By Kenny Berkowitz

Kenny Berkowitz is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: kb@MomentumMedia.com.

Nose guards aren't usually household names, especially when they are sophomores with only two starts under their belts. But Budd Thacker became one of Florida State University's most well-known football players last summer when he won the team's Strength & Skills Challenge during a special fan appreciation day.

With smoke machines churning and music from the movie Superman blaring, Thacker power cleaned 385 pounds, then to the amazement of the crowd, executed a press. As he slammed the weights back to the floor, he was mobbed by teammates and the audience of 7,000 cheered loudly. When FSU put a video clip of Thacker's lift on its Web site, it spread like wildfire, eventually becoming a YouTube phenomenon and making the football player a local legend.

Along with being a lot of fun, the promotion highlights the two most important elements in marketing college football today: allowing people to connect personally with the team and using new media. For other schools, that strategy has lead to coming up with a special slogan for the season, turning spring practice into a reality show, personalizing direct mail, and revamping the spring game.

HERE & NOW
At Texas Christian University, making personal connections means getting into people's faces, both literally and figuratively. To market the upcoming season, TCU put its aspirations into a slogan "Next Season Is Now," with the kicker "Get With The Program." It then launched a special Web site (nextseasonisnow.com) in April to promote the idea.

To drive the message home, the school produced five posters featuring aggressive and extremely tight close-ups of the team's stars next to slogans like "Off-seasons are for pansies" and "The pigskins are in bloom." For added effect, linebacker Jason Phillips reopened a scar during his photo shoot, leaving a trail of blood running across his face.

At the same time, TCU wanted to connect to its past, so it is also promoting the team's storied history, including the 70th anniversary of the squad's undefeated 1938 season, on the Web site. One section celebrates 112 years of Horned Frog football, while another features the 1938 "Season of Perfection," including a photo of the team in its leather-helmeted glory, a long list of on-field achievements, and a link to "When the Frogs Were Princes," a 1981 Sports Illustrated article written by TCU alum Dan Jenkins.

Eleven days before the spring game, marketers launched the site, sent an e-mail blast to its fan database, and began distributing the posters around campus. Within two weeks, the site received more than 5,000 hits.

"There was a lot of buzz in the community and on campus," says Jason Byrne, Director of Athletics Marketing. "Casual fans were surprised to see the history and tradition of the program, and steady fans were glad to come on board with a new sense of urgency about the coming season. Combine that with a striking new way of depicting our student-athletes in these photos and we had a good month of energy, excitement, and awareness."

Each page on the site includes the slogan and a link back to the department site, where fans can find season ticket information, seating charts, driving directions to the stadium, and telephone numbers for customer service. Fans can also download the posters through the Web site. Over the summer and fall, TCU plans to keep adding content to the site, and during the season it hopes to bring the surviving members of the 1938 team to campus for a homecoming celebration at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

"In this market, where we battle with so many other sports entities, it was important for us to try a different approach," says Byrne. "The 70th anniversary presented itself as the perfect tie-in to talk about the achievements of this program and remain loyal to our brand."

THEIR REALITY
The University of Maryland is providing its fans a very close look at its football team by tapping into television's most popular genre. In 2007, it launched, "Terrapins Rising," becoming the first major college football program to host its own behind-the-scenes reality show. The series is sponsored by Under Armour and broadcast on Comcast SportsNet.

"It's a unique opportunity to get exposure for our team," says Brett Tillett, Director of Athletics Marketing. "The student-athletes in this program work hard on the field, in the weightroom, and in the classroom, and that's what 'Terrapins Rising' is all about. It conveys that Coach [Ralph] Friedgen isn't just committed to football, he's committed to a complete education for our student-athletes. That's the brand we want this program to convey, showcasing not only the team but the entire university."

The 10-episode series begins with the start of spring practice and ends with the annual Red-White game. In between, viewers follow walk-on athletes attempting to make the team, veterans entering their last season, and position players competing for starting spots. Marketers in the department suggest some of the storylines, while others are discovered along the way by the filmmakers, who are given complete access to shoot both on and off the field.

