Missouri State Football Marketing Research Project

7/28/2019 Missouri State Football Marketing Research Project

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Missouri State

Football ProgramResearch Project - MKT 360

Presented by:Ally Gramlich

Stephanie MuschallGianna OcelloTom PlattenJessie Pine


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ReportStatement of Problem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Statement of Purpose ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Methodology ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Secondary Research ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Primary Research --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Preliminary Survey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

Student Focus Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

Alumni Focus Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Final Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Analytics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5

Errors --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9

Future Improvements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9

Conclusions and Recommendations ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10

AppendixCorrespondence with Mr. Jerry Hoover --------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Correspondence with Matthaus Klute ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2

Student Focus Group Meeting -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Alumni Focus Group Email Questionnaire ----------------------------------------------------------- 8

Final Survey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14


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STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Missouri State University Football games have low attendance and low morale.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSEThe purpose of this study is to determine how to increase attendance of Missouri StateUniversity Football home games.

METHODOLOGY

Our methods of research include the following:

Secondary Research

As we could have guessed, there was quite a bit of secondary research that wasavailable to us. We compiled a great amount of information from a variety ofsources such as other schools athletic websites, the MSU football forum, theMissouri State University website, Football Experience and Stadium EvaluationTask Force Committee Report, Census data, and PRIZM data. The SGA footballpacket and the MSU football forum were by far the most helpful whendetermining what to include in our surveys and focus groups. The forum helpedus determine what students and alumni wanted most in a football program, whilethe Football Experience and Stadium Evaluation Task Force Committee Reportgave us an idea of what the university has already done and plans to do to makethe football experience more enjoyable. The topics that came up time and timeagain were how bad of shape the facilities were in, and that many people believethat a new coaching staff was needed. One of the most popular threads in theforum is one which talks about firing the head coach. (http://www.bear-nation.com/forum/threads/fire-terry-allen-2012-edition.12714/)

Primary Research

Through interviews or email correspondence, the following people werecontacted. Their input was taken into consideration while we maderecommendations.

Interview with Paige Oxendine Student Body President

Paige had good information for us to consider while starting our research. Shepointed out that there is not one simple solution to our problem. The solution hasmultiple parts, and it is hard to put those possibilities into action. She mentionedthat we are probably going to be adding a student athletic fee to tuition. Thismoney could go towards scholarships for athletes or facilities. However, most ofcampus is resistant to this change.


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Other resistance to change comes from the neighboring community. On the otherside of Grand Street, the neighborhood opposes large amounts of noise or otheractivity close to their homes. They especially dislike tailgating.Paige also mentioned that the majority of our benefactors are conservative andare likely to disapprove of our campus becoming a partially wet campus for days

that games occur.Overall, Paige had great information that although limiting aided our researchprocess.

Interview with Rick Kindhart Director of Communications for Football ProgramWe reached out to Rick Kindhart, director of communications for the MSUfootball program, to gather 2012 statistics and his opinion on the topic. Heprovided us with crowd numbers for 4 of the home games:

10,076 top home crowd 10,002 home opener 8,493 MSU v. Northern Iowa

8,001 MSU v. South Dakota

Mr. Kindhart also provided us with his input and ideas for improving home gameattendance. He stated that Plaster Sports Complex now seats 16,600, andbuilding a larger stadium would draw more people in. Incorporating a residencehall or club in the new stadium would create more activity surrounding thestadium and encourage students and the community to attend football games atthe stadium.

Another idea he had was to allow alcohol to be available for the general public,and he explained that this can be decided by MSUs university president, ClifSmart, and that President Smart is not opposed to this idea. President Smart hasalready made efforts toward supporting the football team and home gameattendance by prohibiting campus activities to go on during the morning orafternoon of game days. Mr. Kindhart believes that being smarter aboutscheduling games would also increase attendance.Mr. Kindhart also suggested that selling discounted tickets to other universities inthe area, such as Evangel and Drury, would be a great way to promotecommunity involvement throughout Springfield and increase MSUs fan base.

Interview with Jerry Hoover Band DirectorMr. Hoover provided us with great advice. He has been with the Band programfor many years, and has a good perspective on the Football program. He notedthat the layout of the field is part of the reason people dont feel included in thegame atmosphere. Mr. Hoover also pointed out that the whole campus doesntobserve game days very well. Meetings, speakers, and other activities arescheduled on game days. The effort to improve football games is not campuswide. The entirety of this correspondence can be found in the Appendix, page 1.


