Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

Abstract

Promotions are commonly used to bring people to athletic events from anywhere to youth levels all the way up to professional levels. Elements of the promotional mix include advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, and public relations. Understanding what elements of the promotional mix the greatest influence on increasing attendance at athletic events along with what motivates fans to attend is critical to developing a strong marketing plan. This is especially true for universities that have issues with attendance at athletic events. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate what forms of promotions BGSU Athletics currently execute and to examine the efficiency of promotional campaigns. Another goal was to incorporate some motivational factors for students at BGSU and members of the community in why they attend athletic events so that more effective promotional strategies can be developed. An interview was conducted with a former Assistant Director of Marketing at BGSU to gain an understanding of all the ways BGSU promotes athletic events. A questionnaire was distributed to students enrolled in Intro to Sport Management (SM 2010) and Sport History (SM 2210) along with members of the Bowling Green community. The students were selected because of the familiarity with athletics and promotions so they were deemed to provide a good basis for what is effective. BGSU community members were selected because they provide revenues to the athletic department, so it is important to understand what promotions they find to be effective. A total of 83 people participated in the study. Results indicated that BGSU promotes athletic events using social media, television, radio, newspapers, food discounts, dorm storms, meet the players, flyers, signs/posters, preview days, cross promotion. The promotions of radio and television had a significant difference in responses between community members and BGSU students. The two motivations of social and family had a significant difference between community members and BGSU students which means two groups have different motives to attend the BGSU sporting events. Recommendations on ways BGSU athletics can improve their promotion strategies are discussed along with limitations of this study and ideas for future research in this area.

Advisor

Dr. Jucy Lee

Second Reader

Dr. Nancy Spencer

Semester

Spring

Year

2019

Degree

M.Ed.

Program

Sport Administration

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