brianstl Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?...ht&lid=tab1pos2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleacherBum593 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Agree that alot more could be done by the Billikens marketing department to draw in crowds. An area that also could help them is to look at some of the things that the more successful minor league baseball teams do to draw fans to the game. BTW - Has anyone received an email or letter regarding the ground breaking cermonies next week? As a season ticket holder, I thought I would be notified of it. But, nary a word has been received. Another opportunity lost by the Athletic Department to spread the "WORD". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I think the groundbreaking is by invite only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 One thing stands out: approximately 3,500 student ticket holders SLU doesn't have 35 student ticket holders. If you're out there, please make a fool out of me and show me 36... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I received my invitation several weeks ago. I think you had to be donor to the project - such buy a brick or give money. SLU does sell mini packages so this is nothing new. Marketing is funny - when it works then everybody says it is good but when it does not then everybody says you need to do more. I am reading a book - Tipping Points - that talks about advertising as one topic and in it the topic of "stickiness" is said to be the most important aspect of a successful ad. Trying to find that stickiness is what companies pay millions for and many never get it. SLU should conduct several marketing focus groups to find out what even comes close to giving them stickiness on the things that they do. This would tell them what to stop and what to increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I thought the student tix were free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I have the names of 235 student season ticket holders, but I probably shouldn't post their names on the internet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Cheese (Old School), does that matter? We have games when 35 students show up. That's it. 35. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. The more I read that article, the more I hate Brad Soderberg. He can bring in a D. Wade type player -- and that's all we would need. We'd get Nike apparel on campus, people to the arena, and national media exposure --- all of which we have NONE of. NONE. I'm happy for Marquette. They deserve it. They have a hard working coach who sold a mediocre program to Mr. Dwayne Wade and he reeled in millions of millions of dollars. Dwayne Polk has netted SLU tens of dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Come back when you get 3,265 more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 First off, I'm not defending the Billiken Marketing efforts, but what in that article was new? I think the only thing that I havent seen the Billikens do (or i missed it) is the "mini plan". Thats the only thing that they mentioned that marquette does that SLU doesnt. Also listed in the article as "special" things that marquette does: marquette madness... yep, SLU does that. Open practices and workouts....SLU does that A picnic for incoming freshmen... not enough detail here, incoming freshman players? the whole freshman class? I guess this could be done. Blue crew does a nice job getting the word out to the new students. A haloween party... SLU's players do a lot of community service that amount to the same thing. The big difference with Marquette in the past 10 years has been a string of winnning seasons. THAT gets people on the bandwagon, especially if its consistent. We get on a string like marquette has the past decade, then we're in the same boat and the added marketing efforts bring in the "gravy" fans. On the Groundbreaking subject...If SLU hasnt sent out invites to the season ticket holders, that is foolish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Ok, everything Marquette does SLU does, you're right, but times that by 50. There's no atmosphere for winning here. It's non-existent. If you can find it, tell me, because we might have to bring in a Haz-Mat team to clean it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 From that article you can tell that marquette does everything "times 50" compared to slu? You are not a Marquette alum, you don't attend games there on a regular basis there, how do you know? I'm not one to take shots at people that aren't warranted and based in fact. The fact is that SLU can, should and needs to win more, and that will generate the buzz and the "atmosphere for winning" of which you speak. And a question.. From someone three hours away, how can you tell Brad & his staff don't generate the "atmosphere for winning"? Who is he generating it for? His players? Us as fans? What constitutes an "atmosphere for winning"? I'd like a definition so we're all clear about it. Its a cute pithy phrase and sound bite, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Band...you're asking Metz to actually DISCUSS something in a an INTELLIGENT manner. Two things he has yet to do during his tenure at billikens.com. Good luck... I have no idea what a "winning atmosphere" is. I would assume that Coach knows he needs to win to keep his job and move up the ranks. I would also assume he tells his players that winning is better than losing. But maybe Metz has been reading too many VTime's posts and believe Soderberg is part of a conspiracy to scew SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Metz was at SLU for Brad's first three seasons and is back in the Lou for the upcoming season, so he only wasn't around last season, although he attended several home games. I did not feel like SLU had a very good atmosphere when it came to its athletics and overall school spirit. I am not here to place blame on anyone for this, but that is how it is. It seemed like every student at SLU had a team they rooted for more than SLU. The kids from Milwaukee seemed to cheer for Marquette and kids from Cincinnati cheered for the Bearcats or The Ohio State University and so on. School spirit at SLU is very low and I honestly don't know what needs to be done to change this, I know this is something that Brad has been intent on changing. Bottom line is that we need to win for students to start supporting the basketball team. Once we start winning we will see if fans and students start showing up to the games and if they don't we can look to place blame. Marquette does seem to have much more school spirit than SLU and anyone who has attended a game at Marquette can tell you that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleacherBum593 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Even if the ground breaking was by "invite" only, wouldn't it make sense to notify all of the season ticket holders????? As a former fundraiser in another life time, you never know where contributions are going to come from and to ignore those who already contribute thru season tickets, etc., just seems downright stupid (plug in your own adjective). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 You hit the nail on the head - for some reason, a lot of the students at SLU who are actually into sports never fully adopt the Billikens as their team, which really sucks. And kids from Marquette H.S. in Milwaukee and St. X. H.S. in Cincy seem to support and follow MU and XU, even when they don't go there, which is different from the SLUH kids. I used to get pretty upset at the guys in my fraternity who would rather sit around watching ESPN than go to an actual game. I used to think that school spirit is low because we tend to attract students who just don't care about sports in general, but that's really not the case. I've seen students at the big games cheering until their throats are sore, but for whatever reason, they only go to one or two games a year. I don't know how to address the spirit issue either, but one problem I see is that we do not hype our past accomplishments at all. A kid from outside of St. Louis who decides to go to SLU most likely knows nothing about our NCAA appearances in the 90's, Larry Hughes, the Miracle in Memphis, etc. It's not like Duke, where the damn Christian Laettner basket is still shown several thousand times a year, 15 years after it happened. There's no sense of tradition whatsoever. We may not have much, but hell, let's tout what we do have. We can't even get our last two NIT appearances added to the banner in the Savvis Center. I think the Blue Crew's efforts are helping, but without a winning program, any positive results will occur gradually and not immediately. If they can keep building on their efforts year after year, I think it will pay off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 "Marquette does seem to have much more school spirit than SLU and anyone who has attended a game at Marquette can tell you that." Yep, they sure do. But that is after a trip to the final four and a string of consistent winning seasons. Duing the build-up to that point, Marquette was in the same boat that SLU is currently in with poor student attendence. I saw plenty of school spirit at slu as a student during the Larry Hughes year and as a season ticket holder prior to my days as a student there were incredible amounts of "spirit" during the Waldman, Highmark Claggett NCAA years (remember the spoons across the greenspace in front of West Pine?). I agree with all of you...winning builds that momentum wave that marquette is riding now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Box and FGWL are both right: SLU's students are not into it at all. I don't know what can be done to reverse this trend, but I felt like one of the few students there who actually considered SLU my team. All of my friends from outside of St. Louis carried whatever team loyalties they had coming into school, and laughed when SLU lost. Most of my friends from St. Louis didn't really care that much to begin with, and many had other teams they just liked better. The Savvis Center has a more sterile environment than any other college arena I've been to. I've seen rowdier crowds at the Westminster Dog Show. While winning is the best cure to this, the marketing department could do more to manufacture some fan interest, both among the students and the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 how is 35 students showing up slu's fault when they make the tix very available to the students? you are barking at the wrong tree this time metzy. the students are to blame. that said, the blue crew people have tried a lot and worked very hard the last couple of years to change that. while school is in session, we have more than your belief of 35 students at games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Yeah, I agree with that Pistol. I do not get the impression that the athletic department does enough to spur student involvement and school spirit. This is a very marketable team with Lisch, Liddell, Meyer, Polk, and Maguire all being from the area and Knollmeyer is from relatively close. This is a team that St. Louis should be able to get behind and if they don't I think some blame needs to go to the marketing department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 we have a marketing department? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risky1 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I remember not to many years ago when Saint Louis University was in the top 10 average crowd of all college BB. Why? We had a winning team, there were plenty of weekend games, we played against mid-west teams, "H Clagmark" were exciting to watch, the St Louis media got behind the team and the St Louis population got behind the team. And there were still only a handful of students. What happened? We didn't win. We couldn't get decent days and times for the games. The Mid-west teams went to another league. The media jumped off in favor of the Rams. Even the radio broadcasts are on a station that is no longer the Sports Station of St Louis. The Savvis center was left to waste. And only a hundful of students attended. This year? The Band is better than ever. Seriously, the Band does more to entertain the fans than those stupid promotions we have had to endure the last couple years. The schedule is better in terms of who we play and when we play. Two great locals and a Pro will bring in some fans that will stick. Missouri is not even a factor this year and Illinois will have an off year. The Savvis center is being improved. The Rams and the Blues are both rebuilding. The quality of play will get media attention. St Louis sports fans will want to see a winning team (see reference on rams and Blues). And, still only a handful of students will attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Excellent post. Like you, I am very hopeful this year. If we put together a winning season, and not just barely over .500 ball, we could put some butts back in the seats. We have more in our favor this year than in the past several seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 >Box and FGWL are both right: SLU's students are not into it >at all. I don't know what can be done to reverse this >trend, but I felt like one of the few students there who >actually considered SLU my team. Agreed. >All of my friends from >outside of St. Louis carried whatever team loyalties they >had coming into school, and laughed when SLU lost. That is a big problem. The Cinci people root for XU or UC, the Milwaukee people root for the devil, i mean Marquette, and the guys from KC just think theyre way too cool for everyone. > >While winning is the best cure to this, the marketing >department could do more to manufacture some fan interest, >both among the students and the city. Might I suggest sending out an email announcing upcoming games/on game days? Last year, when playing UNC on ESPN2, 90% of my friends at school had no idea that game was going on. I wound up going to Humphreys with oh...10 other people. I mean its a nice effort to put a dry erase board out in front of the gym, but many people dont walk by there. Try email, try newsletters, try putting things around the coronado and lindell towers area. Come on. Get on the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Exactly- the effort was so minimal. A dry erase board outside West Pine? Sure, that helps because so many people walk by, but I'm sure they can think of something that requires more than 3 minutes of writing and 20 steps out the door. Hit the students from every angle. I used to get mass emails to my SLU inbox whenever some dumb high school band got a gig at the BSC or when some dumb sorority was trying to raise money in the quad, but I never saw one promoting basketball games. They could tie in additional promotions as well, and at least spark some added interest. The marketing department has so many resources at their disposal, and any half-ass marketing major could come up with ideas to get students interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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