The document outlines recommendations to increase attendance at University of San Diego Men's Basketball games by improving the game atmosphere, engaging the local community, enhancing pregame events, modernizing ticketing strategies, and developing a loyalty program. It suggests holding special event nights, moving student sections, utilizing local high school bands, conducting a food drive, advertising in nearby areas, hosting networking events, and creating an app to boost engagement. The recommendations aim to attract more fans, especially females and families, through community involvement, exciting atmospheres, and enhanced experiences around the games.

1. USD
Basketball
1

2. University of San
Diego Men’s
Basketball
Implementation Plan For
Increasing Attendance
By: Matt Dullea, Andy Didio, Paul Hollis, Ben
Lev, Alec Diersing
2

3. Executive Summary
As consultants for the University of San Diego Men’s Basketball Program, our group was
given the challenge to come up with strategies to help the Toreros increase attendance
for season ticket holders and increase attendance amongst students. After our initial
meeting with Steve Becvar and Lauren Brosamer and visiting the Jenny Craig Pavilion our
group was able to gain a better understanding of the USD Basketball Program and the
services that they offer to fans.
Our research consisted of primary research through a survey sent to the season ticket
holders of Toreros basketball and posted on the USD Athletic Social Media Pages, along
with Scarborough research data. Through this research and the challenges that were
presented to us by the Basketball Department we were able to create multiple
recommendations that we believe will be able to aid the Basketball Program.
Our first set of recommendations is to increase the level of excitement in Torero’s games.
We feel that through these recommendations the atmosphere in the Jenny Craig Pavilion
can become electric by keeping students and fans involved throughout the game. Our
first recommendation is to implement a “Spa Night” to entice female fans to come to
USD games. Our second recommendation is to have a USD Athletic Recognition night.
Current USD athletic teams can be recognized before the game to present a sense of
community amongst all sports. We also believe that introducing a Torero’s Sprit game will
help boost atmosphere and bring a new sense of excitement to the JCP. Another
recommendation we believe will increase excitement is to relocate the student section
to behind the opponent’s bench. This will bring a new sense of noise to the JCP and also
limit where opponents fans can be seated. Finally, we recommend that USD brings in
high school bands for select home games. Local San Diego high schools have bands that
can come in and bring a new volume to the JCP and ignite the crowd in ways that the
current pep band cannot do simply because of numbers of musicians. These high schools
can even use tickets to fundraise for USD athletics and the basketball game.
Our second set of recommendations revolve around the local community. We believe
that by utilizing the surrounding area will create a greater sense of community amongst
USD fans. Our first idea involves a canned food drive to bring local children to the game
and increase participation in Diego’s Kids Club. We also feel that advertising in the local
community in Old Town and Linda Vista will help increase attendance.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
3

4. Executive Summary
Our third set of recommendations are to increase the number of pregame and
postgame events based on our survey data. We had the idea of holding a networking
event before Torero’s games. Students can meet with local alumni on campus before
heading over to the game to introduce themselves and network themselves. Another
possibility is to team up with a local restaurant to have ticket holders present their
ticket following a game to receive half off of their first drink.
Our fourth set of recommendations has to do with ticket sales. We believe that by
featuring the sale of ticket packages it will entice more people to come to a select
grouping of games and increase attendance. We also feel that variable ticket pricing
will be able to increase attendance by having lower attended games more
affordable. Finally we feel that employing a graduate assistant to help sell tickets will
lead to greater attendance and ticket sales.
Finally our last set of recommendations revolves around a loyalty program. The first
phase would be the creation of an app so students and fans can “check-in” when
they arrive at the JCP. The second phase deals with recent graduates of USD to keep
them fans after they have already graduated. Finally faculty and staff are invited to
attend more games and incentivized to attend games through the season.
Our report will outline some of the costs or our recommendations as well as outline the
benefits that can be derived and how our ideas can be implemented into the USD
schedule.
The challenge that the University of San Diego Men’s Basketball team faces is a lack of
attendees, particularly season ticket holders who have purchased tickets but do not
attend the games. Creating a survey and gathering primary research will alleviate the
confusion of why fans are not attending games and what they are doing instead.
Once the data is evaluated, we will create specific strategies and recommendations
to increase attendance of season ticket holders, current fans, and attract new
supporters to the University of San Diego Men’s Basketball team.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
4

5. Table of Contents
Atmosphere Recommendations …………….. 6
Community Recommendations …………….. 12
Pregame Recommendations ……………..16
Ticketing Recommendations …………….. 19
Loyalty Recommendations …………….. 23
Conclusion …………….. 26
Appendix …………….. 27
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
5