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Interview with Matthaus Klute President of Maroon MadnessMatthaus has a lot of input in the aspect of Maroon Madness. He especially hadmuch to offer in respects to BearFest Village. He has 3 main points:

1. BearFest Village needs more branding.2. More student organizations need to get involved in tailgating.

3. It starts with the students: student pride will initiate game dayattendance.The entirety of this correspondence can be found in the Appendix, pages 2 3.

Preliminary SurveyThe preliminary survey we did was used to see if there was a student/alumniinterest in the subject matter. It was set up so a different form of the survey wouldcome up depending on whether you clicked the current student section or thealumni section. Both surveys start off by asking simple questions such as ageand gender, but after that they are quite different. We started distributing the

survey to our close friends, and large student organizations via Facebook andTwitter, but soon after it spread rapidly. Even a very popular Twitter account inthe Springfield area tweeted a link to our survey. By the time we closed thesurvey, we had over 200 responses from alumni, current students, and evenpeople who are just fans. The respondents also had the option to provide theiremail addresses, which we used as future contacts.

Student Focus GroupOn April 11, 2013, we held a student focus group. There were 9 current studentsin attendance. These individuals varied in hometown, grade, major, andorganizational affiliation. We reserved a room in Siceluff Hall and took 60 minutesfor discussion. The following are the critical incident points we discovered fromthis focus group:

There is a lack of draw to the gameso Insider perkso Free giveaways

Subpar tailgating experienceo Not funo Not inviting some students feel uncomfortable

Facilities need improvingo Student section

Athletic program problemso Coaching staff needs improvingo Lack of talent on teamo We dont play any prestigious teams

The entirety of the notes from this focus group can be found in the Appendix,pages 4 7.


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Alumni Focus Group (E-Mail)In order to gain a wide variety of opinions and ideas, we enlisted the help ofMissouri State alumni through an online focus group. Alumni often have adifferent viewpoint than current students, and they are important potentialconsumers of Missouri State football. Using email addresses collected from the

Preliminary Survey, we contacted interested Missouri State alumni. We askedthe same questions as we planned to ask the student focus group. A follow upemail was sent to employ the Delphi method and inquire additional responses.However, we did not receive any responses from the second email. The followingare the critical incident points we discovered from this focus group:

There is a lack of perceived value for consumers Subpar tailgating experience

o Not open long enougho Not enough food or alcohol availableo Too many restrictionso Lack of attendance

Facilities in need of updating Employing a new coaching staff in hopes of turning the teams

record around Lack of promotion and awareness of games Possibility of perks or incentives for attendees Lack of game-day traditions

The entirety of the notes from this focus group can be found in the Appendix,pages 8 13.

Final SurveyThe final survey was published based on the ideas generated in each of thefocus groups. There were 72 respondents. A copy of the survey can be found inthe Appendix, page 14 16. The results of the final survey can be found in thenext section, Analytics.


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ANALYTICS


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(BearFest Village)?


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Dominos, etc.)?


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on the team?


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ERRORS

We recognize the fact that our survey is not without error. No survey is a perfect pictureof the target market. It is important to acknowledge the errors of the survey, which areas follows:

Non-response Error The surveys were seen by many, and answered by few. As with any survey,

there is a margin of error for those who didnt respond. We especially had a lackof responses in the follow-up email for the Alumni focus group.

Selection Bias

It is evident that our survey did not capture a completely random sample ofrespondents. We sent the survey to our friends and classmates, but we knowthere are many students we did not reach.

Sampling Error The survey did not completely represent the entire population we wished to gaininformation from.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

If we had the opportunity at a second chance to complete this research project, wewould do a few things differently to increase effectiveness and reduce sampling errors:

Alumni Survey and Email Focus Group Contact a larger group of alumni to reduce non-response error Arrange an in-person alumni focus group to improve response rate

Student Focus Group Reach out to a larger amount of students to get differing opinions and reduce

selection bias Give more advanced notice of the focus group to increase awareness and

participation

Surveys Distribute surveys on campus to get a random sampling of student population Ask how respondents are associated with MSU, some respondents had no

formal ties to the university Look into using SPSS to analyze survey results

Interviews Make an appointment with President Clif Smart


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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

To wrap up our report, we thought we would share our final recommendations on how toget more people to attend MSU football games. Here are our recommendations:

The best way to notify fans of an upcoming game and game day activities The first choice students recommended was Social Media. The second choice

would be notifying people by email. As of right now, there is a Student E-Newsletter email sent out to all MSU students, but the game day activities, kick-off time, and other athletic information is towards the bottom of the email. Withour focus group and survey, we found that most students would like a separateemail containing just game day activities, kick-off time, etc.

