While improving the Univ. of Colorado athletic department's image "relies partly on the football team winning games this season, many experts say the Boulder campus could be doing more to shape the public's perception," according to Sarah Kuta of the Boulder DAILY CAMERA. New CU AD Rick George said that he "plans to mill around at tailgates before every home game this season to hear how fans feel about everything from the game-day experience to the team's performance on the field." George said, "I'm very comfortable making decisions, but I like to get input. I like to hear what people are saying. Having that input on how they feel about things is vitally important at all levels." George said that he "hopes to outline a strategic plan for the Athletic Department, which will include a marketing plan," by April. George, after less than two weeks on the job, said that he "couldn't provide specific plans for improving Colorado's image, but he knows he and the department's marketing team will have to get 'creative.'" CU last year spent around $1.1M on marketing and promotions, which is "comparable to fellow Pac-12 schools Arizona State and Washington." CU Associate AD/External Affairs & CMO Matt Biggers said, "Honestly, our brand is very strong. The CU brand nationally is very strong. It's very easy for that to sometimes maybe get overshadowed because football is so prominent and gets a lot of the attention." CU last year as a 1-11 football program brought in $28M, "almost seven times more" than the $4.7M brought in by the 21-12 men's basketball team (Boulder DAILY CAMERA, 8/25).
