Xavier UniversityMasters Sports Management Program

PR and Communication in SportSpring 2010

Traditional Media

Traditional Media

3 Main Promotions to achieve goal:

I. Passing Out Flyers at the OHSAA Girls Basketball Draw

II. Fountain Square EventIII. Passing Out Flyers at the

Women’s GamesIV. Future Ideas

Goal: To raise awareness of the 2010 and 2011 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament being played at Cintas Center. The increased awareness would lead to an expected higher ticket sales for the events for Xavier University.

Traditional Media

Passing Out Flyers at the OHSAA Girls Basketball

Draw

Execution2010 State Tournament Draw at Princeton HS Division I (34 teams)Amelia Little Miami Princeton Anderson Loveland Seton Colerain Mason St. Ursula FairfieldMcAuley Sycamore Glen Este Middletown TurpinHamilton Milford Ursuline Harrison Mercy Walnut Hills Hughes Mt. Healthy Western Brown Kings Western Hi Lakota East Northwest Winton Woods Mt. Notre DameLakota West Oak Hills WithrowWoodward

Division II (12 teams)Aiken New Richmond McNicholas Norwood Bethel TateRossFinneytown SCPA Goshen TaylorIndian Hill Wyoming

Division III (19 teams)CHCA Badin Clark Montessori Batavia Deer Park Georgetown Blanchester Madeira Mariemont CNENCH East Clinton Purcell Marian Fayetteville Perry Reading Shroder Roger Bacon Taft Ripley

Division IV (14 teams)CCD Felicity Lockland Cincinnati Christian Miami ValleyMVCA Emmanuel Christian Seven Hill New Miami St. BernardSoutheastern Middletown ChristianWilliamsburg Summit Country Day

ExecutionDear Fellow AD’s,

My name is Greg Ross and I am the Associate Athletic Director at Cincinnati Country Day School. I am currently working on my Masters at Xavier University in Sport Administration and I am enrolled in a Public Relations and Communications Course this semester. In that class we are working on promoting the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament First & Second Round Games at Cintas Center on the Campus of Xavier University. The dates of the games are March 21 & 23.

It should be an exciting two days of Basketball!!!

Please distribute the attached flyer to your high school and junior high basketball coaches, players, and parents and anyone else you think might be interested

Yours in Sports,

Greg RossAssociate Director of AthleticsCincinnati Country Day

ExecutionDear Basketball Tournament Managers,

My name is Greg Ross and I am the Associate Athletic Director at Cincinnati Country Day School. I am currently working on my Masters at Xavier University in Sport Administration and I am enrolled in a Public Relations and Communications Course this semester. In that class we are working on promoting the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament First & Second Round Games at Cintas Center on the Campus of Xavier University. The dates of the games are March 21 & 23.

It should be an exciting two days of Basketball!!!

Please distribute the attached flyer at the entrance gate of your sectional and district tournament games.

Yours in Sports,

Greg RossAssociate Director of AthleticsCincinnati Country Day

Division I Harrison - Mike Schiering, Mgr., Division I Lakota East - Richard Bryant, Mgr., Division I Kings - Matt Koenig, Mgr., Division II Withrow - Dave Dierker, Mgr., Division II Springboro - Troy Holtrey, Mgr., Division III Fairfield - Mark Harden, Mgr., Division III Wilmington - Jeff Stevenson, Mgr., Division IV Monroe - Dave Bauer, Mgr.,

ExecutionSHOW ME THE NUMBERSTournament DrawDivision I = 34 Division II = 12 Division III = 19 Division IV = 14Total # of Schools in attendance = 79 Total # of Teams at each school = 3-4 275 Total Teams x10-12 players on each team plus 2 coaches

Approximately 3600 basketball enthusiasts might have seen our flyer

Email Blast to Athletic Directors275 Athletic Directors received my email blast. Hopefully they forwarded on to their basketball coaches, players, parents, fans.

