even have a zip-line from the top of Stambaugh Stadium to a tailgate lot....it must have a "wow"....it must be an experience.....
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Too much nostalgia here. The 70's, 80's and 90's existed in a time when you could watch 3 games on Tv throughout the day, two on Sundays, one on Monday. Now EVERY game can be seen, all day Saturday and Sunday. This allows is for people to get their football fix without leaving the comfort of their home, not pay money to be in the elements watching 2nd tier football. Now I realize that's a sore subject as some think the MVC is the "SEC of FCS football". To many that's like winning the Superlotto and getting a check for 5 bucks. I'm not saying that an FCS championship is worth 5 bucks, but the majority of causal fans out there think just that.
What sells a football game? Name recognition? There is some, but football isn't the first thing that comes to peoples minds when the city of Youngstown is spoken about. Opposition recognition? very little, 90's Championships? nobody really cares anymore. Your not gonna put butts in the seats by marching out 20 year old flags. A flyover wont rattle anybody's windows enough to bring them out from watching Fla. vs Alabama on a 55 inch screen in HD drinking cheaply. NDSU might win FCS championships hand over fist but ask the majority of fans of college football who they are the majority won't know. Case in point, how many people know about Mount Union's dominance in division 3? Not alot. Alot of regional people don't know about them.
The remedy isn't marketing or nostalgic marches, and it isn't Tressel. The answer is winning. You win, you spend more money and you win some more. Then when the time is right like it was in the 90's, you move up! Then you spend more money then you win some more, then you move up to a bigger conference. One that competes for bowl games and national championships. Now you have name recognition, now you have Opposition Recognition, you have nationally recognizable players, you have something to advertise besides 20 year old flags. The remedy is not being satisfied with the 5 dollar check. If this is not something an institution is not prepared to do. Then that team will be hovering in mediocrity.
Excellent excellent post!!!
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Furthermore, being you don't live up here, the games on MyYTV are now broadcast in full HD, which makes me wonder why on earth our highlight tapes are not in HD and why the audio is embarrassing on them???
It is embarrassing because the broacast that is available on a national level is not in HD. It is 1995 quality video on dial up. I run at 58 Kbps down and 10 up. I hear what you are saying but It is difficult for me to believe myytv it broadcasting in HD when the video isn't even wide screen. When I watch other fcs games the quality is much better. We need to find a way to get the games on espn3. Espn3 may not be available to most paying customers in the Mahoning valley so many would come to the game if they are worried about ticket sales. Secondly an HD broadcast will show off out facilities to potential recruits. That is my point
Also notice how the NDSU radio play by play is incorporated into the highlights
We don't do that. Think of recruiting. Think of the average fan. Put the obligation to support the team on the fans
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Power. The one thing to remember about joining another conference is that you will always play to that level ...and recruit to that level. If we join a lesser conference,we will simply have a lesser team. If we move up, we will have a better team.
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Power. The one thing to remember about joining another conference is that you will always play to that level ...and recruit to that level. If we join a lesser conference,we will simply have a lesser team. If we move up, we will have a better team.
I'm not saying to join another conference?
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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I am a part time faculty member at YSU in the school of business. Here's my two cents.
If you all want marketing to change, I recommend you contacting this person. http://ysusports.com/information/directory/bios/brown-john
I contacted him last year regarding some basketball marketing ideas I had. Long story short, marketing for bball games got better. He and I do lunch every few months and I share with him suggestions that my section and I come up with to make the games more exciting.
If you have his ear show him this:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjMR8QJJ8-k
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnOb4Fu-HHk
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSEyXq9XVLI
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzLF6r1UTI
If you don't show him those at least show him this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xjqKMrAYbw
We are waaaaaay behind the time in terms of how we project ourselves in the current age of media. We recruit nationally and we can be seen nationally every week but all of the media is cheap local and substandard. Recruits can only see what we have available and you never know who it is going to reach. We need to advertise our facilities on video clips. We need to show everything in high definition. Compare anyone of those to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IPtIfnWMhI
There is no comparison. We need to make videos of our success and share them via social media. It really gets out there. It will be shared everywhere.
Also I would like to point out the subliminal messages in NDSU's season ticket commercial. They talk about how important the fans are. We don't mention it in our video. Fire stretch internet it is substandard. Somebody needs to take control of this over there. The local agencies are horrible at advertising. I could do better with a hand held video camera. We don't even broadcast in HD.
I'd email or call him: (330) 941-7229 or jbrown01@ysu.edu if I was you.
