Student Game Attendance – Root Cause Problem Solving
Rather than toss the same comments back and forth about student attendance, I figured I’d try a different approach. At work, we use “Root Cause Problem Solving” that identifies the problems, then drills down to the root causes….then brainstorms potential solutions.
Why don’t more students attend UConn football games?
Problem: Transportation.
- North Garage to the Rent is 30 minutes per Google Maps.
- Students without cars rely on bus transportation – poor travel experience, not fun.
- Students with cars have to pay for parking and it’s not easy to tailgate with friends.
Solutions:
- Make the bus ride a better experience. Music (picked by students). Merch giveaways that are worth winning (TV’s, coolers, etc). Police escort like the team bus. Athlete ambassadors on the bus (mens/women’s basketball, alums of all sports). Make the ride not “seem” as long or boring.
- One complaint is the bus leaving and students potentially missing the ride. Maybe extend the departure time and allow for more post-game stuff? Or have early buses and later buses?
- Section off an area right next to the stadium for free student parking. Call the student tailgate lot something like “The Pound” and let them have their own communal area. Show your ID and get access in with your car.
- What about this? What about a camping area with a Friday night huge bonfire? Make a tent city like they do outside Gampel again, with a DJ or players/coaches bringing food. Maybe even extend the camping to RVs and trailers for non-students to make it a “weekend” type event like other schools.
Problem: Tailgating.
- If you are on the bus, you can’t bring a cooler or grill or cornhole set.
- If you drive yourself, you are still a student, likely don’t have a grill and it’d be lame to have 4-8 students hanging around with nothing to really eat or do.
Solutions:
- Assemble a tailgate or “football gameday entertainment” council to specifically address this issue.
- Sponsored food in tailgate area for students. Leverage local companies and business (Big Y, Moe’s, Bears BBQ). Minimal cost to get in ($5.00 or less), use Husky Bucks, free food if alumni or other donors can cover some/all costs. Make it good enough to be worth while.
- Leverage matchups with food – Wings vs Buffalo, Cheesesteaks vs Temple, etc.
- Offer eating contests for fun/prizes.
- Come up with our own version of ESPN College Gameday.
- Tailgate game area – cornhole, washers, etc. Offer tournaments to those interested.
- DJ or live music acts.
- Leverage local bars like Teds or Huskies to maybe have “Teds South” trailers or RV’s. Use their brand to generate buzz.
- Important: Get a student council with representation from all classes, Greek life, backgrounds, ethnicities to what THEY want or would think is worth it.
9/28 – The student section at the Rent was 85-90% empty. The men’s soccer game at 7 pm had 4400 in attendance vs a 5100 capacity at Morrone Stadium. They’re GOING to events. If the only issue is being off-campus, work with them to make it worth making the trip because right now, they clearly don’t think that it is.
- The elephant in the room is alcohol, obviously. Alcohol in general and underage drinking (with the problems that come with all that). You’re not getting them down to games without drinking (for legal students) so that’s an item that needs to be figured out.
