Athletic Department to launch student loyalty program

Submitted by Quail2theVict0r on

http://annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-athletics-is/

 

 

The University of Michigan Athletic Department is in the beginning stages of developing a student loyalty program. David Ablauf, associate athletic director for media and public relations, confirmed that the athletic department is "exploring a student loyalty program" but said that officials "haven’t finalized a model for the program" or set a launch date. Loyalty programs are designed to boost attendance at athletic events by offering students incentives —usually in the form of priority seating at football and basketball games— to go to games early or attend low-traffic events. A recent U-M job posting for an assistant director of marketing position notes that athletics is establishing "a best in class student loyalty program" and that the employee would be responsible for overseeing the launch, "develop[ing] student profiles, rewards and redemption" and "develop[ing] strategies to increase student loyalty acquisition and engagement." Ablauf declined to comment further on the loyalty program, saying "we haven't finalized a program and the details yet."

Lionsfan

May 29th, 2012 at 7:55 AM ^

I can see this going both ways. On the one hand it could make students show up on time. On the other hand it could cut people just because they didn't attend enough Women's Volleyball matches

Quail2theVict0r

May 29th, 2012 at 8:00 AM ^

I can't imagine too many students would benefit from going to women's volleyball matches. And heck, if there's some student out there that wants to sit through tons of less-than-exciting sports to build up their Michigan Loyalty points - then I say, all the more power to them. There's probably less than 500 total students who'd really benifit from "other sports" outside of football, hockey and basketball.

Quail2theVict0r

May 29th, 2012 at 12:44 PM ^

I think my original post was taken out of context. By "won't benifit that much from other sports" I meant that I don't think you'd see 10,000 freshman jump to the top of the "loyalty list" because they went to every wrestling, women's soccer and track & field event. Depending on how they do it, the few games from any other sport here or there that a student attends wouldn't impact their loyalty that much. My point was that there are few people, let alone students, who attend entire season's of a sport outside of football, basketball and hockey. And because there are so few I wouldn't expect to see a huge number of people jumping someone's who's just a loyal football fan, who doesn't attend anything else, because of it.

Bando Calrissian

May 29th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^

I know this will sound ridiculous, but as someone who went to most of the volleyball games for all four years of school, the atmosphere at Cliff Keen rivals Yost.  It's a fun sport to get into, a program that has made some serious strides to be a national power, and something that doesn't take a lot of time to attend.  

TorturedClassof11

May 29th, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^

While I don't think you can compare it to Yost, volleyball does have a pretty raucous, dedicated following.  Big matches are regularly sold out, there is a student fan section complete with custom t-shirts and volleyball-specific chants, and usually a pep band at most matches.

Not to mention volleyball is very much a spectator sport for approx. 50% of the population.

South Bend Wolverine

May 29th, 2012 at 12:51 PM ^

Definitely fun to attend, but I'm going to call "myth" on the Yost comparison.  The first volleyball game I went to, a friend hyped it up to me in exactly those terms, and I was pretty disappointed when I got there.  This isn't a knock on the volleyball crowd - they do a great job and really keep the energy level up.  It's just a fact of life that Yost is one of the best venues to watch any athletic event at in the entire country.

LSAClassOf2000

May 29th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^

If you build the right benefits into the program, of course, then I would think that the resultant jump in attendance at a volleyball game (or another non-revenue sporting event) might be sizeable enough to achieve what David Brandon said he would like to see.

Per the article, Brandon is looking to increase attendance at non-revenue sports 10% all around, so they might want to consider something akin to Penn State's program by incentivizing attendance at these events with guaranteed (or even free) football tickets to top points earners, or perhaps give people their choice for different packages of tickets to the revenue events depending on the points earned.

There could even be some sort of scale which gives so many points per event, with points for attendance at revenue sports being the lowest as they are normally well-attended. I imagine that it could be done in such a way that a given person would be able to attend a good mix of events and not become a fixture at a single one in order to get points, although I could see people attempting to do that very thing.  

I actually like this idea - I think there should be rewards for being a loyal supporter of Michigan athletics across the varsity sports.

MGoAndy

May 29th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^

If you're not going to volleyball games you're seriously missing out. The game is fast-paced and exciting, you get to watch from mere feet away, and we have some of the most talented ladies in the country on our team. Plus the Friday night games are almost always done by 8:30/9, so your evening plans wouldn't at all be damaged. 

