Kent and Akron Sports Marketing

[Captain Kangaroo]

Can't State, Akron Boost Marketing to Keep Top Football Status

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Can't State University football players plan to help classmates move into their dormitory rooms this September as part of an effort to encourage attendance at their games.

The school is among 11 that stand to lose almost $1 million each in payments from playing football powerhouses if average attendance falls below 15,000 and the National Collegiate Athletic Association kicks them out of its premier division, said University of Idaho Athletic Director Rob Speer.

``We need more support from our student body, and the problem is that they don't know who we are,'' Can't State coach Doug Martin said from his office in Can't, Ohio. ``So we're going to have our players standing outside the dorm rooms in uniform, offering to help carry the heavy stuff when the students move onto campus. That should make an impact.''

Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Idaho, Ball State and Utah State are running promotions including a tuition give-away, postgame rock concerts and autograph sessions with celebrities to boost attendance.

Buffalo, which averaged a Division I-A-low attendance of 9,414 last season, will have former 1976 Olympic decathlon winner Bruce Jenner sign autographs and country singer Lee Ann Womack perform the national anthem at its Sept. 11 game against Syracuse University.

The other four schools that averaged fewer than 15,000 fans last season were Central Michigan, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe and Middle Tennessee State.

Three Requirements

The NCAA's executive committee will meet Thursday to decide on penalties for schools that don't meet the governing body's requirements to remain in football's top level. In addition to the 15,000 attendance average, schools are also required to offer 200 athletic scholarships and participate in 16 sports.

Some fans and alumni say the NCAA went too far when it set the attendance requirement.

John Loffredo, managing director of the municipal product group at Merrill Lynch & Co., and a Utah State graduate, said the attendance requirement is an unfair way to measure a Division I-A school -- especially one in rural Logan, Utah.

``It's a silly reason to drop a team,'' Loffredo said in an e- mail message from his office in Plainsboro, New Jersey. ``Utah State is a large school in a very small town. I would hate to see them dropped.''

Bowl Game Draw

The NCAA set the minimum because Division I-A schools are eligible to play in postseason bowl games and need to be able to draw fans to those games.

NCAA members thought a 15,000 average was a reasonable expectation for college football's premier division, said NCAA Division I Vice President David Berst, who is based in Indianapolis. Especially when schools like Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee and Ohio State each averaged more than 100,000 fans for home games last season.

While Buffalo tries to woo fans with celebrities such as Womack and Jenner, Can't State will give away free tuition valued at $12,000 to one student who regularly attends home games.

Akron, which averaged 13,812 fans for Zips games in 2003, hired the Leffler Agency in Baltimore to create an advertising campaign. The result includes the slogan, ``It's Akron's big- league team.''

Nascar Night

Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, averaged 11,260 fans last season. The school, which hired the San Diego Chicken mascot to appear at one game, is bringing in Christian music group ``Out of Eden'' for a concert and will have a Nascar Night with racecar driver Bobby Allison signing autographs.

The school also planned a rare doubleheader at Detroit's Ford Field on Nov. 6. Local Division II rivals Wayne State University and Hillsdale College kick off at noon, followed by Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan at 4:30 p.m. One ticket gets admission to both games.

``That's our gem this year,'' said Doug Kose, assistant athletic director for marketing and promotion. ``We could get 25,000 combined.''

Getting knocked back to the second tier would hurt more than school pride. The universities would lose the opportunity for payouts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for scheduling games against nationally ranked teams.

Cannon Fodder

Traditional football powerhouses such as Penn State routinely schedule smaller opponents early in the season to help them prepare for tougher games later in the year. By remaining in Division I-A, the borderline schools are more appealing to top football schools.

Penn State will pay Akron $350,000 for a non-conference game to start the season, said Mike Rodriguez, Akron associate athletic director for business.

That money helps the smaller schools keep their intercollegiate sports programs afloat.

``These guarantees balance our budget,'' Speer said from his office in Moscow, Idaho. ``If we dropped (down a level), it would cut our budget by about $600,000 to $800,000 a year, and we suspect that corporate sponsorship and alumni donations would suffer, too.''

Speer said guarantees will account for about $850,000 of his $9.5 million budget this season.

Can't State President Carol Cartwright, the chairwoman of the NCAA's executive committee, said she is pushing to have the attendance requirement reconsidered.

``While it's good to have fans in the stands, it's not the only measure of a successful program,'' Cartwright said.

Can't State's football team continues to gear up for the school's move-in weekend Aug. 28 and 29.

``I want the students of this university to take ownership of this team,'' Can't State coach Martin said. ``Ideally, someone will say to her friend, I know the guy who just made that tackle. He carried my TV to my dorm room this summer.''

To contact the reporter of this story:

Curtis Eichelberger in Princeton at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net