"We couldn't do this series if we didn't trust the producer, who has the best interests of our program at heart," says Tillett. "That's what allows him to go in-depth day after day, keeping his eyes and ears open, and following the rollercoaster of spring football.

"Great reality TV begins with finding storylines that resonate emotionally with your fans and show people the truth," he continues. "What makes 'Terrapins Rising' different from an everyday highlight reel or a coach's show is that it doesn't just show the successes--it shows the real-life struggles of players, some of whom aren't going to make the cut."

Maryland promotes the series, which airs weekly over the summer, with e-mail reminders to fans, teaser videos on the department Web site, radio spots, and print ads. After its broadcast premier, the shows are also available on the Terrapins' Web site.

For this year's television season, Maryland is expanding efforts to use the shows to spur ticket sales. At the bottom of the screen, they've added banners with sales pitches, interactive watch-and-win promotions, and text-to-win contests for Terps merchandise.

"We learned a lot in our first year about using the show as a platform for our advertising," says Tillett. "Without making it feel like an infomercial, we want to remind fans that tickets are on sale. Showcasing our program on television is an incredible opportunity, and we want to take advantage of it.

"The keys to succeeding with a program like this are understanding what your coaches and administrators are comfortable with and balancing the show to create a true, realistic portrayal of your program," he adds. "If you're trying to generate excitement for your team, you can't beat a half hour of prime time television."

VERY DIRECT MAILING
While showing the personal side of the team is a great way to connect with fans, getting personal with fans is another. That strategy has worked for the University of Alabama in two of its most recent campaigns.

In December 2006, Alabama sent each of its football season ticket holders a postcard of Bryant-Denny Stadium. On the front was a photo of the marching band spelling their name on the field, and on the back were instructions for renewing their seats online. Then, once they renewed, ticket holders were sent a link where they could buy a poster-sized version of the personalized photograph.

"It worked well," says Brenda Vaughn, Director of Tide Pride, the athletic department's donor program. "Our renewal rate was higher than the year before, and a lot of fans thought it was really neat to get a print of the personalized photo. So when we started the A+ Incentive Program to build our scholarship endowment, we tried it again."

In the second campaign, conducted from September 2007 through January 2008, Alabama fans received a postcard with a photo of Head Coach Nick Saban writing their name on a chalk board. Again, the strategy worked, leading fans to join the A+ program online.

Vaughn and her team spent a couple months planning the direct mail campaign, with the bulk of the work done by an outside print and marketing agency, which generated the specialized images from multiple photographs of the marching band in different formations at Bryant Denny Stadium and then manipulated them with graphics editing software. "We wanted all the details of gameday to look right, so that people would feel they were really part of the action," says Vaughn. "And we wanted a classy piece that fans would be proud to hang on their walls--something that would accurately represent our brand and broadcast the Alabama name everywhere. We felt the best way to do this was with a personal approach."

The programs also did a great job of getting fans to pay online. "We wanted to create incentives to encourage people to make their contributions through the Internet," says Vaughn. "This way, fans save themselves the time it takes to write a check, put it in an envelope, and drop it in the mail. They save the department the time it takes to input this information into a computer and send back a confirmation letter. We wanted to reward people for paying on the Internet because it's a lot faster and a lot less work for both sides."

OPENING THE DOOR
In 2006, the University of Arkansas was able to draw 24,000 fans to its spring football game. This year, with a change in strategy, the department drew 65,000.

"For the first time, we really used the game to reach out to our entire fan base," says Matt Shanklin, Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Licensing. "Tickets were free and there were six hours of entertainment before kick-off. This opened the door to fans who don't generally come to our games and whose exposure to our program comes primarily through radio and television.

"It was a huge success," continues Shanklin. "Any time you can bring people into your facility, treat them well, and encourage them to come back, your program will see a big benefit."