Mr. Yost

May 29th, 2012 at 8:17 AM ^

If the do it right, it'll work just fine. Most schools do this, and it's a good way to help attendance in your smaller sports.

I used to work at the University of Maryland and they have a GREAT student loyalty program. They usually get a very solid crowd to indoor sports like women's basketball and gymnastics in part because of the program.

It's simple, if you want to see the Terps take on Duke or Carolina...you better be at the UVA Women's Soccer game.

There are a few things Michigan needs to make sure they do:

  1. Scan student IDs before the game and in the 2nd half...otherwise you'll get a line of students that line up before the game to get their IDs scanned and they'll walk right back to their dorms.
  2. Give a basic number of "points" for games, but then have "double points" or award more points for the bigger games for your smaller sports. This avoids spreading your student crowd too thin...you want to have big crowds for the big games, if volleyball vs. OSU or PSU is the same as volleyball vs. Ferris St., you may lose some people.
  3. Awards "bonus points" for "student craziness"...it's one thing to just show up, and that's fine...but if you create an atmosphere and go nuts, you may be awarded additional points.
  4. Keep it light, keep the students involved with the rules and overall process. Best way to stay in touch and make sure the program is working.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 29th, 2012 at 11:04 AM ^

It might be better to set up bins by the exits, not til the fourth quarter or so, where students can drop their tickets (or something else that is given to them with the ticket package), and the tickets can be scanned later as proof they were there at the end of the game.

1464

May 29th, 2012 at 11:19 AM ^

Are you married?  If so, you gauge craziness each day.  You don't even have to do it in person. 

Place a simple phone call right before you are leaving work.  Assign a point value according to how high her blood pressure sounds.  On a scale of 1-10, it will generally be above a 5.  That point value is what time you leave work, just tell her you have a ton of stuff to catch up on.  It even works for an 11 or 12 out of ten.  Get your ass home before lunch or she's burning your shit on the lawn...

I am married to an OSU grad though, so maybe this isn't everybody...

Mr. Yost

May 29th, 2012 at 8:03 PM ^

You don't need to swipe a 2nd time at football, basketball or hockey games...

...I was talking about games where kids are only attending so they can get points for the football, basketball and hockey. Softball, women's basketball, etc. That's not 20k, that's more like 20-200.

As for the "craziness" comment...I don't mean you have some meter or judge that goes around.

What I mean is that you use your marketing staff to pick a "fan of the game" or "fans of the game"...

There will be plenty of students who are wild at a particular game and get nothing, but if they keep showing up, eventually they may get extra points...Maryland does this. Now they have your die hards showing up to Maryland women's basketball games with their stomachs painted so they can get more points so they can see the Terps play Duke.

I imagine those some kids are running to Jo-Ann's right now to get some red material to make their lobster costumes.

M-Wolverine

May 29th, 2012 at 8:32 AM ^

If you want to show loyalty to the program over pesonal activities, you should get some perks. If you have better things to do, you don't really deserve the perks.

But I always am amused by marketing hubris and how much they think they change things:

 

According to MSU, the program has boosted game attendance from a few dozen students in the mid-1990s to more than 3,000 students nowadays.

I'm sure it was the loyalty program and had nothing to do with going from a middle of the pack Big Ten team to the premiere program in the conference under Izzo.  

rosedani

May 29th, 2012 at 9:55 AM ^

As a graduating senior next year I am very bummed I will be missing out on this when it's implemented. This will be awesome. I remember around finals week I received a survey from the marketing dpt and they asked a bunch of question regarding a rewards program like this. There were all kinds of questions from what would be good prizes (cars(!), free tickets, etc.) to which events have you attened recently. Hopefully they do their homework and figure out a good program.

 

One thing i think they will need to figure out though is priority seating especially at the Big House and Yost. Trying to tell thousands/hundreds of drunk students they have to sit in a certain seat on gameday will not be the easiest task.

mgoblue No.1

May 29th, 2012 at 10:25 AM ^

I like the idea....at another school (I believe it was Xavier, but I may be wrong) they have this, but they occasionaly take a few (highest points) students with the team to away games (I think it was for Men's Basketball, so it would actually be really cool)

JimBobTressel

May 29th, 2012 at 10:26 AM ^

Isn't this what brian wanted, exactly? Good to see it. maybe now stands won't be 40% empty on noon kickoffs

MGoBender

May 29th, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^

You can't think of it as punishing those that do not attend softball or volleyball or soccer.  It's rewarding those that do.

