Filling the seats

'M' hopes new marketing tactics will draw more to women's hoops

They have a plan. Whether or not it is going to work remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the plan is in place and the preparations have begun.

What is this plan, you ask? It's a plan to make women's basketball a premiere sport at the University of Michigan. You may be thinking to yourself - not a chance.

But other schools have done it - it is possible.

Tennessee's average home attendance is 13,936. On Jan. 3, in a game against Connecticut, the Lady Volunteers drew a crowd of 24,597.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara would like the fans to have just as much enthusiasm for her team as she does. The program hopes to attract more attention and bigger crowds with a new marketing strategy.

A little closer to home and in the Big Ten, Wisconsin has also made similar strides in the sport. For the Badgers, the change began during the 1994-95 season, when current coach Jane Albright-Dieterle hit the scene in Madison.

To begin with, Wisconsin Sports Information Director Tamara Flarup said that Albright-Dieterle requires her players to do six hours a month of community service during the season and three hours a month during the offseason.

Aside from community service, Flarup also said that the marketing, which is targeted toward families, has kicked in. The school's average attendance for women's games has jumped from 1,770 in 1993-94 to 9,485 through the first eight home games this season.

"Michigan has an energetic new coach in Sue Guevara, as we do," Flarup said. "Our closest professional team is 75 miles away, whereas yours is 45 miles away. So, there are similarities between the two programs."

According to Michigan Director of Marketing Jody Humphries, the University, under the direction of Athletic Director Tom Goss, has installed a multi-year plan to increase interest in women's basketball. The plan was put into effect at the beginning of this season.

In this first year, Michigan's main targets have been families and members of the community. The University has a mailing list of one million people who have been exposed to the school's marketing so far.

Humphries also said that Michigan has a huge number of direct ticket mailings and that the university has sent information and a large number of complimentary tickets to junior high schools, high schools, girl scouts and boy scouts, church groups and summer basketball leagues.

FILE PHOTO Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss has visions of a packed Crisler Arena for the women's basketball team within three years. The team averages less than 3,000 attendees at each game.

"We have promotional items, such as posters and magnet schedules, that we will give away at games throughout the season," Humphries said. "If, for instance, there is a game on a Friday and a game on a Sunday, we will run two print ads the week of the game.

"The ads will run in the Ann Arbor News and the papers in Chelsea, Saline, Dexter and Livonia. Basically, we stay within a half-hour drive of Ann Arbor."

In terms of peaking student interest, the University has decided to put that phase of marketing on hold.

"Traditionally, students have not been a good draw for us," Humphries said. "Our goal for now is to go after our target market, which is families.

"In the second and third year of our plan, as the program develops, we will put more of a concerted effort (directed toward the students)."

Next year, Humphries said the school will look to stop the distribution of complimentary tickets.

Instead, the University hopes to make available discounts on tickets and season packages.

"We're in the test-driving phase right now," Humphries said. "Our objective is to get people to the event. Once we get people into the building, we believe we can provide an entertainment product.

"We believe that they will come back on their own. After they see the product, people will want to come back and buy into it on their own."

The Plan
Michigan's plan to make women's basketball a premier sport:

* This year, Michigan has targeted members of the community through mail marketing, free ticket giveaways and newspaper advertising.
* Next year, Michigan will stop the free ticket distribution and offer discount ticket packages.

Bringing 'em in
The Michigan women's basketball program hopes to attract larger crowds with the help of new marketing strategies. Here's what they have to live up to:
1996-97 Division I Attendance Rankings
School	Average	Change
1. Tennessee	10,500	+ 2,458
2. Connecticut	10,474	+ 2,291
3. Wisconsin	8,536	+ 652
4. Texas Tech	7,876	- 56
5. Texas	7,467	- 28
6. Purdue	7,329	+821
7. Penn State	6,792	- 656
8. SW Miss. St.	6,780	-328
9. Stanford	6,250	+ 1300
10. Iowa	5,395	+130
- Michigan*	2,314	-282
*1997-98 (through 10 home games)

02-03-98