Best Fans In America: Working to Change the Culture of Tailgating.

Kim Dude

Director of the Wellness Resource Center

University of Missouri

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Overview  

•  Mizzou  campus  

•  Reali3es  of  preven3on  •  How  and  why  we  started  our  fan  behavior  efforts  •  Early  challenges  •  Turning  points  •  Examples  of  our  efforts  

•  Lessons  learned  

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What  is  the  culture  of  tailga3ng?  •  Strong  tradi3on  for  decades  

•  Drinking  •  Decora3ng  •  Food  •  Games  

•  Alumni  support-­‐-­‐donors  

•  Community  support  

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Problema3c  Issues    

•  High  risk  drinking  •  Excessive  liNering  of  beer  and  liquor  boNles  and  cans  •  Rudeness  to  other  fans  •  Thousands  of  fans  with  limited  police  

•  Traffic  issues  very  3me  consuming  for  law  enforcement  

•  Crea3ng  a  family  friendly  environment  

•  Tailga3ng  that  lasted  for  many  hours  before  game    

•  Tailga3ng  con3nued  during  the  game  

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What  Mizzou  Implements  •  No  alcohol  allowed  in  or  sold  at  the  stadium  expect  in  private  boxes  

•  Security  within  the  stadium  watches  for  illegal  behavior  and  people  are  arrested  or  escorted  out    

•  Fans  can  text  about  behavior  of  other  fans  and  police  will  come  and  deal  with  it  

•  Coach  provides  a  message  before  the  game  about  showing  good  sportsmanship  

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Preven3on  Facts  •  There  is  no  silver  bullet  

•  There  is  no  one  right  answer  or  approach  

•  It  is  not  the  responsibility  of  one  office  

•  It  is  not  the  responsibility  of  one  person  

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What  Works?  

• Preven3on  • Policies  • Prac3ces  

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Fan  Behavior  Timeline  

• Access  to  Alcohol  Ac3on  Team  

• Fan  Behavior  Task  Force  •  Role  of  video  from  colleague  

•  Building  rela3onship  with  the  Athle3c  Department  

•  Looking  at  the  issues  very  broadly  •  Safety  

• Public  rela3ons  

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Who  needs  to  be  at  the  table?  

•  Athle3c  Department  

•  Parking  opera3ons  •  Alumni  Rela3ons  

•  News  Bureau  •  Greek  Life  •  Wellness  Resource  Center  

•  Residen3al  Life  •  Campus  Police  

•  City  Police  •  Student  Ac3vi3es  •  Business  Services  •  Campus  Conduct  

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Teamwork  is  hard!!!  

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Helpful  Hints  to  Increase  Readiness  

•  Be  prepared—data,  data,  data  •  Be  flexible  •  Be  pa3ent  •  Be  persistent  •  Be  posi3ve  

“…our  very  survival  depends  on  our  ability  to  stay  awake,  to  adjust  to  new  ideas,  to  remain  vigilant  and  to  face  the  challenge  of  change.”              Dr.  Mar3n  Luther  King  

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Elements  of  a  Successful  Coali3on    

•  Everyone  has  input  from  beginning  

•  Everyone  gets  credit  for  their  role  

•  Collabora3on  not  compe33on  

•  Clear  lines  of  communica3ons  

•  Help  them  feel  empowered  

•  ANempt  to  reach  consensus        

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Turning  Points  

• NCAA  Choices  Grant  with  Athle3c  Director  Support  

• Closing  down  of  problema3c  areas  

 

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Our  Mission!  •     Create  a  posi3ve  IDENTITY  among  MIZZOU  FANS  

•     Promote  a  FUN  and  SAFE  environment  at  the  ZOU  

•     Model  appropriate  fan  behavior  for  other  schools  

•     Show  the  world  what  it  means  to  be  a  Mizzou  Tiger  

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Fan  Behavior    

•  We  Are  Mizzou…We  Take  Pride  In  Our  Choices  

•  Alcohol  

•  LiNering  

•  Sportsmanship  

•  Fan  behavior  website  •  Mizzoutailga3ng.com  

 

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Social  Norming:  It  is  all  in  how  you  look  at  it.  

