As our 2013-2014 athletic season comes to a close, we wanted to take the opportunity to send out a new external report highlighting new information for our fans and recapping some of our accomplishments from this past academic year. As always, thank you for your support of Bobcat Athletics!
Bobcat Bonanza
The Bobcat Club hosted the 26th annual Bobcat Bonanza on May 3rd, and a new benchmark was set for money raised for the fifth consecutive year. A combination of ticket sales, sponsorships, golf tournament proceeds, silent and live auction bids, and donations propelled the total amount raised during the day to $406,600, exceeding the previous year's record of $171,000 by more than $235,000. The 705 tickets sold also more than doubled the number of attendees from last year's event.
Bobcat Bonanza growth:
2008-09- $28,000
2009-10- $52,000
2010-11- $100,000
2011-12- $145,000
2012-13- $172,000
2013-14- $406,600
Called the "Gala on the Gridiron," Bobcat Bonanza was held on Jim Wacker Field inside Bobcat Stadium. Attendees were entertained by the 3 Painters speed painting troupe who created Bobcat-themed pieces of art including renderings of some of Texas State's more notable alumni such as President Lyndon B. Johnson, country music legend George Strait, and current Major League Baseball All Star Paul Goldschmidt. It was the first event of its kind ever held on the football field with the stadium lights on, the video boards scrolling "thank you" messages, and the world-famous Strutters serving as registration assistants and bid spotters during the live auction.
"The growth of this event has been remarkable," said Dr. Larry Teis, Director of Athletics. "Just five years ago, Bobcat Bonanza brought in a total of $28,000. Now we're raising more than $400,000. This mirrors the growth of the Bobcat Club annual fund which has grown 400% in the last five years to more than $1 million. Our fans have really stepped up as we have made this transition to FBS, and I'm very grateful for everyone's support, especially that of Jerry and Linda Fields. Jerry and Linda have been instrumental in our success and raising the expectations for Bobcat Bonanza over the last 3 years. We truly appreciate the generosity they provide in our largest fundraiser."
(Fans enjoy this year's Bonanza on the field at Bobcat Stadium)
Bobcat Club Introduces Pave the Way Initiative
Bobcat Bonanza also kicked off the Bobcat Club's annual membership drive and gave fans a first look at the department's new Pave the Way initiative. A new fundraising video, brochure and online giving center will soon be launched around the theme "Pave the Way" reinforcing the belief that giving back to Texas State Athletics is more than just a donation. By becoming a member of the Bobcat Club, our donors actively choose to impact the lives of our student-athletes both now and long after their time at Texas State.
Last year marked the first time in program history the Bobcat Club was able to secure more than $1 million in support of student-athlete scholarships, up from $214,000 from just five years ago.
With the help of the 34 Bobcat Club Leadership Council members statewide, the fundraising arm of the athletics department has been able to continue steady growth over the last five years. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of becoming a Bobcat Club member, please visit our online membership brochure at the following link -
http://txstatebobcatclub.com/sports/2013/7/24/Brochure.aspx?id=56
Next Level Challenge
Also new this year is the Bobcat Club's Next Level Challenge. The Bobcat Club is offering additional priority points to any donor that increases their membership level to the next level. Are you donor? Will you increase your donation to move to the next benefit level? Maroon level donor? Make the move to Bronze! Silver level donor? Make the move to Gold for additional benefits! Not only will you receive all the additional perks of your increased membership level, but we will award you one priority point for each level you jump. View our donor benefits chart at the following link:
http://txstatebobcatclub.com/do ents/2013/7/8/13-128_ATH_BobcatClub_PDF-8.pdf?id=13
(Fans entering this year's Bobcat Bonanza)
2014 Football Marketing and Promotional Schedule and Preview Sneak Peek
We have been working since the end of last football season to develop a comprehensive marketing plan for our 2014 football season. This plan includes specific game day promotional events designed to increase our attendance and continue to improve our game day atmosphere.
Last season we saw significant growth in our student football crowds and very positive trends in regards to our overall attendance. Student attendance increased in football by over 632 students per game from our 2012 to 2013 season. We averaged 3,305 students per game and scanned in 5,907 students for our home opener against Prairie View A&M. In comparing 2012 student attendance and 2013 student attendance, we identified several encouraging trends:
- We had three student crowds in 2013 higher than any student crowds in 2012 with the exception of the Texas Tech game.
- In 2013, our final two games of the season had student crowds higher than our average 2013 student crowd (3,702 students vs. South Alabama and 3,379 students vs. WKU). The trend was opposite in 2012, with student crowds diminishing as we finished the season.
- In 2012 we had three student crowds smaller than our smallest student crowd in 2013.
We had the #2 (Wyoming), #3 (Prairie View A&M), #4 (South Alabama), and #7 (WKU) highest single game attendances in school history. We had over 100,000 total football attendees for the 2nd time in school history (2012).
This season we have already identified several promotional items we are working to implement and will continue to add promotions and plans throughout the summer and during the season.