6. Atmosphere
One aspect that lacks at Torero Men’s Basketball games is the
atmosphere. When USD Men’s Basketball gets mentioned we want
people to think of a packed stadium with fans cheering for the Toreros.
After doing research and analyzing the survey results we came up with
the following recommendations to help improve the atmosphere at the
Jenny Craig Pavilion for basketball games.
The atmosphere is all about keeping the students involved in the game
with other activities aside from the actual game. We want to try and
create a memorable atmosphere and start a tradition that will last with
Torero fans for a long time to come. Through our survey we learned that
there was a misconception that people don’t care about pregame
and in game activities, when realistically that is part of what builds the
atmosphere.
Our recommendations focus on special events for fans on certain game
nights, the placement of the student sections, and improving the pep
band atmosphere.
0 0
20
13
5
1
16
20
22
12
7 8
19
33
3 4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Atmosphere Competition Pregame
Activities
In Game Activites
Most important aspects of USD Toreros Men’s
Basketball games?
Not Important
Somewhat Important
Important
Very Important
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
6

7. Atmosphere
The first part of improving the atmosphere in the Jenny Craig Pavilion
is having more nights for fans to get involved. The first idea is having a
“Spa Night” to attract more females to basketball games.
According to our season ticket surveys and social media surveys only
13% and 32% were females, respectively. At the University of San
Diego, there are twice as many female grad students compared to
male grad students. There are also 600 more female than male
undergraduates. There would be raffles for females to win prizes such
as a gift card to a salon, a free pedicure, and also samples of lotions,
shampoos, etc. from local spas as a sponsor for this promotion.
The reason for this idea is because Scarborough showed that there
are 6,000 less females than males that have attended a USD athletic
event in the last year. This is a way to raise the number of females in
attendance, by having a promotion they can relate to.
22%
78%
Gender of
Attendees
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
7

8. Atmosphere
The next goal is to have a USD Athletic Recognition night. There can be
certain nights when current USD athletic teams will be recognized
before the game, such as women’s volleyball. This will not only present a
sense of community, but it will also attract the whole team to the game,
which means more fans in the seats.
It also gets all USD athletes supporting each other. There were multiple
responses from the season ticket survey asking for recognition of other
sport teams at USD. This could help raise season ticket holder
attendance if those fans are interested or have a relation to another
sport at USD beside basketball such as track or soccer.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
8

9. Atmosphere
The third part of helping boost the atmosphere is a Torero’s Spirit
Game against one of the big opponents such as Gonzaga or SDSU.
This idea consists of having each section alternate what colors the
fans wear between white and navy blue. This would be an
additional event similar to the White Out game.
To advertise the event it would be posted to Facebook, Twitter, the
USD athletic page, and their community wide newsletter. It would
include which game and which sections wear which color. Also on
each ticket, depending on the section, the color you should be
wearing as a fan will be printed on the ticket for the game.
The reason for this idea is because 62% of our social media surveys
and 47% of our season ticket holder survey answers said
atmosphere is an important aspect of the game. What better way to
improve the atmosphere than creating a tradition of school unity by
having your whole crowd dressed in Torero colors during a sold out
game on ESPN? Once a game like this occurs, it will show the
potential that USD and it’s students have to make an electric
atmosphere at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Example of alternating colors at the University of Iowa
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
9

10. Atmosphere
Following up from trying to get a
unified atmosphere for Men’s
Torero’s games, our next idea is
to control where students sit in
the arena for both teams. We
want to suggest moving the
student section, The Bull Pit, to
behind the opposing student
bench. This will give our fans and
students the advantage of
getting in the ears of the
opposing teams and getting
them rattled!
On the other hand we also want
to control where the opposing
student fans sit. We don’t want the
opposing fans yelling and
affecting our players, so we
propose moving them to the far
baseline seats and away from our
players and bench. They would be
in sections next to our band.
You can take a closer look at the
suggested seating suggestions on
Appendix (Page 26).
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
10

