Students suggest food, ads to promote games
October 4, 2018
AACC students said in September they would attend campus sports games if the college advertised them better and sold food during the events.
In a poll of 50 students, 30 said food would entice them to go to games, while 20 said they would like to see more advertisements about when and where the games take place.
Fourth-year graphic design student Daniel Nickerson said he would like to see more ads around campus. “If I’m at the college and I see, hey a sports game, I’d be likely to go to them,” he said. “I’ve actually gone to two or three of the games when I’ve seen them happening and if I’ve had some time.”
“Maybe if I saw more stuff around, like pictures or banners and stuff like that,” Savannah Nielsen, a first-year transfer studies student, said. “If I saw that a bunch of people were going, and if it were hyped up a lot, I think I would probably go.”
AACC Athletics Director Duane Herr said he plans to put out lawn games and other activities for fans during events.
“We’ll put out some cornholes [a bean bag game] and Kan Jams [a Frisbee game],” Herr said. “We’ll put them out around the stadium area, and around the facilities so people can be involved in that, while not just attending the game.”
Herr also said he hopes to connect with fans on a personal level.
“The reality of it is that you need to have a personal connection,” Herr said. “And even if you go to a major league sporting event, the stadium is built for the experience, not just the game. The game is just a sidebar of what’s happening. So, we’re trying to create an experience where someone can be involved in something that’s not as bad as it sounds. Just sitting there and watching the game … there is no personal investment.”
Third-year nursing student Sarah Davis suggested that the Athletics Department should advertise the games more aggressively.
A Campus Current poll showed this fall that students would fill the stands at home games if they could buy food during the events.
“I feel as though they have dozens upon dozens of posters and dull-looking flyers hanging around, but they don’t grasp the attention that the people who printed them intended,” she said. “For instance, the only reason I even knew that we have sports teams was because I got bored and started reading the posters. Not many people stop to do that because they don’t care enough. If they want more people to come acknowledge them … they need to be bolder in their approach.”