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Fan  Behavior  Timeline  

•  Tailga3ng  survey  •  Social  norming  giveaways  before  games  

•  Social  norming  signs  throughout  tailga3ng  area  and  in  bathroom  stalls  

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Mizzou Tailgating Website

www.mizzoutailgating.com 30

Tailga3ng  Tips  •  Recipes  •  Games  

•  Tradi3ons  •  Alcohol  policies  and  laws  •  How  to  care  for  an  intoxicated  person  •  BAC  charts  •  Recycling    

 

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Informa3on  for  Out  of  Town  Fans  

•  Hotels  •  Restaurants  •  Columbia  Visitors  Bureau  

•  Parking  •  Maps  

•  Schedules  

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Game  Day  Informa3on  

•  Stadium  rules  

•  Guest  services  •  Game  Day  frequently  asked  ques3ons  

•  Events  before  kick  off  •  Emergency  numbers  

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Successes  in  the  first  three  years  

•  Changes  in  prac3ces  •  Sustainability    

•  Changes  in  policies  •  Closing  of  problema3c  tailga3ng  areas  

•  Turning  certain  areas  into  parking  only  with  no  tailga3ng  

•  Restricted  hours  in  some  parking  lots  

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Changes  in  Behavior  During  the  3  years  of  the  Grant  

•  47%  decrease  in  the  length  of  3me  students  tailgate  

•  11%  decrease  in  the  number  who  tailgate  longer  than  4  hours  

•  18%  increase  in  the  number  of  fans  who  drink  4  or  fewer  drinks  while  tailga3ng  

•  73%  decrease  in  the  number  of  student  ejec3ons  

•  59%  decrease  in  non  student  ejec3ons    

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Turning  Points  

• NCAA  Grant  ends  

•  Athle3c  Department  support  con3nues  

•  Became  a  member  of  the  SEC  

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We  knew  we  needed  to  make  a  change……    

Best  Fans  In  America  

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Expanded  Beyond  Tailgate  Areas  

•  Local  hotels  •  Local  bars  and  restaurants  •  Campus  offices  

•  Student  events  

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       “Thank  you  for  coming,”  Mizzou  fans  were    saying  upon  arrival.    It  con3nued  aker  the  game  in  which  Georgia  overcame  a  sluggish  start  and  took  command  of  the  contest  on  the  way  to  a  42-­‐20  victory.    

Georgia  Fan  Loran  Smith  is  a  contribu>ng  columnist  for  The  Daily  Ci>zen  

 

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 Perhaps  this  Missouri  hospitality  will  become  infec3ous.  Maybe  it  can  spread  to  other  campuses  and  have  all  SEC  schools  doing  what  Missouri  graciously  does  when  it  hosts  an  opponent.  This  seems  to  be  the  Missouri  mantra.  We  could  use  more  Missouri-­‐style  hospitality  in  the  SEC.    

 In  fact,  throughout  college  football.    

Loran  Smith  is  a  contribu>ng  columnist  for  The  Daily  Ci>zen  

 

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New  Challenges  

•  Budget  is  significantly  smaller  so  very  few  promo3onal  items  

•  Director  of  Athle3cs  and  Chancellor  both  re3red  •  Fan  behavior  survey  not  con3nued  •  Hard  to  keep  up  the  momentum  

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Lessons  Learned  •  Do  not  give  up.    It  took  several  years  of  having  a  fan  behavior  task  force  before  we  accomplished  much  of  anything.  

•  Using  posi3ve  messages  through  social  norming  works  with  all  ages,  not  just  college  students.  

•  Work  through  a  task  force  of  representa3ves  throughout  campus  because  you  cannot  do  it  alone    

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Lessons  Learned  

•  Must  have  policy  and  enforcement.    Educa3onal  alone  is  not  sufficient.  

•  Don’t  be  afraid  to  seek  support  from  the  top.      Not  much  can  be  accomplished  without  top  down  support.    

•  Meet  with  the  top  administrators  in  the  Athle3c  Department  to  help  them  understand  your  desire  to  work  together  as  a  team.  

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Kim  Dude  Director  of  the  Wellness  Resource  Center  

University  of  Missouri  DudeK@missouri.edu  

573-­‐882-­‐4634  

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