11. Atmosphere
Our third main recommendation for improving the atmosphere at
Jenny Craig Pavilion is changing the pep band. Looking at our social
media survey 10% of people took time to say they were dissatisfied
with the pep band. There were also 65% of season ticket holders who
said the band was enjoyable, when the band showed up. That shows
there is a want from the fans for some type of band to be playing at
USD.
Our idea is to reach out to local high school bands to play at Torero’s
games. Two examples could be Mira Mesa and Rancho Bernardo High
Schools. High school bands are a big part of extracurricular activities in
the San Diego community. These students are in the area while USD
students leave campus over winter break, which would be a great
opportunity to have these bands perform over winter break. Through
the high schools, students would receive a bulk amount of tickets to
sell and keep a part of the revenue for their band program.
The bands could mix in the USD fight song to start some type of
tradition as well as play some of their own material to make the
atmosphere unique. The bands would be placed on the left half of the
far baseline. You can refer to Appendix as an example of the band
placement.
Mira Mesa
High School
• 180 members
• Performed in
the opening
ceremony of the
2000 Olympics
Rancho Bernardo
High School
• 200 members
• One of the
most premier
bands in
the region
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
11

12. Community
T h e r e a r e 7 0 p u b l i c
elementary schools within a
10-mile radius of the USD
campus. We found that
e a c h s c h o o l h a s a n
average of 450 students.
Furthermore, there are 36
catholic schools within a 25-
mile radius of campus. We
found each school to have
an average of 283 students.
USD has a competitive
advantage when it comes to
catholic K-8 schools because
the administrators at these
schools will want to introduce
their young students with
college aspirations, to a
Roman Catholic university. It
is important to target these
kids because we know
through our season ticket
survey that season ticket
holders do not have young
children at home and thus
are not coming with them to
games.
0.0%
6.5%
10.9%
17.4%
30.4%
34.8%
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
under 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 or
older
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
Season Ticket
Holder’s Ages
12

13. Community
Involving more schools and getting the attention of kids early in
their lives, is a long-term investment that will get kids to become
Torero fans for life and can help increase a younger fan base
within USD athletics. We found that San Diego athletics does a
toy drive over the holiday season but we want to do a canned
food drive also, to get more kids in the community involved
and attending games. This will be another great opportunity to
support local community charities.
When the kids come to the games we will get the information
from the parents and possibly use this as a recruiting tool to
increase participation in Diego’s Kids Club. USD has one of the
most beautiful campuses in the country and this should be
highlighted to the local community.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
13

14. Community
ü Students will have two months to bring in
as many cans as possible to school
ü Program will be continuous so various
schools will be able to attend
throughout the season
ü School will donate the cans
ü Two schools can compete against each
other
ü Free ticket for kids and their parents will
buy tickets to come to the game
ü Schools can donate food to the San
Diego Food Bank
Toreros Food Drive
Check List
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
14

15. Community
To increase season ticket holders and attendance we must
advertise the University of San Diego Men’s Basketball team by
making Old Town and Linda Vista feel like a game day
atmosphere. Businesses could have USD flags and signs
advertising game days that will help increase attendance in
fans and season ticket holders.
The university could advertise by going around to local
businesses, asking them to help pass out or put pocket
schedules in their stores as well as other incentives that include
t-shirts, pocket schedules, etc. This could increase the visibility
of the USD Basketball program in the community.
Undergraduate volunteers walking the streets and talking with
business owners could go along way in involving Toreros men’s
basketball with local businesses.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
15

16. Pregame Events
Our findings from our season ticket holder survey provided
us with some significant data:
• 83% of season ticket holders are older, 45+ years old.
• Season ticket holders have disposable income, 80%
make over $100,000 annually.
• 40% said that they are thinking about dining out rather
than attending USD basketball games.
Season ticket holders can come and enjoy a meal
provided by the USD athletic department at La Gran
Terraza before being shuttled up to Jenny Craig Pavilion to
enjoy a home basketball game. This can help attract the
40% that are looking to dine out while at the same time
add value to their season ticket membership and allow
interaction with other season ticket holders.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
16

17. Pregame Events
Also, we will invite various campus groups, such as the law
school, the USD young alumni association, and USD faculty to
come to the pre-game party and to take part in networking
opportunities with the season ticket holders.
This is designed to help get more anticipation for the games
to help increase in-game atmosphere and meet several
suggestions received from our surveys. Another emphasis is
to get more people on campus before home games to
increase the likelihood that they will head over to Jenny
Craig Pavilion.
Dining out Children's
Activities (Sports)
Children's Activities
(Other)
Staying home to
watch sports on
television
Attending other live
sporting events
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
45.0%
When deciding whether or not to attend a Toreros
game what activities enter your consideration?
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
17