Improving the game-day experience Our focus group members and survey showed that a beer garden would be one

attribute to add to improve the tailgate experience.

Opening the tailgate area earlier and staying open longer is also an improvementpeople would like to see. Having easier tent rentals appeals to people. Our focus group members agreed

that if renting tents were easier, they would attend the tailgate. A suggestion washaving a student run organization that helped put up and take down the tents.

Make sure the entire campus community tries their hardest to not have othercompeting events take place during home football games.

Recommend to improve services at the concession stands The service at the concession areas in the football stadium is slow. People want

to be able to get their food quickly to make sure they dont miss any of the game.We recommend for every cashier there is, assign an additional staff member tobe the server so to speak, someone that fills the order while the cashier collectsmoney.

Add more choices at each concession stand and make sure there is an ampleamount available.

Add more food vendors throughout the stadium. Some suggestions were localrestaurants, Dominos, Dippin Dots, and Pretzel Time.

Improve student bleachers We recommended the university installs non-wooden bleachers that seem more

stable and secure. We recommend a reserved seating area for organizations (Greek Life, Student

Activities Council, Residence Hall Association, etc.) and reserved seating forgeneral students, all within the bleacher section.

Students brought up how they felt that they were too far from the action. Movethe bleachers closer to the field and possibly move the track behind thebleachers.


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New coaching staff The results from our survey show that more people would attend games if MSU

employed a new head coach. They believe Terry Allen should be replaced inorder for our team to improve.

Get the players to make a presence on campus We recommend that players hand out schedules on a constant basis (more than

just at Bear Bash). Suggest the football players wear football athletic gear while on campus. Football program should have pep rallies on Fridays before Saturday games. Before class starts, have football players stand up and introduce themselves and

encourage students to go to the game. If the students feel as if the players reallycare about their presence at games, then are more likely to go.

Have a couple players speak different organizations meetings (Greek Life,Student Activities Council, Residence Hall Association, etc.) to get the studentspumped up for MSU Athletics and make them aware of upcoming games.

Prestigious Football schools Survey shows people were interested in our team to play more prestigious

football schools but its not a feasible option at this point due to costs.

Night Games Having some home games later in the evening was a suggestion most of our

focus group members and survey results showed. Having a 6 p.m. kick-off time iswhat our focus group recommended. We know we also have to take the City andSpringfields rules into account such as noise restrictions, etc.

During our time and effort put into this report, we have come across many challengesalong the way. Trying to get people to take our survey, participate in our focus group,and take our research seriously is not an easy task.


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APPENDIX

Correspondence with Mr. Jerry Hoover, MSU BandDirector

Dear Jessica,

There are a number of things that have contributed to a lack of interest in attendance bystudents at football games. Poor seating, concessions, and restrooms on the east side We are so far from the field, it is easy to loose interest in what is going on The football program's win/loss record has been uninspiring

Too many meetings, activities, and other events are scheduled in conflict with the fallhome game schedule by housing, Greeks, classroom teachers, departmentswe do not have a unified effort throughout the university to make the home

football games a coming together for spirit, for excitement, for involvement, forfun

Certain areas not only don't support it, they just dismiss it altogetherwith almost4,000 students living on campus, it seems ridiculous that we cannot get astimulus going through the dorms through encouragement, through competition,through lots of visible promotions to get students to want to be a part of aSaturday afternoon ballgame

Poor relations (or no relations at all) between football members and general students

At the suggestion of a student committee and the Office of Student Engagement, wechanged our approach to the stadium on game days this year by running all the band tovarious areas and to rejoin for a rally on campus at the Bear Paw, but we were inconflict with the tailgate (parking lot on Grand Street) going on at the same time. So therally consisted of the band and parents who were on campus.

Hope this helps.

Mr. Hoover


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Appendix Page 2

Correspondance with Matthaus Klute, President of

Maroon Madness

Do you feel that there is a lack of support at our football games?

Absolutely. I think a majority of students dont care that were bad they just dontcare about the football program period.

How many members are enrolled? I dont have an exact figure but we are at about 1200 students.

Is that number up or down from previous years? As far as I know, this is the highest it has ever been.

Are members actually attending games? No.

What is the price to join the group? $10. Although next year we are looking at a tiered membership. $15 dollars gets you

voting rights and other benefits. We are hoping this will help distinguish memberswho want to be more involved and it compels members who spent $15 to involvethemselves more.

How are you attracting new members, what kind of activities? We havent been doing much to attract members lately. We are trying to attract

members to games. Weve tried social get together, handouts, various gorillamarketing strategies. All have been unfruitful.