Our season opener on August 30th versus Arkansas Pine Bluff will be sponsored by Coca-Cola, and we are working on a giveaway for the game and a post game fireworks show. We have also finalized with our new Student Government leaders that we will be continuing our Freshman Tailgate events hosted by Student Government, Athletics, the Loud Crowd, and Student Affairs. These tailgates are put on for freshman only and last year served as an ideal place for our new freshman fans to hang out and experience tailgating before our games. The first game of the season will also include a Young Alumni Tailgate hosted by the Bobcat Club and a collaborative tailgate effort hosted by the Alumni Association and the "T" Association.
(Freshman Students enjoying the Freshman Tailgate Zone)
Our game against Navy on September 13th will be Family Day hosted by the Texas State Parent and Family Relations Association and also Military Appreciation Day. We are teaming up with our game sponsor H-E-B and also Brown Distributing to provide a first class tailgate event for military personnel along with discounted tickets. We have been working with Navy detachments as well as Army and Air Force bases to promote the game. H-E-B has also committed to a post-game fireworks show and a premium giveaway at the game.
Texas State Greek Affairs is again working with Athletics to ensure that Greek attendance is high at the September 13th game by initiating their new members the morning of the game and allowing Athletics to recognize each organization during the game. The Texas State "Pride of the Hill Country" Marching band is coordinating a "Band Alumni Day" for the second-straight season. Similar to the first game of the season, tailgating for the Navy game will also consist of a Freshman Tailgate and Alumni Association/"T" Association tailgate. The Family Association also plans to host a large tailgate for their members, and we are very excited to welcome the Naval Academy Alumni Association and their members to a pre-game tailgate.
October 4th vs. Idaho is Homecoming for the Bobcats and will be sponsored by the Seton Healthcare Family. Several events for the game already include a cheer reunion, Alumni Association and "T" Association tailgate, recognition of our 2014 Distinguished Alumni, and a full calendar of Homecoming events including a volleyball home match against UL-Lafayette.
On Tuesday, October 14th we host UL-Lafayette on ESPN 2 in what promises to be one of the most exciting games of the season sponsored by Frost. We are working with several areas on campus to help ensure a great student turnout for the event for television and are planning several events to engage the Central Texas community. We have already received a great response from our Greek community on campus about attending the game and moving their normally scheduled Tuesday evening chapter meetings. We are working with the Alumni Association on ticket and hotel packages for their members. We have had preliminary discussions with Chamber of Commerce leaders about hosting a Central Texas tailgate mixer before the game. We plan to work with Residential Life on our "Storm the Stands" promotion and have assigned this game as our Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day.
November 8th vs. Georgia Southern will be sponsored by Brown Distributing and will be the center point of "T" Association Athletic Alumni Weekend. It will also be Dance and Cheer Team Day at Bobcat Stadium, as we welcome high school and junior high teams to perform with the Strutters and Texas State Cheerleaders. We have also tentatively scheduled November 8th as our Pink Out Game to promote breast cancer awareness.
Our final home game of the season on Thursday, November 20th against Arkansas State on ESPNU will give us another opportunity to play in front of a nationally-televised audience. This game is sponsored by Wells Fargo. With the help of student government, the game will mark our "Pack Bobcat Stadium" promotion. Similar to what was done last year before our Western Kentucky game, our student leaders will initiate on-campus awareness and promotions geared towards making sure we have a great turnout at Bobcat Stadium.
(Pack Bobcat Stadium Quad Rally before last season's game against Western Kentucky)
All of these promotions and more are listed on the football schedule found at www.txstatebobcats.com/footballschedule
Several of the promotions which were started last year including the "Bobcats Win, You Win" hot wings promotion presented by H-E-B will continue in 2014. When the Bobcats win a game on the road or at home all fans will receive six free wings at the Post Game Patio located at H-E-B on East Hopkins.
Freshman/Student cultivation
Student attendance increased for football last season due in large part to a commitment in engaging our freshman class, this included participating and arranging freshman tailgate with Student Government, Fandemonium at new student convocation, a post new student convocation event at Bobcat Stadium, participating in all new student orientations and Cat Camps, implementing a "Storm the Stands" Residential Life promotion, "Pack Bobcat Stadium" Student Government promotion, and our increased relationship with the Center for Student Retention. This summer we plan to continue all of the above events, while continuing to tweak and expand other programs.
With the help of new student orientation, we will also again host all of our incoming student's parents at Bobcat Stadium this summer during 18 evening events to promote our department and ticket opportunities.
We are also excited to expand upon our involvement with Bobcat Preview (formerly Paws Preview) and host our entire incoming freshman class in smaller, more intimate groups at Bobcat Stadium to promote University pride and traditions. These events will be held in August right before the start of the academic year.
We also want to thank Dr. Dann Brown, Dean of the University College, for his assistance in allowing Athletics to attend the University Seminar Instructor Development workshops this past month. It was a great opportunity for us to discuss athletics in front of each of the seminar instructors. |
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