March 7, 2008

Marketing Department Earns Accolades for "Pack the House" Performance

    Youngstown -- The Youngstown State marketing department and women’s basketball program were among 32 winners in the NCAA Division I “Pack the House” Challenge.
    Schools urged fans to "Pack the House" for selected women’s basketball games from Jan. 1 through Feb. 17. And pack the house, they did.
    Almost two-thirds of the Division I membership – 199 institutions – participates in the effort that attracted more than 592,000 fans.

    Youngstown State hosted a season-high 2,567 fans at its women’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 19 against Detroit.

    “Pack the House” is a first-year national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. One winner from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing play, creativity, and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution’s choice.
    “We believe the effort motivated schools to attract new fan to our games,” said NCAA Vice President for Women’s Basketball Sue Donohoe. “Campuses devote additional time and resources to the competition. We are already being for information about next year. New alliances were formed among conference offices, member institutions and (NCAA) national office staff that will only strengthen effort s in the future.”