The University of Kentucky women's basketball program hasn't had a winning season since 1999-2000, but the school is posting threefold gains at the gate for the team this year on the heels of a six-figure boost in its marketing dollars.
Average attendance for the Wildcats has increased to 5,197 fans per game through Jan. 18, compared with 1,694 last season. The team's season-ticket base now sits at 2,661, compared with just 140 last year.
What's the secret to UK's success? Athletic department officials point to the hiring of coach Mickie DeMoss and the increased marketing efforts around her and the team.
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| Ads like these appear on delivery trucks of University of Kentucky athletic department sponsor Pepsi. |
DeMoss had been the top assistant under legendary Tennessee coach
Pat Summitt for 18 seasons prior to going to Kentucky last March. With her hiring came $132,000 in additional marketing money for the program, said
Micheline Schott, UK assistant athletic director for marketing. Last year, the program's marketing budget was $35,000, she said.
Kentucky combined the extra marketing dollars with support from athletic department corporate sponsors such as Pepsi, McDonald's and Kroger. Using the help of local firm Cornett Advertising, UK was able to create a marketing campaign that includes billboards, banners, ads on local Pepsi delivery trucks, and television, radio and print ads.
Billboards promoting UK hoops feature DeMoss coaching and the slogan "DeMand. DeSire. DeMoss." or "DeCat. DeMoss." Banners replicating the billboards were hung throughout Kentucky's Commonwealth Stadium concourses, and larger-than-life photos of DeMoss were plastered on the inside of the stadium's suite elevators. Pepsi ads placed on the back of 28 Pepsi delivery trucks feature action photos of UK women's basketball players and phrases such as "Who Says Women Can't Drive?" and "Watch Us Weave Through Traffic."
Beyond publicizing DeMoss and the team, UK has partnered with McDonald's in a ticket-giveaway promotion where 200 ticket vouchers are distributed by each area McDonald's monthly. The vouchers are redeemable for admission to a game in the month in which the voucher was received. UK is running a similar promotion at area Shell gas stations, which partnered with Pepsi for its giveaway. Schott said the redemption rate on the vouchers is averaging 500 per game.
The department this year opted to decrease its season-ticket prices to $20 from $55 in hopes of increasing the number of season tickets purchased. Based on current sales figures, the move appears to have paid off. UK has made more than $53,000 in season-ticket sales this year; last year's take by comparison was only $7,700, Schott said.
"We had no idea what the response was going to be," Schott said. "We just wanted to put as much support behind it and be as creative as we could. ... My internal goal after seeing last season's number was [to average] about 3,000. If we did that, I thought we'd be doing pretty well. This is gangbusters."
ISLAND AFFAIRS: Conference USA Associate Commissioner John McNamara
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| McNamara |
is returning to campus administration with his acceptance of a newly created position as associate athletic director for external affairs at the University of Hawaii.
McNamara, who began his athletic administration career in the sports information office at Toledo, has been at C-USA since 1999. At Hawaii, he will be responsible for overseeing marketing, corporate development, television, sports information, licensing and merchandising for the department. The work will include marketing the university and its teams to Asia.
"After 13 years of working in conference offices, I felt compelled to return to campus and take on some new challenges," he said.
McNamara's prior conference work includes stints with the Western Athletic Conference and the Mid-American Conference. His official start date with Hawaii is Feb. 17.
Jennifer Lee can be reached at jlee@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
