NCAA “Pack the House” Initiative
Texas State Women’s Basketball vs. Stephen F. Austin State University
Thursday, January 31, 2008 @ 7:00 PM
Actual Attendance: 2,546 (largest in Texas State Women’s Basketball History)
Below is the marketing plan used to increase attendance for our “Pack the House” game.
Texas State had three big basketball games around the same time so these games were
promoted together to best utilize our basketball marketing budget.
Total Budget: $580
Balloons - $95
Printing - $100
T-Shirts - $280 (100 white t-shirts)
Ticket Donation - $105 (cost of printing tickets, not cost of ticket)
Target Groups:
Elementary Schools:
Since August the women’s basketball team visits the four local elementary
schools to read to them as part of their Bobcats & Books program. As a result a
great relationship was formed with the school district and principals of these
elementary schools. As a reward for the hard work the elementary school
students have done in the Bobcats and Books program a ticket donation was given
to participating students and their families who requested tickets to the “Pack the
House” game on January 31, 2008. By printing hard tickets and asking parents of
students to request the tickets before hand we saw a great redemption rate.
Appendix A – Sample letter from Principal sent home with students
Texas State received the following ticket requests:
Travis: 250 adult tickets
250 student tickets
Bowie: 350 Adult
364 Children
Crockett: 275 Adult
250 Children
DeZavala: 305 Adult
312 Children
Appendix B – Follow up letter sent to schools with tickets
Texas State Students
The two weeks leading up to the game Head Coach Suzanne Fox spoke to the
following student groups on campus about the game.
Inter-fraternity Council
Pan-Hellenic Council
All-Greek Council
Associated Student Government
Marketing/Advertising:
1. Direct E-Mail: Emails were sent to all students, faculty, staff, Bobcat Club
members and alumni leading up to the game. In addition, e-mails from the
Athletic Marketing and Promotions office were sent to the student-athletes, the
Department’s corporate partners and to student leaders at Texas State.
2. Fliers & Banners: Fliers and banners were placed all over campus and put into
student organizations mail boxes. Fliers were also placed on cars in the commuter
parking lots on campus.
3. Internet: News releases regarding the special promotions and the game preview
were released on the home page of txstatebobcats.com and a special index page
was placed on the website that fans must click through to get to the homepage.
a. Links to the news releases on txstatebobcats.com were placed on the
university’s website, txstate.edu, promoting the game.
b. An internet commercial was placed on txstatebobcats.com promoting the
upcoming games.
Appendix C – See flier, internet index page, and banner.
4. Marquee Advertising: The game was promoted on two, color marquees operated
by Texas State Department of Athletics and located at major entrances to the
university, as well as on the marquee and scrolling television operated by the LBJ
Student Center at Texas State University and located on the campus.
5. Grassroots Marketing: A popular San Marcos icon, known as the Dancing Man,
was hired to stand outside Strahan Coliseum on Thursday, January 31, 2008 to
attract attention by dancing and holding a sign reading “Game Tonight @ 7”. His
services are used for numerous other local businesses and he has become a
recognizable icon in the area.
6. Student-Athlete Support: We encourage all coaches and student-athletes to
support their fellow athletes by attending all games, but particularly this “Pack the
House” game. With over 300 student-athletes at Texas State, their presence helps
significantly increase attendance.
Game Atmosphere:
1. “White-Out”: Fans were encouraged to wear white to the game to “white-out”
Strahan Coliseum in order to make a statement on television. Fans were notified
of the “white-out” through press releases, e-mails and letters to the participating
elementary school students. The first 100 fans to arrive at Strahan Coliseum
received white Texas State shirts.
2. Fan Relations Booth: During the game a fan relations booth was set up to answer
fan questions and hand out information about other upcoming athletic events and
basketball camps and clinics.
3. Poster Station: A poster station was set-up on the concourse, with the local UPS
store, providing posters and markers for fans to make posters cheering for the
Bobcats at the game.