Tournament Managers8 sites hosted approximately 10 games each over 3 days. The flyers were at the entrance gate at each site. That is a lot of fans who could have possibly received our flyer about the NCAA games.

SWOADA Contacts• President SWOADA (2009-2011)

Mr. MATTHEW R. SHOMPERAthletic DirectorTippecanoe High School615 E. Kessler-Cowlesville Rd.Tipp City, OH 45371(937) 669-6364

• mshomper@tippcity.k.12.oh.us

• SCOTT KAUFMANAthletic Director Princeton High School11080 Chester RoadCincinnati, OH 45246W: 513-552-8297F: 513-552-8301skaufman@princeton.k12.oh.us

Matt Shomper is your contact to send information out to all Athletic Directors in Southwest Ohio. Approximately 275 schools are located in Southwest Ohio. 

Scott Kaufman is your contact for the Southwest Ohio Girls Basketball Tournament Draw. Princeton HS is the host for the draw where Scott is the Athletic Director

Advice for Future Draw Meeting

• Ask to address the whole assembly or have speaker explain what was being passed out at the doors

• Visit www.swdab.org for information about meeting date and time (usually held at Princeton High School)

• On handouts have links to Social Media sites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Conclusion

• The event is tough to determine direct impact due to the complexities of tracking

• Reached a number of coaches and they were very receptive to the promotion

• Widening the footprint of the promotion• Vertical expansion with youth basketball• Earlier activation, conference meetings?

Traditional Media

Fountain Square Event

Execution• Fountain Square

– Great Location, Potentially a Lot of Exposure, Last day of Ice Rink

• Weather is a Factor– This Year Rainy, Cold

• Piggybacking off Athletic Department– This provided less work

for us, but possibly less return as well

Conclusion• More promotions including emails,

flyers, posters, social media (create group, blog, fan page)

• Could have more “hands on” games• Promoted the players presence at

the event more• The athletic department could make

this a once a year event with the men’s and women’s team– Promote this year round– Send out promotions to season

ticket holders– Announce it at all the men’s and

women’s games– Get a local restaurant to sponsor

food

Traditional Media

Passing Out Flyers at the Women’s Basketball Game•Attend the Women’s Basketball game on 2/20/10 between Xavier and Massachusetts.

•Game is likely to be highly attended due to Breast Cancer Awareness promotion.

•Pass out flyers to fans as they enter the Cintas Center informing them of the tournament games.

•Women’s basketball fans are likely to want to see Xavier compete in the NCAA Tournament.

Execution• Several volunteers from the

group handed out Ticket Order Forms and “Save The Date” postcards to fans as they entered the Cintas Center at all entrances.

Pros• Entrances are located next to

Ticket Office so interested fans could purchase tickets easily.

• Information on handouts was straightforward.

Cons• Quick pitch can sometimes be

easily forgotten or ignored.• No place for people to ask

follow-up questions after game had started.

Conclusion

• The event could be deemed both a success and failure.

• A good number of people who weren’t previously aware were reached with good information, but obviously more and more diverse people can always be reached with more manpower.

Future Ideas• Spend some time working out a quick, efficient pitch for the group

so that interest can be piqued in the short time we have their attention.

• A focus on women’s basketball games may not be most effective outlet since women’s basketball fans are more likely to be aware of the NCAA Tournament at the Cintas Center.

• Instead, targeting men’s basketball fans may reach a new audience who do not normally attend women’s games. The last men’s home game of the regular season should also be included.

• People who were missed on the way in may not be targeted at all. Having 2 people stationed at a booth during the game, perhaps near the concession stands.

• If it could be arranged, even having the chance to make an announcement at halftime could make a significant impact.

New ideas• New publics:

– Young professionals– Parents with school-aged children – Local community members

New Ideas

• Promotion:– Posters and promotion in local bars, restaurants,

coffee shops– Utilize local community papers, blogs, websites– Send information to local schools—beyond

basketball teams. If there are pregame games/events, promote in communication.

– Host an event for young professionals (at Ryan’s?) and team up with social media to promote event