Brought back by popular demand, the second annual Bobcat Blackout game was held on Wednesday, November 7th when Ohio faced off against Bowling Green on the gridiron. With a national television audience to impress on ESPN2, the Sports Administration students hit the ground running early in the season, and once again created a t-shirt package promotion aimed at increasing attendance at the game.
This project gave students the opportunity to gain more experience in event planning, marketing, and sales and was one of the most successful campaigns put together by the Sports Administration program to date, with 3,000 packages sold overall. This blew away last year’s sales mark of 1,700 and this increased total will allow for the funding of two graduate assistantships for the class of 2014.
The t-shirt, designed by Britton Spark (’13), was unveiled at the first home football game in September and MSA students sold the packages at every game thereafter. A highlight of the Bobcat Blackout marketing efforts was the flash mob organized by Laura Waters-Brown (’13). This spectacle featured both students in the program and several from the Ohio University School of Dance and was held in front of Baker Student Center the day before the game, creating a significant buzz on campus surrounding the event. The YouTube video of the mob is featured below.
Overall, Bobcat Blackout was a great success and a valuable learning experience for the on campus students. The Center for Sports Administration would like to thank Ohio Athletics for their continued support of the program and Russell Athletic for supplying the shirts. Such great work experiences are a hallmark of the Sports Administration program at Ohio University, and highlight one of the many reasons why we are all so fortunate to be a part of the family.