On average how many of your members attend football games weekly? Beginning of the year we had a couple hundred who actually scanned in. More

showed up later. Near the end we have around 50 or less.

What pre game activities do you do before football games? We just started tailgating midway through the season this year. The tailgate was

great but we didnt promote it heavily enough. By the time we had a good tailgategoing, students had already lost interest in football.


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Appendix Page 3

Correspondance with Matthaus Klute, President of

Maroon Madness (Continued)

What is your opinion on Bear Fest Village? Do you have any suggestions on how to

make it a better experience for students and the community? I think Bear Fest Village could definitely improve. I have lots of ideas, but Ill give you

the 3 most important ones.1. Needs more branding. (the stadium could use that as well) It doesnt look like

a Missouri State tailgate, just looks like a tailgate.2. Need to reach out to more student organizations. Quite a few organizations

dont know they need to register for Bear Fest Village, and with how BFV hasbeen in the past, they wont go out of their way to find out. If you want to growstudent involvement at BFV, grow the organizations that turn out for it. Itneeds to be more than a mass email. Someone fromnelligan/athletics/OSE/MM or whatever needs to be in constant contact with

these groups making sure they are registered and attending. Until BFVbecomes a thing, someone needs to be charged with dragging studentorganizations out there.

3. This needs to be a bottom up change, not top down. Im sure youve read thefootball task force report, and its great, but a lot of it is not feasible. Theyspent upwards to 90k last year just to pack the home opener. The truth is wesee a better atmosphere every Friday and Saturday night than theyve everhad at BFV. Students need to be selling students on it. Organizations need tocome out, drink, and enjoy themselves. We dont need fireworks andconcerts; we need a thousand students and alcohol. Theyre trying to sell it onthe school pride angle. You cant create that from the top down that will

happen organically.That being said, their needs to be something for the freshman to do. Iremember when I lived in Woods going to BFV with a big group of guys andthere was nothing to do. However, I think that is a void Maroon Madness canfill as early as this season.


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Student Focus Group Meeting

Directions:The objective of this meeting is to develop as many ideas as possible about how toimprove attendance at Missouri State Football games.Rules to the meeting:

1. Each person will be asked to participate in turn so that everyone can have theopportunity to contribute. Please contribute one thought on the subject, then wewill move to the next person.

2. Please do not interrupt other individuals. The objective is simply to come up witha list of ideas.

3. In front of you is a sheet of notebook paper. Please feel free to write on thispaper if you have any thoughts. These papers will be collected after our meeting.

4. We will go around the room until we have exhausted the responses. When youcannot think of anything else on the subject, then say pass. When everyonehas passed then we will proceed to the next question.

Focus Group Responses:

1. Who do you believe would attend games? (This is a description of thepeople who will attend the gamesthe customer)

Well hopefully students, alumni, parents of the players, probably Springfield countyresidents

Anyone bored, need something to doThe cheerleadersProspective college students

Other college coachesFreshmenBoredIn hopes that our team will win a gameThey would attend so that they can see what college football atmosphere is about. Wewant it to be good but its just notSiblings of students or playersTailgating; they think its big like at MizzouFamily

2. Why do you believe people would attend a Missouri State Football game?

Because they want to support the teamSchool spirited people. They would attend to get an adequate view of what MSU is allabout, what the atmosphere is likeFraternity or sorority event going onExcitement and experience of the stadium and football in general


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3. Why do you believe people choose not to attend Missouri State Footballgames?

Not bowl series, too far from the field with the track, our team isnt the greatest; TheMiami basketball coach used to deliver free pizzas to dorms; The student section isbland- you could have an entire row to your self; we dont have any traditions- walk of

champions. I know for Sig Ep is excited about tailgating; most people want to stay anddrink all day and arent motivated to walk 100 feet to the stadium; Coaching staff- whydo we retain Terry Allen with so many losing seasonsTeam isnt that good, maybe if more free stuff was given out (would like to see shirts,little footballs, anything free, food)Lack of alcohol, horrible facilities, lack of game day motivation (if nobody is excitedabout it, why come?)Lack of enthusiam, campus doesnt get word out; Mizzou builds up week before; Whywould they go watch a football loseFootball team sucks so nobody wants to watch a horrible teamThe stadium is not up to par; whenever he goes to MSU football he feels like he is going

to a high school football game; they kick people out of tailgating; coach has ruined twofootball programsDont like footballTeams that we play nobody has ever heard of; if we played bigger teams like K Statepeople would go; crappy weatherFear of falling through wooden bleachers