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Power. The one thing to remember about joining another conference is that you will always play to that level ...and recruit to that level. If we join a lesser conference,we will simply have a lesser team. If we move up, we will have a better team.
I'm not saying to join another conference?
I think this reference was to my comment.
If the MVFC gets only 1 or 2 at-large bids this post-season, than I think that the Athletic Department must understand that the choice is MVFC membership versus post-season.
If YSU joined the OVC and continued to play a quarter of its schedule on non- or partial scholly schools, than yes the SOS would decline and perhaps recruiting would follow.
However...
What I was suggesting was an innovative schedule in that the "Cupcake" games WERE the conference games, and the OOC games were the more challenging games, as well as more attractive games to the fans.
The 3-4 OOC games I would recommend would be away games at a combo of Ohio MAC schools (winnable games) and true blood FBS games. In this model, the SOS may actually improve above the current level, the travel budget would decline, the opponents would generate more fan interest, and there would be more blood game revenue. The downside is less regular season home games....but...likely more post-season home games....and some "away" games are in Ohio and as close as Akron or Kent.
I think a recruit would love to play for a school that dominates its conference, plays 3-4 FBS (albeit 1-3 are MAC) games a year, and regularly plays in the post-season.
Currently we have 1-2 unpaid blood game-equivalents/year with NDSU and SDSU. These games mean little to the casual fan. Mock them all you want, but casual fans pay $$ and buy apparel. These fans would far prefer games versus Ohio U, or Toledo, or definitely Akron or Kent.
How many decades longer are we going to field teams that would dominate the FCS, but are poorly served by our conference affiliation? How many decades longer are we going to hope the MVFC finally gets the respect of the playoff selection committee?
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A few additional thoughts:
My daughter is a Freshman at FAU. I went to the FAU v. Tulsa game a few weeks ago, and this 0-2 (6-6 in 2013) team has a very large student section that was full.
Yes it is a much larger FBS C-USA program with a vibrant campus life and new stadium (from which you can see the Atlantic ocean). But....there is aggressive attempts to involve the student body that I don't see at YSU.
At FAU, the HC Charlie Partridge (who replaced Pelini) wears red pants in the second half if the student section fills in the first half. Students get free FAU t-shirts at nearly every game. Partridge attended the new student orientation and mingled with the students (and approached and took a selfie with my daughter and her suite-mates). There was a concert and bonfire before the home opener to create hype.
Maybe an apples to oranges comparison in terms of programs, but the effort doesn't have to be any different.
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The NDSU videos are great. I have been watching them weekly.. No excuse for us to not have media like that. Im not sure if any of you have to watch the games online, but unfortunately I live in Miami and I am unable to come up every week and watch the games so I have to.. And the stream is very poor, and the audio is worse.. (Yet you have to play 11 dollars a game to watch if you dont have the password if your in the penguin club). These individuals in charge of media need to realize that in today's day it matters to these kids and their families, just like uniforms and new gear matter to them.
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A few additional thoughts:
My daughter is a Freshman at FAU. I went to the FAU v. Tulsa game a few weeks ago, and this 0-2 (6-6 in 2013) team has a very large student section that was full.
Yes it is a much larger FBS C-USA program with a vibrant campus life and new stadium (from which you can see the Atlantic ocean). But....there is aggressive attempts to involve the student body that I don't see at YSU.
At FAU, the HC Charlie Partridge (who replaced Pelini) wears red pants in the second half if the student section fills in the first half. Students get free FAU t-shirts at nearly every game. Partridge attended the new student orientation and mingled with the students (and approached and took a selfie with my daughter and her suite-mates). There was a concert and bonfire before the home opener to create hype.
Maybe an apples to oranges comparison in terms of programs, but the effort doesn't have to be any different.
FAU has been doing a nice job, I live 10 minutes from their stadium!
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A few additional thoughts:
My daughter is a Freshman at FAU. I went to the FAU v. Tulsa game a few weeks ago, and this 0-2 (6-6 in 2013) team has a very large student section that was full.
Yes it is a much larger FBS C-USA program with a vibrant campus life and new stadium (from which you can see the Atlantic ocean). But....there is aggressive attempts to involve the student body that I don't see at YSU.
At FAU, the HC Charlie Partridge (who replaced Pelini) wears red pants in the second half if the student section fills in the first half. Students get free FAU t-shirts at nearly every game. Partridge attended the new student orientation and mingled with the students (and approached and took a selfie with my daughter and her suite-mates). There was a concert and bonfire before the home opener to create hype.
