Over the past four months, I have been chatting with hundreds of Athletic Directors to better understand the challenges they face and the goals they continually strive towards. The answer tends to be universal: engage more students surrounding sporting events.
Nothing motivates a team better than a bleacher full of cheering fans – so here are three tactics that might help fill those bleachers for your next game.
Connect Student Leadership
Departments sometimes get stuck within their own silos and forget the leverage collaboration can have. Connect with the Activities Director or leadership advisor at your school and see if there are any students in their program that may be interested in increasing awareness of upcoming games.
These students tend to already have a strong positive reputation amongst their peers due to their involvement in activities. Getting them on board as supporters of athletics will go a long way in driving attendance.
Rock More SWAG
It doesn’t need to be Spirit Day for you and your athletes to rock swag. Encourage athletes to wear their jerseys to school during the week of a game to catch everyone’s eye.
Pride starts with you, and when the rest of your community sees jerseys proudly worn, the will be reminded of the upcoming game and may even seek out some swag of their own to show support. Of course, this can lead to incentivizing attendance with swag giveaways at your events.
Become a MingaSchool
Increasing engagement is what we do! Athletic Directors from across the country have leveraged their MingaSchool as a way to keep all team communication in one place and to create more awareness within the school on upcoming games.
Building a successful fan base can take time, but it’s important to remind yourself just like the hundreds of Athletic Directors I’ve spoken with, you are not alone! Keep up the good work, and if you have any ideas that have proven to be a home run for your school, share them with us in the comments below!