4. What do you believe would make the perfect game-day experience for thepeople of the Missouri State Community?

Wet campus just on Saturdays- not having to worry about cops. If we fixed everythingthat why people dont go. Started at Auburn, rent out tailgating stuff- work with school to

rent out. Hourly rate of $10-$15 dollars. Groups of friends can rent it out. Bear park youhave to rent a spot to get a tent: thats the problem, figure its already going to be rentedout by other organizations. Need to expand for everyone to feel comfortable. Bowlatmosphere: cant see inside the stadium unless youre in it but you can hear it: differentaura, you feel like youre apart of it (ex: Arkansas) Could stand outside by McDonaldand watch entire game without paying. Athletic fee: $100 extra would not affect mytuition and if every student is paying that thats a lot of money. Springfield CardinalsBass Pro boats: show things and stuff that will bring in community. Pairing fraternitiesand sororities for tailgating: switch pairing every game day weekend: builds excitementand willingness to go to game together. With amount of companies in SGF, it wouldntbe hard to get sponsors for free giveaways.

Atmosphere: if everyone went then upcoming freshman would attend too. Dont want towake up at 7am to go to the parade. Night game: parade could be at 1 and more peoplewould show up.Expand the tailgate, include alcohol, include theme day (Mizzou has themed tailgates),more giveaways, once in stadium- better facility, more exclusive rights (closer tostadium, more access-free tickets give students a way to devalue athletics-if you dontpay any money you arent losing anything), dont few like you are valued by the athletes.Night game: reason only night game- its a zoning ordinance (residential area that backs


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Appendix Page 6

up to the area: anything that happens after 10pm, lights and loud noises need to be shutdown). Think about inclusive activities: free taco coupons, if they can give yousomething that they present at the end of game they get things. Lets say they have ashirt at the end of the game or free taco hang out. Beer tasting, wine tasting: addresspeople that maybe not be sports fans.

The facility is a huge thing- student section is not accommodating at all- no shadedareas for parents during sit for parents weekendonly go for an hour and a halfbecause mom cant sit in sun all day. When you use the restroom its gross becauseyoure underground and in a tunnel. Concession stands runs out of things by the timeseveryone gets to the stadium- couldnt even get a hot dog at the second quarter. Highschool dance team: big part of Friday night football games: family always loved football,family came down to keep that on, seems like high school games were bigger in highschool than here. Parents still go to high school football games and take sister in middleschool. Need a draw to come: the only people that do come are greek life. The peoplenot in greek life dont feel like they belong; if they cant have a tent they wont go. Youfeel out of place, dont know who to talk to. At Mizzou everyone tailgates, you make

friends with people parked next to you. Not the same, not as big, not the same set up.Draw more of the community if you let people set up tents. Parents can bring kids.Mizzou draws people from entire state that have no connection with Mizzou.Homecoming people do excited even though we have to wake up early. If you movedeverything later in the day, its the fact that the game is at 1.Baseball has winning team and great facility and people still dont show up: we cant getanywhere without a tradition.Tailgate should have more outside companies give stuff away; more departments comecelebrate like Construction Management. A lot more people would go to the game (andmake more money) if they sold alcohol; better athletes. Beer garden environment

Alcohol at Mizzou- wet campus just on gamedays; not only inclines people to want to

go, but makes that atmosphere more enjoyable for a lot of people; majority of collegestudents drink and ability to drink and have wet campus on game days would makepeople more inclined to attend; Went to Mizzou HC and everybody gets so excited,drinks before, the whole atmosphere is different because they are able to have alcoholon campus and able to have tailgatesbig part of getting excited and wanting to go thegame. Dont feel like you can walk up to anyones tent. At basketball games, if MSUscores 10 3s everyone gets free Andys ice cream: keep people interested- wholecommunity. Wake up, start drinking, drink more, go to game.Game day- What time are games usually? Do other colleges have night games? Maybeget up later, orient myself for the day, and go to the game, drinking there. Tailgate couldbe awesome if everyone participated and everyone went. Perfect game: hittin that

awesome tailgate and raging at the game making noise with fraternity brothers having agreat time. After game probably pass out. Whenever goes to game parents came downfor first three games (from St. Louis, wanted to support MSU football)by second gamerealized wanted to leave by half. Dad would go to concession and wait 30 min in line-ridiculous wait. He doesnt wait that long at Busch Stadium. After game: win celebrate,lose drink more. Dad is big on high school football program. Looking to take thatenjoyment to the next level in college, they thought it would be better, but they are notcoming down anymore. At end of tailgate when Sugar Bears come out and band plays,


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that is cool, but could be improved. Night game atmospheres more fun.If tailgating was bigger, greek life goes, but dont see anyone else with tents, morepeople would go if they felt comfortable, if ticket got you free stuff (ex: free taco), betterpromotion. Update coupons on the back of the tickets. One tent that would. Would paymoney for a better stadium (in exchange of free tickets). Play up alumni more: have

something for them, pamper them kind of, push donations.Tailgating: in the south thats a huge part of it. Grill and play games. Extend tailgating tolater.