Maybe an apples to oranges comparison in terms of programs, but the effort doesn't have to be any different.
FAU has been doing a nice job, I live 10 minutes from their stadium!
Hoot Hoot!
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If you want more causal locals in the seats heres what I think would work.
1. Win
2. Do some things like the Pirates do. What happened to our fireworks games? There's got to be other things like concerts they can do on the field afterwards that would require a game ticket to attend
3. Start looking at what minor league baseball teams do and steal some idea
4. Play someone people have actually heard of.
5. Dunking booth featuring Paladin
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now there is a real sign of desperation,lol
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Nation ...it is GoGuins in these parts.
Happy. I think #5 is all we need.
fb
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I would not expect much from the new guys John Brown, from his Bio he works for Rick Love and interned for him while in school. Looks like another good old boy thing to me.
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Oh great, another acolyte of "Pear Bryant ". :( ;)
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I would not expect much from the new guys John Brown, from his Bio he works for Rick Love and interned for him while in school. Looks like another good old boy thing to me.
There is most certainly a difference between the two I can assure you. Why not shoot an email to each with ideas and you will see.
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Are people on this thread serious about sending an email to the newest hire in the marketing department? This guy has a Bachelor's Degree from YSU, and a Masters Degree in Sports Management from OU. He worked in the YSU athletic department as an undergrad, and after graduating from OU, he spent time at UVA and as marketing assistant for the Big South Conference. He has also worked in Minor League Baseball with the Southern Ohio Copperheads and Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
What is next, having fans send e-mails to Wolford, Montgomery and Bryant with game plan ideas for the upcoming game? Actually, this might not be a bad idea. :-\ They can pick a fan submitted offensive plan, defensive plan and special teams plan. The fans can be introduced before the game. If able to make the game in person, they can either sit in the coach's booth of the press box, or be on the sidelines(their choice). If not able to make the game, they can use Skype to interact with the coaching staff and players. Do the same thing for EVERY sport. This would TRULY get fans involved in the game.
I do not know John Brown, and this is not a personal attack on him. This is a commentary on the YSU Athletic Department as a whole, and the notion that a person hired by a DIVISION 1 Athletic Department and given the Title of Assistant Director of Athletics needs ideas from fans on how to better market and promote the games. If this is indeed true, then why was this guy even hired? Just have 1 full time person in the Department, and staff the department with several student interns. The marketing and promotion ideas can come from a combination of the interns and fans. The Director of the Dept overseas the implementation, and any type of PR or business related functions. It would save money, and there is no way the marketing and promotions of YSU athletics could get any worse.
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I'm sorry if you took my post out of context. I don't think myself, or the other people on here who suggested emailing John Brown, meant that Mr. Brown was actively soliciting emails from people on this board. This was just a suggestion I made.
Several people on here have made it seem members of the athletics department are un-approachable. I had the exact opposite experience. I suggested emailing or calling someone to voice their concerns if they think otherwise. This isn't some off the wall suggestion I was making. Fortune 500 Businesses get feedback by the minute on how to improve their structure, marketing, advertising etc. You would be surprised that almost every business idea ever, comes from consumer feedback.
I teach my students that successful CEO's know that they don't know everything. You can apply that logic to any job.
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We play a very soft non-league schedule that is not appealing to the average fan, and YSU has been to the playoffs once in 13 years, thats why attendance is what it is. The attendance will not improve until we get a team that competes for the playoffs on a regular basis.
All of us, including me at times, think we are what we were in the 1990's. I do find the hiring of another marketing person interesting. YSU overall is cutting jobs, yet we hire another marketing person. We have three full time sports information directors, several associate athletic directors, and a very high paid coaching staff for 1-AA football.
We are old news right when it comes to power programs in 1-AA, we hang our hat on having the best stadium in 1-AA football, thats nowhere near enough. I agree on marketing lacks creativity and really need that when you are just an average program. Our marketing is buy one, get one free. You can give the tickets away, people don't want to come!
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We play a very soft non-league schedule that is not appealing to the average fan, and YSU has been to the playoffs once in 13 years, thats why attendance is what it is. The attendance will not improve until we get a team that competes for the playoffs on a regular basis.
All of us, including me at times, think we are what we were in the 1990's. I do find the hiring of another marketing person interesting. YSU overall is cutting jobs, yet we hire another marketing person. We have three full time sports information directors, several associate athletic directors, and a very high paid coaching staff for 1-AA football.
