By Kenny Berkowitz

Athletic Management takes a look at grassroots marketing efforts that have provided attendance boosts for a handful of NCAA Division I women’s basketball programs.

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Three years ago, feeling that NCAA women’s basketball was challenged by a lack of exposure, a key group of stakeholders, including NCAA President Myles Brand, gathered to talk about how to best market the women’s game. “It became clear very quickly that we needed the initiative to focus on grassroots solutions,” says Susan Donohoe, NCAA Vice President for Division I Women’s Basketball. “We needed to market the game at the institutional and conference levels, which would then translate to national growth.”

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As a result of that meeting and others that followed, the NCAA designed a three-pronged approach to market the women’s game. In the first prong, the NCAA is sponsoring the Pack the House Challenge to encourage Division I teams to set school attendance records, with one winner from each conference getting a $500 donation to the charity of its choice.

In the second prong, the division is continuing its Share the Experience seminars, which invite marketing directors to gather and discuss best practices in promoting women’s basketball. In the third prong, the NCAA established the Women’s Basketball Grant Program, which offers matching grants of up to $100,000 a year to create pilot programs at the institutional and conference levels that increase attendance.

In November, the NCAA signed a three-year contract with Hawkeye Communications to come up with even more ideas to take women’s basketball to the next level. “This is a major step,” says Donohoe. “We’ve committed significant resources to marketing women’s basketball. This isn’t about throwing T-shirts into the stands, it’s about real efforts with real strategies behind them. Over the next three years, you’re going to see some very creative, innovative approaches. Every decision we make is designed to build attendance, create awareness, and grow the game.”

A shining example of the NCAA’s initiatives can be found at Middle Tennessee State University, where average home attendance jumped 550 percent from 2005-06 to 2006-07. The team averaged 744 fans in 2005-06, and the next season, it brought in 4,157 per game. Though some of those fans are clearly drawn to the team’s on-court success—the Blue Raiders claimed Sun Belt Conference titles in 2006 and 2007—much of the response has been sparked by new grassroots marketing efforts.

“Winning helps tremendously, but people aren’t coming just because we’re winning,” says Middle Tennessee Director of Marketing Brad Smith. “They’re coming for the entertainment value, especially the families and children. Young kids don’t care whether the team wins or loses, as long as the event is fun. So we’ve built a family-friendly atmosphere, designed ticket and concessions packages that provide added value, and marketed theme nights to draw people from surrounding communities.”

For example, to welcome new Head Coach Rick Insell, a Middle Tennessee alum and Murfreesboro native, marketers opened the 2005-06 season with a Rick Insell lookalike contest. Cardboard cutouts featuring Insell’s likeness were distributed among the crowd. Fifty people showed up in costume, and the winner had lunch with Insell.

Another popular event is Education Day. Held on a weekday morning, the department sells discounted tickets to elementary schools and creates a lesson plan that uses basketball to teach math, science, social studies, and geography. Other events have included a birthday party for the team’s mascot and a reunion night for basketball camp attendees.

Marketers also orchestrated a Mardi Gras night, where Middle Tennessee students wore masks, beads, and feathers to the game. For the event, companies and leaders from the business community were invited to join an on-court parade.

Borrowing a page from the WNBA marketing playbook, the department closely ties its entertainment to sales, expecting corporations who participated in the Mardi Gras Parade to sell at least 100 tickets to the game. Local cheerleading squads, karate schools, community dance groups, and youth basketball teams sell 100 tickets in return for a seven-minute slot entertaining the crowd from center court at halftime in another program. And organizations that sell at least 50 tickets are included in pregame festivities.

Piggybacking on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Breast Cancer Awareness Week, Middle Tennessee used its “Think Pink” game to partner with the Middle Tennessee Medical Center and the 6,000-member World Outreach Church, which took the lead in marketing the event to its constituents. The game, which featured 15-second video spots of Blue Raiders players meeting with cancer survivors, is a great example of the NCAA’s emphasis on grassroots marketing. “Our strongest assets are our student-athletes, and the best marketing tools we have are coaches and players connecting with the community,” says Donohoe. “The question is, how do we build on those attributes to grow the game?”

For more information on new, fan-friendly ideas for marketing women’s basketball, check out this article from the Oct./Nov. 2007 issue of Athletic Management.

Kenny Berkowitz is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management.