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Appendix Page 8

Alumni Focus Group E-mail Questionnaire

Directions:The objective of this questionnaire is to develop as many ideas as possible about howto improve attendance at Missouri State Football games.Rules to the questionnaire:

1. Each person is entitled to their own opinion: no idea is too far-fetched. Pleasejust list a simple idea after each question (straight and to the point).

2. We will record these answers for our research.3. If you wish to not answer a question, or dont have an opinion, you can leave the

answer space blank.

Focus Group Responses

1. Who do you believe would attend games? (This is a description of the people

who might attend MSU football games the "customer")- Students/Alumni with an interest in sports- Students/Alumni with an interest in the Band or Color Guard- Parents of Athletes/Band Members/Color Guard Members/Cheerleaders/Sugar Bears- Friends of Athletes/Band Members/Color Guard Members/Cheerleaders/Sugar BearsTypically, very involved or school spirited students.I think people who are extremely interested in Division II sports might attend, other thanthat the casual sports fan in my opinion would have no incentive or motivation to attendas the product on the field is less than desirable, every year.Students, MSU faculty/staff, and Springfield residents.That's who I think should attend games, but I don't think that many do.

As far as who I believe will attend games, I think families in Springfield from the lower-middle class and up and students who are interested in football which would probablyequate to about 30-50%. Within the students, I would say most likely all the fraternityand sorority members, since it usually a rite of passage in bigger universities to be atfootball games. Most students end up not choosing to go to games however becausethey start too early on Saturday, we have to be real and understand that most studentsgo out and party the night before, at least the ones that would enjoy a good footballgame.

Anyone who is a football fan. MSU has the highest quality football team outside of MUor Arkansas. The greatest possibility from attendance should be the students followedby local alumni.

Students, alumni, faculty of the University, football fans and the families of players,cheerleaders, band membersI believe the customer would primarily be a local, with-in about an hour or less, alumnior other local people who are non-alumni.


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Appendix Page 9

2. Why do you believe people would attend a Missouri State Football game?

- Social event- Genuine interest in MSU sportsFor the tailgating.

-Possibly for a parents weekend, or to show school spirit. Maybe offering a giveaway orincentive to attend would help, or something exciting during halftime or after the game-Maybe for homecoming or an even of that nature, possibly if alcohol is sold in thestadium, or if the team is winning and trying to move to division IMaybe people come to see their friends play football. Or parents of football players andband members come to watch maybe? I honestly think there are a lot of people thatcome to watch the band and then leave after the halftime show.I believe people would attend a MSU football game currently either due to nice weather,a special occasion such as Homecoming, or a sustained winning streak and predictionsof future success. I also truly feel that name recognition is huge when it comes towanting to go to a game and see an opponent that you know. Unfortunately, there

aren't many of the same schools between basketball and football for the Valley.Fun afternoon. Sometime exciting and a good product. Sharing football with a son,daughter, or friends. It is a fun environment for students (high school and college) They know someone involved They enjoy football Someone invited them (had extra tickets) There is a promotion for cheap tickets There is a special event or theme to the gameRight now, honestly there isn't much of a reason. Having been an alumni of this school,coached there, as well as at other Division 1 institutions- there are two ways to have a

fan base. #1 is a historical fan base, which unfortunately MSU does not have. The lasttime there was a sell-out was against a division 2 team, Pittsburgh State, and most ofthe fans were theirs. #2 is to win, and win a lot. Currently, with this staff and thesefacilities, there isn't a shot at winning. While I do admit coach Allen did a great job atNorthern Iowa at his time there, he believed that he could turn SMS into a perennialpowerhouse, and he has not been able to do it yet. He needs to go with another, youngand upcoming coach be brought into the fold. USF made its transition through thedivisions with such, as did WKU (although it has not had the success that USF has).Missouri is an ultimate state of fair weather fans. If they are winning, people will come.If they are not winning, why would they show up and watch their team lose?