We are old news right when it comes to power programs in 1-AA, we hang our hat on having the best stadium in 1-AA football, thats nowhere near enough. I agree on marketing lacks creativity and really need that when you are just an average program. Our marketing is buy one, get one free. You can give the tickets away, people don't want to come!
I'm not sure the stadium is tops in the conference let alone 1FCS anymore. Lucky to be top 20 ish :-X
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We play a very soft non-league schedule that is not appealing to the average fan, and YSU has been to the playoffs once in 13 years, thats why attendance is what it is. The attendance will not improve until we get a team that competes for the playoffs on a regular basis.
All of us, including me at times, think we are what we were in the 1990's. I do find the hiring of another marketing person interesting. YSU overall is cutting jobs, yet we hire another marketing person. We have three full time sports information directors, several associate athletic directors, and a very high paid coaching staff for 1-AA football.
We are old news right when it comes to power programs in 1-AA, we hang our hat on having the best stadium in 1-AA football, thats nowhere near enough. I agree on marketing lacks creativity and really need that when you are just an average program. Our marketing is buy one, get one free. You can give the tickets away, people don't want to come!
I'm not sure the stadium is tops in the conference let alone 1FCS anymore. Lucky to be top 20 ish :-X
Yep, our stadium is nowhere near the nicest. Need a scoreboard, and the east stands are just... Plain. Ugly. Look Half Finished (Because They Are)....
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
Is that a fact?
I think Mr. Brown does a good job with sponsorship and marketing. I know a lot of big donors and sponsors who sit in my section at basketball games agree. A Penguin Club board member told me we're the #1 school in FCS/I-AA football as far as corporate sponsor support goes. That money in turn, helps build and update facilities (softball, track, soccer and WATTS).
According to this board member, we're supposed to get a new video board at football as part as switching to Pepsi.
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
Is that a fact?
I think Mr. Brown does a good job with sponsorship and marketing. I know a lot of big donors and sponsors who sit in my section at basketball games agree. A Penguin Club board member told me we're the #1 school in FCS/I-AA football as far as corporate sponsor support goes. That money in turn, helps build and update facilities (softball, track, soccer and WATTS).
According to this board member, we're supposed to get a new video board at football as part as switching to Pepsi.
Well, in that case. Go Pepsi lol
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
Is that a fact?
I think Mr. Brown does a good job with sponsorship and marketing. I know a lot of big donors and sponsors who sit in my section at basketball games agree. A Penguin Club board member told me we're the #1 school in FCS/I-AA football as far as corporate sponsor support goes. That money in turn, helps build and update facilities (softball, track, soccer and WATTS).
According to this board member, we're supposed to get a new video board at football as part as switching to Pepsi.
Well, in that case. Go Pepsi lol
Exactly. Ysu gets a lot of sponsorship support. Good for them!
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
Is that a fact?
I think Mr. Brown does a good job with sponsorship and marketing. I know a lot of big donors and sponsors who sit in my section at basketball games agree. A Penguin Club board member told me we're the #1 school in FCS/I-AA football as far as corporate sponsor support goes. That money in turn, helps build and update facilities (softball, track, soccer and WATTS).
According to this board member, we're supposed to get a new video board at football as part as switching to Pepsi.
Coke bought the last one. Long with the second scoreboard in the IC, a new scoreboard in Beeghly, parts of the player lounge and new locker room. BRING BACK COKE!!!
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Coke did not buy the basketball board, the penguin club did.
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Presumably, this guy was hired because of his qualifications for the position. Because of WHAT he knows, not WHO he knows. This just baffles me that a person with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Sales & Event Management needs fans and/or the general public to give him ideas on how to better market the program, and on better game day promotions. This is a D1 UNIVERSITY, not a high school with the person working a supplemental for a few thousand dollars, if even that much.
I highly doubt there are many people in that department that have been hired for their qualifications rather than their friends. Typical Youngstown mentality
Is that a fact?
I think Mr. Brown does a good job with sponsorship and marketing. I know a lot of big donors and sponsors who sit in my section at basketball games agree. A Penguin Club board member told me we're the #1 school in FCS/I-AA football as far as corporate sponsor support goes. That money in turn, helps build and update facilities (softball, track, soccer and WATTS).
According to this board member, we're supposed to get a new video board at football as part as switching to Pepsi.
Coke bought the last one. Long with the second scoreboard in the IC, a new scoreboard in Beeghly, parts of the player lounge and new locker room. BRING BACK COKE!!!
Guarantee Coke did not buy all of the that. They bought the last scoreboard? Cool. If they are not willing to pony up to buy a new one, see ya.