One of the keys to the event was partnering with Champions for Kids, a local group that works with charitable organizations to benefit children in the area. The group took charge of organizing the family-friendly RazorFest, which included a pep rally, live music, games, fun zones, NASCAR simulators, giveaways, autograph signings, ESPN-style interviews with former Razorbacks, and a seven-on-seven flag football tournament.

The addition of RazorFest drew kids, families, and community members. It also allowed Arkansas greater access to corporate sponsorships in the community, including support from Coca-Cola, General Mills, Huggies, Old Spice, Radio Disney, Totino's, Tyson, Wal-Mart, and Zyrtec. "Champions for Kids has been great at tapping into charitable funds in the community," says Shanklin. "From the moment a sponsor like EAS or General Mills puts its name on an event, we know they're going to run full bore to make it the best they can. And with others handling the entertainment, it frees the athletic department to concentrate on the football game itself. That makes it a win-win-win for the department, our community, and our fans.

"In our business we sometimes get too caught up in wanting to control everything we do," he continues. "With RazorFest, everything was coordinated by the athletic department, but allowing these local groups to take ownership of their specific parts of the event got more people involved in volunteering, organizing, and spreading the word. It turned RazorFest into an event for the whole community."

To draw its most loyal fans, Arkansas also turned what had been an annual scrimmage into a true game. "Instead of holding a glorified practice as we had in the past, we treated this just like an October game from day one," says Shanklin. "We had the band, video board, and live radio and television broadcasts--all the pomp and circumstance that told our fans, 'This is a real game and you need to be here.'"

Athletic donors were invited to the south end zone for a special event called Tailgate at the Top, which was hosted by the athletic director. To expand support on campus, faculty members were welcomed inside the east clubhouse, where their families were served free hotdogs, potato chips, and soft drinks.

Although both RazorFest and the Red-White game were free, the athletic department grossed about $160,000 from rentals, sponsorships, and concessions, turning the event into a money-maker. "Most important, we were able to thank our donors and use this game to reach out to the community," says Shanklin.

A NEW HERO
At Florida State, Thacker's rise to stardom was the end result of giving fans an insider's view of the team through a special strength competition during its annual Fan Day in August. Players competed in the bench press, power clean, and vertical jump, complete with an announcer and all the choreography of a WWE event.

When it was Thacker's turn in the power clean competition, the announcer introduced him as "one of the most intense members of this football team." Thacker paced the floor, easily cleaned 365 pounds, grabbed the mic, and called for 385 pounds. He chalked up his hands, pounded his head, executed the clean, and finished with a press.

"The crowd went completely nuts," says Jason Dennard, Director of Athletics Marketing. "I've never seen anything like it. We wanted to give fans the opportunity to see a different side of the college football athlete, where they could experience personalities and the emotion.

"Then it turned out to be a huge YouTube phenomenon," continues Dennard. "After Fan Day, the message boards around here were lit up for weeks with people talking about the show, and Budd has become a kind of legendary figure. Because of this two-minute video, everybody knows who he is."

The video continues to draw fans to FSU's on-demand site, and for 2008, Dennard is creating an even more dramatic storyline for the competition, which will include a new emphasis on fan interaction, crowd participation, and broader Internet coverage. It's all part of the department's focus on new media as a cost-effective way to connect fans to the program.

On its site, the department offers breaking news about the team, a weekly newsletter, free downloadable wallpapers, video of the ongoing construction at Doak Campbell Stadium, streamed call-in radio shows with Head Coach Bobby Bowden, and on-demand game video. FSU also partners with Sun Sports for the cable television show "Under the Lights," which follows three players through the spring football season, with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to players and coaches.

"The greatest advantage of using new media is speed," Dennard says. "People are always looking for something newer, quicker, and better, and using the Internet will deliver your message faster than ever before. We can take something that happened this afternoon and put it on our fans' desktops within a matter of minutes."