3. Why do you believe people choose not to attend Missouri State Footballgames?

- Alcohol not served- Low level of competition- Low level of school spiritBecause the Mo State team doesn't make football fun to watch.-I think people do not attend because they seemed to get slaughtered every year.-The school does not seem to have as much pride and focus on football as it does on


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Appendix Page 10

basketball, getting recruits must be very difficult.They do not win. It is frustrating to watch when they continually lose.People choose not to go to the games because of what they are paying for. They caneasily just stay at home and watch the game if it's on tv or watch a even bigger andmore important game on one of the big networks. The stadium itself is very run down

and can almost feel like you wasted your money if you have to walk to the center of thelower concourse, because you end up walking through what feels like a basement. It'salso no lie that currently MSU is the second most loved collegiate sports team in thearea behind Mizzou, I hate this thought process but it's one that must be made. Peoplecurrently would much rather stay at home and watch the Tigers play if there is a gameon than come and watch the Bears, just because their wins mean much more, andpeople can feel collective about that team across the state.1. Economy. I dont mean people cant afford the price. There are so many otheroptions. Do they purchase season tickets for mens or womens basketball, MSUbaseball, Springfield Cardinals baseball, MU or Arkansas football. Most people cantafford more than one so which one is it?

2. Conflicts. Not only with other sporting events but with different activities in the fall. Iknow I often have conflicts. Do I go to the game or spend the best afternoon of theweek working around the house getting ready for winter? Weekends are wheneverything happens at once. Which do I choose?3. Recently the quality product on the field hasnt been there. Even the larger footballprograms cant sustain a large attendance if the product isnt what they believe it shouldbe.4. There is the weather. Many people dont like sitting outside on a cold and rainy day.Especially if the game has no meaning.5. The bleachers can get uncomfortable after a couple of hours. Getting to the upperlevels for people who have problems getting around can be a reason not to attend.

6. For me BearFest Village is ok if you are wanting something to eat before the gamebut it isnt really tailgating. Is tailgating allowed in the parking lots? Is the parking sotight that it is difficult to tailgate? Im not sure it is encouraged or allowed. They do not have ties to the university They have never been or haven't been invited Tickets are too expensive for the 'product' They are not aware of the schedule of gamesWhy would you want to watch your team lose?

4. What do you believe would make the perfect game-day experience for thepeople of the Missouri State Community?

- Tailgate- Game against a rival- High attendance- MSU probable winBigger tailgates, freebies at the gameHaving a tailgate and festival similar to what is done on homecoming certainly helps, Iunderstand it may be difficult to duplicate that every game of the year, but possiblyallowing the campus to go wet for the day and offering up tents and spots as incentives


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for organizations to get members would help.I think a perfect game-day experience would include a lot of on-campus hype. It wouldalso include a lot of publicity throughout the Springfield community in order to get morefans to attend. There would be a well-attended tailgate, and the team would playcompetitively. I don't think they have to always win. I just think the team needs to play

competitively.As a student, and now alumni, one of the pinnacles of a good football atmosphere istailgating. No matter how crappy a team may be at the time, you can always lookforward to tailgating, it's what gets people there. Unfortunately, our tailgating time thatwe are given is just too small, 2-3 hours tops barely allows us to get situated. Mostother universities will start tailgating in the morning and proceed up until the game, it'sfine if Bearfest Village is only run for the 2-3 hours, but restricting students and othersfrom tailgating kind of ends up pushing people away and they will go party somewhereelse. That's just the before-game atmosphere too. I'm all for removing of the track,which I believe is in the plan for the new renovation of the field and student section sidein the next couple years. I also would like to see a capped endzone, so possibly

extended the seating from one side to the other by creating a connection with moreseats. The in-game games is fine, that's expected, but honestly also being a recentgraduate, the band's songs that they play have become very repetitive over the pastcouple of years. I would enjoy seeing them add some current and popular songs in tothe their line-up, to spice things up. When they constantly play the old songs over andover again I feel like I'm at a retirement home dance unfortunately, and start to snoozeoff a bit.Nice weather. Good crowd; especially in the student section. Depressing to look overand see the stands nearing empty except for the band. A competitive team that is doingwell; perhaps fighting for the league championship. Hanging out with friends.

As a former member of the PRIDE Band (which has now attended a few seasons as a

spectator), I see a lot of disconnect with the game-day experience at MSU. Manypeople come to the tailgate, but don't cross the street to attend the game. Others cometo the game, but do not participate beyond sitting in their seat.Part of the issue is a big disconnect with the student side and the lower and upper partof the west side. There is no one prompting participation in the game. The announcer iseither giving game stats, or reading an advertisement. The games also lack tradition.This year, the band started a 'march' across campus for students. Things like this needto be initiated for everyone in attendance. The crowd needs more encouragement toparticipate in the game, wear maroon and return for more games. Traditions need to beestablished and executed at every single game.Community?

