UNCG Athletics
ISP
Here is the main quote from both articles ...
"With the partnership, ISP will work with the Department of Athletics’ staff
to market a variety of corporate sponsorship opportunities involving Spartan
Athletics, including live play-by-play game radio broadcasts and call-in shows,
various athletic department publications, signage in on-campus facilities,
corporate hospitality events and the official website of the department,
www.uncgspartans.com. "
I have not been a huge fan of the way that UNCG has marketed its basketball program. I love that UNCG has realized that they need help and partnered with ISP. ISP is the same company that partnered with UCLA and then proceeded to call out USC in the LA Times. That's the kind of "moxie" that I hope they bring to UNCG. There's a reason why this company has athletics departments teaming up with them in huge numbers. Hopefully, being located in the triad will give them a unique perspective on this market and how to attack our problems.
I think it's ridiculous that I live 30 miles away from campus and can't hear a Spartan basketball game on the radio. Meanwhile, I can easily find an App State or High Point game. ISP is going to have to use it's connections to fix this problem. There needs to be a UNCG flagship station with a strong signal, or maybe more than one station carrying the games. Part of the reason for this problem is market demand. Radio stations make decisions based on their bottom line. Whatever station Spartan games end up on, it's up to us fans to tune in, send appreciative emails and do business with its sponsors. I think that last one is true for all aspects of UNCG athletics not just radio broadcasts. Fans need to show their patronage to companies that financially support athletics.
Moving into the Greensboro Coliseum means that there will now be a lot of extra seats to fill. Putting the meager 1,300 people that UNCG is currently drawing into the ~7,600 seats will look just plain dumb. The draw has got to be bigger. UNCG has to reach out to more of the alumni living in the triad or within driving distance. If you were to take a census of the crowd at Fleming Gym for a basketball game, I think you'd find that a large majority are students. This is to be expected. But I think the second largest group would be alumni/fans over the age of 40. It's important to get the group of alumni that fall in between those 2 groups involved and interested in what's going on with the university (and it's basketball program). Those people might not buy season tickets, but may come to 3 or 4 games. Those people might start talking about UNCG basketball in their offices or with their friends. Those people might skip watching an ACC game on ESPN to catch a Spartans game on FSN. This is going to be a several year process, and I think that UNCG is missing a huge opportunity with that group of potential fans. I can't say that I've got any brilliant ideas on how to get them involved. I'll leave that to the people that get paid to make that happen.
I'm not sure if ISP can make any changes to the problems listed. I have no idea what they have in mind for UNCG. I'd like to think that they see some of the same things. However, I feel better having them involved in our basketball program.
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