As someone said, we're talking a small population here - maybe 500 - that will attend those sports and be rewarded as a result.  Joe-Schmo who only goes to football games won't be affected unless:

 

A: He thinks he has a right to the front row, which might now be reserved for those who score well in the program.

B: He doesn't show up to his football games on time/early.

 

It's win, win.  The only guy that loses is the frat Brah and sorority chick who would rather down another two beers than get to the game on time.  Those people deserve to lose out.

MGoBender

May 29th, 2012 at 2:40 PM ^

Sorry, but it primarily is greeks.  Not completely, for sure.  I always had to drag my non-greek friends away from a tailgate before they wanted, so you have a point.  However, as they say, stereotypes exist for a reason and one bad apple will spoil the bunch. 

One more anecdotal point: Whenever I had someone come into the stadium in the second quarter and demand "their seats," it was always a greek student.

I'm sorry that the stereotype falsely identifies you, but it is what it is.  I was in EECS and I don't deny the severe lack of boobs on North Campus.

dahblue

May 29th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^

When discussing late student turnout, there's an important issue that doesn't seem like it's being addressed.  It takes much longer to enter a "tunnel" in/near student sections than anywhere else in the stadium.  Many students do arrive late (something I'd argue is entirely their right to do), but a large number are on the Stadium grounds, standing in a long line/clump, hoping to get into the Stadium itself.  

O S Who

May 29th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^

This is definitely true.  I have showed up early/on-time many times, but still had to wait forever to get in [both to my section and into the stadium in general].  section 25 is particularly bad from my experience because it is right next to the bathroom, so there is only one way into the section.

but the incentives should still fix this because all the students wont be showing up at the exact same time [5 minutes before the game]

on a side note, there should be less noon games and more at 330

TTUwolverine

May 29th, 2012 at 11:37 AM ^

I hear students complain about this all the time, but it doesn't make sense to me.  There are 110,000 people all trying to get into one place at almost the same time.  You can't expect to roll up to the stadium at 11:55 and instantly get in.  If you show up at 11:30, or even 11:45, there is no way you would miss kickoff. 

dahblue

May 29th, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^

That's just not accurate.  Look, in my day (when we walked barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways), students could enter through any gate (as opposed to more strict controls now) and there was still backup at student gates.  As an alum with season tickets, I started in the end zone, adjacent to the student section and was supposed to use a gate used by students.  The line was a mess.  I've since moved around and now (for joy) out of the end zone, and the student section lines are always much longer than all others.  It can easily take students ~30 minutes to get in (if you patiently waited in line and didn't squeeze in at the front).  

I have no problem with a loyalty program, but maybe DB could double the ushers in the student section gates and allow students to enter more quickly.  It's a cheap and easy solution.  Maybe add ushers and implement a loyalty program.  Just don't ignore part of the problem.  By the way, student tickets would be checked at the entrance to the Stadium grounds, so enacting a loyalty program (which would reward students for arriving on the ground early) without improving the gate line flow, would do little to improve the visual in student seats.

Mr. Rager

May 29th, 2012 at 11:21 AM ^

Since I cannot start new threads, it is probably worth mentioning that Rivals ranks Derrick Green as their #1 RB in their latest update.  #12 overall, 5 stars.  Isaac is #24 overall.  

AllForBlue

May 29th, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^

I don't know about other sports, but they did something kind of like this in Women's Soccer a few years back. There was a table that you could swipe your card at, and if you attended enough matches you got stuff. I wound up with a free hat! (not the baby-killer). It was a decent program, except they published everyones name on the website, and you could see the full name of who was at the matches and how many matches they had been to. I think it only ran for 1 year.

k1400

May 29th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^

Call me crazy, but shouldn't a University be about facilitating student participation in academics?  I bet there are times of year when a student could attend a sporting event every day/night.  Last thing I needed was another reason to cut class or put off studying.

And the whole "big brother is watching what time you attend games" crap rubs me the wrong way.  I get the surface reasons for it, but the real reasons are to harvest information so that marketing can hone its ability to manipulate us.

Get off my lawn, DB.  And take your curly fry dancing, band forgeting, alternate jersey wearing, crappy rawk music blaring, marketing toadies with you.  