Having more of a sports park, with parking directly around the stadium. During my timeas a student there, many people were injured by trying to cross the street and hit by acar. The encouragement of the alumni to tailgate and other things would be great too.Having a big alumni-relations event at a big game that was definitely winnable would besomething great.


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5. If you were to attend a game, what would you expect during your time there?

- Low attendance- MSU losing- No alcohol

I would like to expect a good game, and lots of crowd interaction.-Id expect some mediocre football, with half empty stands, hopefully a decent team tocheer for and a hope for a .500 season-To see friends from different groups or classes as well at the game to make it more ofa social experienceIf I were to attend now, I would expect to see a not very exciting game and most of thefans leaving after the band's performance.If I were to attend a game, I would expect a good seat, a good view, great and uniquefood while also keeping the classics such as popcorn, nacho's, hot dog's, etc. I alsowould expect a good view, now what I mean by that is buildings around it, or theopposite side stadium being aesthetically pleasing, the old student section made the

grand stand side see what appeared to be some run-down old wooden bleachers. Mostsports teams now a days have some type of perk or incentive too if they win by acertain amount, that only ticket holders would be able to get, and it's usually a prettydecent deal. This gives them an extra rooting interest on top of the one they alreadyhad. Finally, this can go without saying and I know it takes patience and hard work buta winning team, that's what I want to see if I go TO the game, and I know we are on theright track currently.Good competitive game. Good value for the ticket price. Hopefully the weather isgood. Entertaining pre and post-game activities Entertainment during every timeout and break

A welcoming environment Game day traditions Information about upcoming games GiveawaysTo see old friends, to see a great stadium, and to have a chance to win the game.

6. What do you believe is the best way to encourage others to attend games?

- Attendance competition between Fraternity and Sorority Life/Other schoolorganizations- Games that support non-profits- Attendees could win an iPad or tickets to Springfield Cardinals Game

I don't think there are many ways to encourage that without a better team record. Asmuch as I hate to say it, we need a winning team to attract more fans.I think what Drury did, by offering days off of class to give students and incentive to goto the championship game worked out well. Now I understand that was for achampionship, and privately funded schools have the ability to do that more so thanpublicly funded ones but offering difference incentives or a motivation for students toattend aside from seeing a football game might increase attendanceI think that the football players should get out and publicize the games. They should be


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the face of team and encourage students, community members, and faculty to attend. Ialso honestly think that if they start winning more often, it will encourage more fans toattend because the games will actually be enjoyable.Bombardment. Seriously, unless there is an RHA event going on at the game, thestudents have no idea there might be a game that weekend, same thing with the

community. The news doesn't cover us that often, and the only way the community willknow if we have a game coming up is if they drive by the stadium and turn their headsalmost crashing to read our billboard of upcoming games hanging from the south side ofthe stadium. You go to other schools that have a decent, doesn't have to be great,football team; you can't go around the town without knowing there is a game.Springfield unfortunately has so much to offer that you can easily get sucked in to

doing something else with your team, and it's not that hard to find something else to dowith your time either. This is a longshot, but you need to try to market the game forlonger than the game exists. So the week before hand all the way up to the game andthen afterwards too. Maybe like connecting with some bars downtown that with a ticketfrom the game you can get certain specials that night, it will create a full Saturday

atmosphere, one where you would want to place attending the game within it.Why not do what created interest in womens basketball when it was a hot topics.There were a number of promotions; especially with grade school students. Ticketswere given to certain schools for certain achievements. It created interest in the youthwho might be students or season ticket holders later. In some cases it also brought outthe parents. Sponsors also would have tickets available for people to pick up at theirbusiness and borderline fans had an opportunity to see the product. Establish game-day traditions Send out more email communications regarding games

-I don't recall getting any emails from the university regarding this Promotions for tickets

Game-day themes Alcohol sold in the stadium More evening games Giveaways (beyond t-shirts) Pre/post-game activities

-Concerts, fireworks, etc.Promote the games through the use of social media. Facebook, Twitter, etc. Installingan ability to use WIFI at the games would be great too. If you made the login somethingreasonable like $.99, that would encourage people to use it. This way, the wife oryounger people of the family who don't enjoy football could spend time on facebook,twitter, pinterest, etc while the others enjoyed the game.

Also, getting a better team. People always want to go see winners. While I do respectcoach Allen, the program has not been a consistent winner since, forever (coachBranch is the last one I remember).


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Final Survey


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Documents

Missouri State Football Marketing Research Project