4. Wiggle Balloons: During halftime of the game white wiggle balloons were
distributed to the fans who were encouraged them to utilize the ballons while the
opposing team was shooting free throws.
5. Acme Bricks: Paper Acme “bricks” were distributed at the entrances of the
coliseum to fans. Utilizing the NCAA’s relationship with Acme Brick these
“bricks” were used as another incentive for fans that attended the game.
6. Video Scoreboard: New Daktronic video scoreboards were used to prompt fans to
cheer, dance, make noise and generally get excited about the “Pack the House”
game.
7. Disk Jockey: During the game we hosted a “D.J.” that played music during pregame, halftime and other select times during the game. The “D.J.” introduced a
fun element that related well to college students and fans in general. The
presence of the “D.J.” is a result of a relationship with a student organization
called the Hip-Hop Congress which promotes Texas State University through hiphop. This relationship has enabled Texas State Athletics to reach a different
audience and has included joint promotions, a music video that was used as the
Women’s basketball introduction video and a television commercial promoting
ticket sales.
APPENDIX A:
Parents,
For the past several months, the Texas State women’s basketball team has been
supporting DeZavala Elementary by volunteering on our campus. The Bobcats have read
in classrooms and worked one on one with individual students—promoting the
importance of reading. It has been a positive experience for our students and the athletes.
Now our school has an exciting opportunity to support the Texas State women’s
basketball team. On January 31st the women’s team plays Stephen F. Austin at Strahan
Coliseum on the campus of Texas State University in a game that will be televised live on
Fox Sports Southwest. The game begins 7:00 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum, and free tickets
are available to all DeZavala students and their family members. These tickets are
courtesy of Texas State.
In addition, all persons who present the top portion of this letter at the concession stand
on January 31st will receive a hot dog and a coke for only $3 (regularly $5).
If you are interested in attending the game, please complete the form below and return the
bottom portion of it to school by Friday, January 18th. Tickets will be sent home with
your child the day of the game.
Sincerely,
Dolores Cruz, Principal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------YES, we’re going to the Texas State basketball game!
We need tickets for _____ adults and _____ children.
Name of child attending DeZavala _________________________
Child’s classroom teacher ________________________________
Parent signature ________________________________________
APPENDIX B:
Dear Bobcat Fan,
We are excited that you have decided to join us for the Texas State Women’s basketball
game on January 31st @ 7:00 pm at Strahan Coliseum. This game will be a huge game
featuring concession discounts, high-energy basketball and chances to be on TV!
Now, to get ready for the game here is what we want you to do:
1. Hold on to the enclosed game tickets and get to the game early.
2. Come to the game wearing a White T-Shirt (preferably Texas State). We want
to white-out the stands and make a statement about Texas State and San Marcos.
3. Make a poster to showcase on TV! Show your support for the Bobcats and get
on TV. If you can’t make a poster at home when you get to the game the UPS
store will be hosting a “Poster Station” so you can make a sign.
4. Get Loud, Be Proud and have a GREAT time!
Remember to bring your ticket request letter with you to the game to receive a hot dog
and a coke for only $3 (regularly $6) courtesy of G&M Catering.
We know you will have a great time at the game. If you have a really good time and
want to come to more games we have an awesome mini-game pack that will get you in
the door for five of the best Texas State basketball games this season. To order go online
to www.txstatebobcats.com.
We’ll see you at Strahan!
Sincerely,
Bryan Miller
Director of Athletic Marketing & Promotions
Texas State Athletics
P.S. Be sure to check out these other great upcoming promotional nights.


Stuff Strahan, Bobcat Basketball Doubleheader - Saturday, Feb. 2nd – Starts @
2:00 PM
Texas State Men’s Hoops vs. Lamar – Saturday, Feb. 16th @ 4:00 pm on Fox
Sports Southwest
APPENDIX C:
Internet index page and flier:
Additional flier and banner: