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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Todd Vennis added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Just because my dad always said this when he was a college coach.
Those involved in College Wrestling are the worst marketers in the world.
Think of this-
Our premier event in the sport--- The NCAA Div. I championship- an event, that because of America's love for college sports that could parlay into a bigger audience. We choose to have it the same weekend as the most popular college sporting event on the entertainment landscape- the first two rounds of the NCAA Mens B.B. tournament. This great event gets burried and forgotten by the media. Why do we keep our championship here?
Wrestling should adjust our schedule to move away from this weekend. Their isn't even a need for wrestling to be a winter sport in college. There are few multi-sport athletes, except in Div. III, any more.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Mark Palumbo added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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You would think Wrestling would play up the combat angle of the sport, thus piggybacking on MMA and the UFC. Those guys know how to market and they could be the savior of college wrestling. Those who read this may not like to think of these sports together becuse we love wrestling, but the average person will and it can be spun into a positive.
I'd like to see a head line something like this -"The Original sport.
The oldest and toughest sporting event any place in the world. Come see todays Gladiators; only the strong will survive, NCAA wrestling"
Also doing away with the bye week so you can avoid b-ball opening weekend would be nice.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Preaching to the choir, Coach. College wrestling has gained exposure in spite of itself given the existence of flowrestling, cstv, the Big Ten network, etc...
Ohio State v Kent matchup received zero coverage in the PD in spite of the fact they had a huge crowd on a slow sports night. You know why? I'll bet no one from either staff bothered to write a press release and send it.
The OAC Finals were televised on STO yet not one coach from those programs bothered to post that info on this website.
College wrestling programs get dropped in part because of the sports invisibility to the public. You'd think staffs at every program left standing--regardless of division--would write a release each week regarding their program. Certainly I would. And I'd send it to every website and major area newspaper. And the biggest programs should cover the state. All you need is two-three paragraphs, and a few fax numbers or email addresses from major media outlets. But coaches don't bother doing even these most basic tasks.
I think that one of the reasons so many wrestling programs have been dropped is because of lazy coaches that never looked beyond their own program and considered the sport as a whole. It continues to this day.
I think the NWCA should send an info packet to every coach in the country offering marketing tips and then appoint a chair person in each state whose job is to make sure that these programs are utilizing these tools.
Incidentally, the NCAA basketball tourney doesn't obscure coverage of nationals. There's plenty of room in every major paper to write articles about it. In fact, ESPN will once again cover the finals. It's about marketing.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
John Flanigan added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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There also needs to be better marketing to educate viewers earlier. When I was in high school, we had a home-and-home with another local school. The first year, we went to their gym and wrestled in front of the entire student body in an afternoon assembly. The following year, they came to our place and we did the same thing.
The atmosphere there was amazing, as the students got a better appreciation for what we did. Events like this expose the sport to people who may not understand it and really opens up the door for greater fan support.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Ken Ramsey Sr. added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"Preaching to the choir, Coach. College wrestling has gained exposure in spite of itself given the existence of flowrestling, cstv, the Big Ten network, etc...
Ohio State v Kent matchup received zero coverage in the PD in spite of the fact they had a huge crowd on a slow sports night. You know why? I'll bet no one from either staff bothered to write a press release and send it.
The OAC Finals were televised on STO yet not one coach from those programs bothered to post that info on this website.
College wrestling programs get dropped in part because of the sports invisibility to the public. You'd think staffs at every program left standing--regardless of division--would write a release each week regarding their program. Certainly I would. And I'd send it to every website and major area newspaper. And the biggest programs should cover the state. All you need is two-three paragraphs, and a few fax numbers or email addresses from major media outlets. But coaches don't bother doing even these most basic tasks.
I think that one of the reasons so many wrestling programs have been dropped is because of lazy coaches that never looked beyond their own program and considered the sport as a whole. It continues to this day.
I think the NWCA should send an info packet to every coach in the country offering marketing tips and then appoint a chair person in each state whose job is to make sure that these programs are utilizing these tools.
Incidentally, the NCAA basketball tourney doesn't obscure coverage of nationals. There's plenty of room in every major paper to write articles about it. In fact, ESPN will once again cover the finals. It's about marketing."
