Purple Haze Game

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GV Dad
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Last year's game at Montana State was their "Gold Rush" game. One game a year, I think their's is the first home game, they do a push to sell out the stadium and everyone wears Gold Montana State gear. We're starting a grass roots campaign to do something very similar at Western. The Purple Haze game! We're looking for ideas on what we can do/offer to get 15,000 at Hanson Field for 1 game next year? Interested in all and any ideas. Remember, this is focused on just 1 game, not increasing average attendance for an entire season.
rocki
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Free admission to anyone in Leatherneck and/or purple gear? Or are you looking for a bigger "reward"?
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sealhall74
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15K is a pretty high bar to get to. IMHO, the rewards would have to be high to get that many people to come out. Free food, T shirts, or something. Some sort of referral campaign also might work. I.E. you buy a ticket and refer some family member(s) or friend(s) to buy a ticket, they each can refer some more people who buy ticket(s). The entire ticket network is essentially a bunch of hierarchical tree structures like the one pictured below. The bigger your referral tree underneath you, the more YOUR ticket gets discounted or the bigger your reward in some other fashion. The devil would be in the details. People usually have to pay for tickets ahead of time. We would need software tied to the ticket sales in order to keep track of the ticket network, make sure people show up to game, and figure out what reward dividend is at each level in the trees. The reward could be a credit to your ticket account good for future games. There also could be a contest to recognize and reward in some fashion the top 3 ticket tree structures for the game and draw those trees on the video board.

UPDATE: After sleeping on it, I think the only reward that would draw an extra 10K people into Hanson Field would be the opportunity to win a new vehicle. I still like my ticket referral campaign to increase the odds of a person winning that vehicle.

The Math and Computer Science departments would love to get involved in this, I think. I know I would. ;)

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GV Dad
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The 15,000 number would be the eventual goal. I realize that won't happen overnight. So I don't think we need massive giveaways to get there. And by grass roots, we mean at the individual level. Yes, we would need some help from the Athletic Dept to make it work, but not completely. Some examples of what we already have thought of.

1) Asking our parents group to at least double our attendance. So if our normal group is 4 friends and family, for this game we would bring at least 8.
2) Spotts has led the growth of the Player Alumni group. We would ask them to make an attendance push for this as well.
3) Haven't spoken with him yet, but hoping Scott could put together a big tailgate for Band Alums and their friends and families.
4) The Football Players Family group has already started a tradition of buying group tickets for one game a year and donating them to youth groups in and around Macomb. We would do this for this game.

We are hoping to build the tradition to the point where this game is a potential sellout every year. But even if we fall short, 10,000 would be a fun day at Hanson Field.
wiu712
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The October 17 game with Illinois State would be perfect for this "Purple Haze Game".
GV Dad
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wiu712 wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2019 7:36 pm The October 17 game with Illinois State would be perfect for this "Purple Haze Game".
You know, I was torn on when in the season to schedule it. If we wanted to do it the first home game to get the season started on a high note? Or if we wanted to piggy back off of HC? Or a game like ISU because they away team would travel well?
rocki
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GV Dad wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:33 pm
wiu712 wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2019 7:36 pm The October 17 game with Illinois State would be perfect for this "Purple Haze Game".
You know, I was torn on when in the season to schedule it. If we wanted to do it the first home game to get the season started on a high note? Or if we wanted to piggy back off of HC? Or a game like ISU because they away team would travel well?
ISU tends to be our biggest rivalry in the conference, so that would help. Of course, if you choose to do it against a particular rival then the next year you would have to do it at another home game since we trade off home and away.
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sealhall74
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If you are looking for that one game to create a BIG splash with, you probaby have to do something similar to what Taylor U (NAIA) does with their Silent Night basketball game in December. Crazy costumes, camp out the night before to get the best seat and, of course, even bend the rules of the game just a bit to build a tradition that lives on from year to year. You have to do something that no one else would do. It gives you a national spotlight that everyone wants to participant in. They could sell 10K tickets for that game easily if they had a gym big enough to hold that many.

Embrace the pace of the race.
Rich K
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MSU's Gold Rush is a great event. After reading the OP I tried to remember how it got started and my friends at BobcatNation.com filled in some details.
I quoted GV Dad to kick off the thread:
http://bobcatnation.com/bobcatbb/viewto ... 20&t=47626

Here's a great little video that captures the mood. That was one heck of a good game last year and I'm expecting another great game in your home.

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Western_101
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Montana State is a proud program. I see high schools and D-III rip off D-I schools monikers.


Really you're doing "Cats" like "Cal" as in Cal Berkeley. Come on you are D-I stop trying to look like some other school ( Yes this applies to you Tennessee Tech, or LSU Lite). Either way it's kinda weak and has an aspect of trying to be something.... well, you ain't.

Get an Identity already.
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