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April 8, 2015 | Volume 13, Issue 4
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THE TAMPA BAY SPORTS COMMISSION PARTNERS WITH THE NCAA TO PROMOTE THE 2015 WOMEN'S
FINAL FOUR
The NCAA creates a "Dribble to Work Day" promotion to raise awareness for the 2015 Women's Final Four basketball tournament.
By: Alby Abalos
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Click the image above to view how "Dribble to Work Day" took over Tampa Bay!
Dear Faithful Readers,
Hard to believe the craziness of March Madness finally came to a close last night with the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball team claiming their 10th National Championship under head coach, Geno Auriemma.
The game last night took place in Tampa Bay, Florida. Arguably one of the coolest promotions this year in sports also took place in Tampa Bay leading up to the Women’s Final Four. Below you will find a unique promotion done around the city of Tampa Bay that gained huge attention both locally and nationally.
The results of the promotion have been phenomenal, which is a direct reflection on the program itself. Not only would it be fun to participate in the Dribble to Work Day, but it’s also fun to browse through social media and check out everyone else who has been doing it.
Check it out!
Ryan Heidrich
P.S. - Don’t forget to stay engaged on social media! Follow @NatlSportsForum on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook!
PROGRAM TITLE
NCAA: Dribble to Work Day
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OBJECTIVES
With the Women’s Final Four being played in Tampa Bay, Florida this April, the NCAA wanted to rally the city around the special event. The NCAA wanted to show the fans and the community how important they are to the success of this event by creating an exciting promotion. They also hoped to draw the attention to the unveiling of the women’s basketball bracket that day to help sell tickets to all rounds of the championship.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
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At the core of marketing women’s basketball is community. The NCAA looked to raise awareness for the Women’s Final Four in Tampa Bay and generate enthusiasm and excitement in the community. They wanted to run a grassroots promotion that would resonate in Tampa Bay, but also garner attention across the country.
With this in mind, the NCAA came up with the “Dribble to Work Day” promotion. The NCAA distributed basketballs downtown to business professionals. They challenged the community to grab a basketball and literally dribble the ball to work. Fans participated by dribbling a basketball to work and some even at work. Many individuals in the community caught on to the promotion and dribbled all around Tampa Bay. Professional athletes from the Tampa Bay Rays, Buccaneers, and Lighting as well as USF athletes also joined the promotion.
The NCAA was able to get creative with their promotion, which helped keep the costs down. “Dribble to Work Day” created more buzz than a number of paid advertisings because it was authentic and fun. Tracie Hitz, Director, NCAA states, “I’m proud of this promotion because of the teamwork that went into creating something unique in the community because that is what is at the heart of women’s basketball. The community. It shows that when you get creative, you don’t need a huge budget to tell your story."
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Click the image above to view the "Dribble to Work Day" social media recap!
PARTNERSHIP
The NCAA partnered with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission for the promotion. Rob Higgins, Executive Director for the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, then reached out to their partners to get support for the idea. Having the Tampa Bay Rays, Buccaneers, Lightning and USF athletes and coaches making cameos that day got sports fans talking about women’s basketball. Their support helped the NCAA cross promote the Women’s Final Four among sports.
Rob Higgins states, “This promotion was a great testament to the partnership between the NCAA and our community. We’re proud of how our professional franchises, USF, local businesses and community supporters rallied around the idea to show support for the 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four being hosted in our hometown.”
RESULTS
The Tampa Bay community was highly engaged with the “Dribble to Work Day” promotion. “Dribble to Work Day” had nearly 700 social media posts using the hashtag #WFFDribble. As a result of those posts, nearly 5 million social media impressions were generated.
For women’s basketball, the top factor when deciding whether to attend is the teams competing. For this reason, the NCAA decided to have “Dribble to Work Day” on Selection Monday. This drove people to sites and to ESPN to watch the unveiling of the 64-team field in the tournament. Local media picked up on the promotion after seeing its popularity on social media and the promotion received three stories/placements the same day. ESPN SportsCenter also featured this promotion.
The attendance for the first and second round was up almost an average of 1,000 over the previous year. University of South Florida hosted one of the first and second rounds, and they recorded the fifth-highest attendance (5,560 for the first round and 5,014 for the second round) among the 16 sites (only behind basketball powerhouses South Carolina, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Maryland).
The 2015 Women’s Final Four Super Saturday event generated more than 774,000 impressions via NCAA Social Media (up from 186,000 on 2014 Super Saturday). The Sunday Semifinal games resulted in the NCAA’s highest attendance for a Women’s Final Four game since 2010, with 19,730 fans in attendance. There were 1,260,170 social media impressions during the Sunday Semifinal games alone (up 41 percent from 2014 national semifinals). “Dribble to Work Day” helped the NCAA brand women’s basketball and expose people to the women’s game.
LOOKING AHEAD
The “Dribble to Work Day” promotion showed people that women’s basketball is fun. In addition to the intense competition that goes into the tournament, being part of the sport is about the community. This promotion allowed the NCAA to showcase how important the fans and the community are to the sport of basketball.
The NCAA will continue this promotion on Selection Monday in each city that hosts the Women’s Final Four, which will be in Indianapolis next year. They hope to grow the event to include more cities in the future. Tampa Bay plans for this to be an annual tradition in their community to support women’s basketball whether they are hosting the Women’s Final Four or not.
CONTACT
For more Information, contact:
Tracie Hitz, Director, Championships and Alliances, NCAA
Rob Higgins, Executive Director, Tampa Bay Sports Commission
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL SPORTS FORUM
The National Sports Forum is the largest annual cross-gathering of the top team sports marketing, sales, promotions, and event entertainment executives from throughout the broad spectrum of teams and leagues in North America. The 2016 NSF Conference and Trade Show will be held on February 14 - 16, 2016 in Portland, OR. Visit www.sports-forum.com.
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