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Hank:
In college it is a little naive to think the coaches would not promote their product. The problem is not the coaches, the problem is the Athletic Departments who all have Athletic Directors who care only for the revenue making sports. The Athletic Directors control the Sports Information Departments, which control all the information about sports that are under the institutions control. Any release for wrestling must go through them and if you haven't heard the coaches complaining about not getting any cooperation from these people, ask them. Over the years I have talked to many D1 coaches and 100% complain of the non-cooperation of the Sports Information Department at their school. It almost seems as if they are trying to hold the sport back. Wrestling is a sleeping giant that, with any reasonable help from the Sports Information Departments, could become a major sport (very similar to basketball).
Many coaches have told me stories of doing things on their own to report coming events, results of events or special promotions for an event only to be reprimanded by the school. Some were warned that if happened again they could be let go.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Ken: Thanks for the correction. I apologize for popping off without knowing what I was talking about.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Leo Zimmer added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Hank and Ken both make good points....
Ken is right, in that wrestling programs often get little or no support, however Hank makes an excellent point. If the SID won't market your program the way it should be marketed, then do it yourself. These are major universities we are talking about, they could surely find a marketing major or two that would be willing to intern with the wrestling program.
I know that the Buckeye Wrestling Report I get in my email comes directly from Joe Heskett... not some generic email address. This shows me that coach Heskett and coach Ryan took it upon themselves to market the program... more kudos for them
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"Ken: Thanks for the correction. I apologize for popping off without knowing what I was talking about."
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So I was right? <crazy>
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Ken Ramsey Sr. added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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Quote from Leo Zimmer's post:
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"Hank and Ken both make good points....
Ken is right, in that wrestling programs often get little or no support, however Hank makes an excellent point. If the SID won't market your program the way it should be marketed, then do it yourself. These are major universities we are talking about, they could surely find a marketing major or two that would be willing to intern with the wrestling program.
I know that the Buckeye Wrestling Report I get in my email comes directly from Joe Heskett... not some generic email address. This shows me that coach Heskett and coach Ryan took it upon themselves to market the program... more kudos for them"
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Over the last 20 years most of the Head Coaches have had one of their assistants do a wrestling report of what is happening with their team. Over the last 4-5 years most of the teams have gone to interactive web sites to compliment their news letters. This has given wrestling added exposure and helps ignite the growth of the numerous wrestling blogs. The blogs and sites like Flowrestling are starting to increase fan interest in wrestling.
The main point of my original reply was to help people understand that no matter what the coaches do they are fighting an uphill battle with the SIDs who are getting their instructions from the Athletic Directors. The ADs want to protect their "Cash Cows" (Football and Basketball) and do not want wrestling taking away from those sports.
Tom Ryan seems to be getting better cooperation from the Athletic Dept., which he should since they are paying him almost double what they paid Hellickson. They have also increased the wrestling budget to increase the monies to pay staff and do the other things needed to improve the program. Being paid more favorably allows the assistants to spend more of their time on the program and not have to spend the off season doing extra camps and clinics to supplement their income. Hopefully this support will continue and the success will open the eyes of other school's ADs.
The "Sport of College Wrestling" could easily do one thing to promote itself, "Start the wrestling season in early January after the bowl games and end with the NCAA Finals in early May." No competition against other sports in a dead period.
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Jeff Cole added to this discussion on March 20, 2008
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I have to agree...Not the coach's fault...for the last upteen years, Kent State, Cleveland State, and Ohio State have made me aware of upcoming matches that Cable 9 has covered. The problem has been from the athletic departments who seem to be naive as to what is going on. In fact, this year, when we covered the KSU vs OSU match, we were told somebody from the athletic department would be there to assist us as to where we could put our cameras, announcers, etc. I had to tell them this was about the 6th year we had been there and know what we are doing, but still had to deal with a person who still wanted to treat us like we didn't know what we were doing..."too many cooks in the kitchen" came to mind.
Jeff Cole, Cable 9
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Discussion Topic: Poor Marketing in College Wrestling
Ken Ramsey Sr. added to this discussion on March 21, 2008
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"
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Quote from Hank Kornblut's post:
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"Ken: Thanks for the correction. I apologize for popping off without knowing what I was talking about."
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So I was right? <crazy>"
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Hank:
Believe me, unless major changes have been made, I am 100% sure nothing is released without being approved by the SID. Nothing! If it does head(s) could roll.
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