BlueGoM

May 29th, 2012 at 12:11 PM ^

We have to check on the alums as well.  Are they going to punish wealthy alums for leaving at halftime?  They sometimes don't all show up on time either... sometimes they don't cheer so loud... maybe they should prove thier loyalty beyond just paying up the ying-yang, maybe they should pay even more if they aren't as loud as the students?

In fact, we should put microphones in each seat, therefore we'll know exactly how much each person is cheering and reward them accordingly.  In addition we'll have to put license plate scanners so that we know when they arrive in the parking lots, or perhaps facial recognition technology in the entrances to the suites to make sure they are in their suite seats on time.  Perhaps we should just put electronic tracking ankle bracelets on each ticket holder?  I think that would probably work best.

In fact we'll also have to mike the suites to make sure those people are cheering sufficiently, too.

Booing once will get you ejected, booing twice will have your season ticket revoked.

Not wearing Maize or Blue?  $5,000 fine, I mean, mandatory donation to the school.

We'll also have to intercept text messages to make sure no one is complaining about the coaches or players - incorrect opinions will also be cause for explusion.

We cannot offend our sponsors - so anyone wearing Nike instead of Addidas will be asked to leave.

And lastly, anyone wearing any gear from the Rich Ro... HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED era will also be asked to leave.

We must ensure a proper, entirely supportive, entirely homogenous and correct thinking fanbase for our student athletes and television ratings.  Anything else is double plus ungood.

jmblue

May 29th, 2012 at 12:22 PM ^

This should be restricted to each particular sport.  Attending X number of games in one sport shouldn't affect your priority in another.  What should affect it is simply attendance in the sport in question.  A guy who goes to all the crappy December basketball games should get priority at subsequent games over someone who skips a few but happened to attend a few golf matches.

MGoBender

May 29th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

"A guy who goes to all the crappy December basketball games should get priority at subsequent games over someone who skips a few but happened to attend a few golf matches."

I don't know.  IMO, you should be a fan to the University, not to a specific team.  Say you have an exam and miss a basketball game.  Is there anything wrong with going to a Wrestling match to "make up" your missed game? 

lhglrkwg

May 29th, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^

Hopefully this means the end of drunk sorority girls trying to find their seats in the middle of the 2nd quarter which may be upsetting to them but since they'll have no priority points, they'll be able to leave at halftime even easier than before since they've been relegated to row 80.

French West Indian

May 29th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^

...I'm not a student anymore because this loyalty program sounds like bullshit.  It's retarded to make students attend track meets or golf matches in order to get priority seating for football games.

As for improving student attendance at football games all they need to do is make it general admission instead of assigning seats.  Kids will start showing up earlier (before game time) if they know that they got a chance at better seats.

Ed Shuttlesworth

May 29th, 2012 at 1:45 PM ^

I love football and love sports, but way too much brainpower and effort is put into worrying about things like this.   Sports "marketing" (and much commentary and analysis) are little more than a perpetual procession of solutions in search of problems.  (*)

And, as noted above, doesn't anyone care anymore about being constantly kept track of?

(*) As a purely factual matter, the instant "problem" arose because the Athletic Department decided to start a bunch of home games at noon -- i.e., at least an hour earlier than they should start -- and is thus entirely self-inflicted.

goblue7612

May 29th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^

I like this idea as it would benefit me personally. But do you know the real way to get students to attend nonrevenue events? PUT A GOOD PRODUCT ON THE FIELD. As an example, the crowds at the end of that magical soccer run with Meram and the Saads two years ago were boisterous and full. The crowds at the end of this past season were nonexistant. The difference being one team was a national runner up, and the other struggled mightily. No knock on the soccer team, just a fact of life.

M-Wolverine

May 29th, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^

Field Hockey, Men's Swimming and Diving, and Women's Rowing? Because they were all Big Ten champs, and other than softball I don't know that they're exactly beating off people with a stick. And that'snot counting teams that are usually pretty decent but didn't win it this year (Gymnastics comes to mind).

Purkinje

May 29th, 2012 at 2:51 PM ^

Good. If I hadn't just graduated, maybe I wouldn't be the only student with my ass in the Big House when the band takes the field.

ontarioblue

May 29th, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^

the student section has been progressively getting later to the game it seems every year.  It would be nice to have a full house before "band take the field".

Feat of Clay

May 29th, 2012 at 3:57 PM ^

No offense to the rowing team, but they should give extra points for watching crew.  It's a whole lot of sitting around wondering where the boats are, with a very short period of excitement of the end.  And then you start all over for the next set of boats.