18. Pregame Events
For the bigger games played
by the USD Men’s basketball
team, we could invite Urbane
Café, which is a very popular
restaurant near the University of
San Diego, to cater the event
in the Warren room. This would
be a great pre game tailgate.
In order to increase the
attendance at USD Men’s
Basketball games they need to
i m p r o v e t h e g a m e d a y
experience. After experiencing
the game, fans will be able to
continue their enjoyment at
several local businesses
receiving a discount on food or
drink with proof of a USD
basketball ticket from that
night.
For example, USD already has
a bus service to pick up
students from the beach and
take them to the game and
back. By collaborating with a
specific establishment, i.e.
Pacific Beach Bar and Grille,
and agreeing to get 50% off
their first appetizer or drink
with proof of a USD Men’s
basketball ticket from that
night. A sponsorship could
form between USD Athletics
to get businesses and patrons
interested to attend games.
The buses would then help
facilitate the students, fans,
a n d o t h e r s t o t h o s e
establishments after the
games.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
18

19. Ticket Packages
The Toreros have three major games a season that are
substantially more successful in regards to fan’s attendance,
those are Gonzaga, BYU, and San Diego State games.
According to the graph below, the premium games result in sell-
out crowds where the average attendance is around 4,000 in
the JCP. The average attendance for the the non-premium
games is 50% less.
A grouped game package is a
strategy to sell the big games
w h i l e a l s o i n c re a s i n g t h e
attendance in the less prestigious
games at a customer-friendly
price. According to our survey we
conducted, a number of fans felt
that the ticket prices of the men’s
b a s k e t b a l l g a m e s w e r e
overpriced, especially with the
number of attendees showing up
at the games.
The tactic is to sell one of the premium games,
offer one of the less desirable games, and the
choice of 2 other games (not premium) that the
fan can customize. Offering them this flexible
package has an advantage compared to the
WCC weekend package because it is much more
flexible and gives the fans more power of choosing
the games most convenient for them. This will
promote more attendees and more satisfied fans
at games.
Premium Other
Games
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
19

20. Ticket Pricing
An approach that correlates with the group packages is variable
ticket pricing. Variable ticket pricing is offering admission at a
price that changes according to the level of demand and the
type of opponent.
As a percentage of fans declared from our survey that the ticket
prices were too costly, the strategy to create certain price levels
for certain games would attract more fans that might not want
to pay a lot of money to watch the less enticing games. While
the premium games will continue to be more expensive, the
games that draw a smaller crowd will vary in price; which will
lead to larger attendance of those games. Another plan is to
include the away games at SDSU in the season ticket packages
on the years that the Aztecs don’t come to the JCP.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
20

21. Ticket Pricing
u Ticket pricing technologies have advanced
to the point where it has become logistically
more efficient to implement variable pricing
in sports.
u Variable pricing boosts the revenue
maximization goals of sports organizations.
u Variable pricing incentivizes consumers to
purchase season tickets in order to secure a
greater sense of price certainty in the face of
real-time pricing.
u Variable pricing allows consumers the
flexibility to acquire significant savings on low
demand games.
u With the small drawback of reducing
potential revenue, there will be an increase
in attendance among the other games that
are sold.
Some advantages of doing
variable pricing are:
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
21

22. Ticket Sales
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
Another potential initiative that could be started to increase student
participation and ticket sales is to partner with the USD MBA
program to recruit a single graduate assistant position as ticket sales
representative specifically for men’s basketball, similar to the
structure that Ohio University currently operates. This may also be a
way to get more students invested in the success of the program
and offer additional sales experience in a professional atmosphere.
Based on the Ohio University ticket representative program, the
lowest sales rep was able to bring in new revenue of $30,000 this
year, which could be used by the USD athletic department for
additional stadium and game day improvements. If the specific
revenue goals are met, there are potential for additional benefits,
such as a lump some of money or commission to be made at the
end of the season, or even college credit. The bigger the increase in
revenue, the more ticket representative positions could surface.
Having a proactive ticket sale representative will help increase
ticket sales by reaching out to communities and businesses to
purchase tickets and attend athletic events.
22

23. Loyalty
USD Fans “check-in” at a Torero’s
game to start earning points that
can be redeemed for prizes.
Reward points can be redeemed
for a variety of reward options.
For example ten points could be
redeemed for a Toreros tee shirt
while 30 points could be
redeemed for WCC Tournament
Tickets.
Based on our survey results 64% of
men’s basketball attendees are
age 55 and above.
100% of season ticket holders
surveyed stated that atmosphere
is important to them in some way.
Loyalty App
Benefits
The creation of this app will
create a loyalty to the USD
men’s basketball program
f o r a y o u n g e r, m o r e
technologically advanced
audience.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
23

24. Loyalty
Recent Graduate Rewards
u Reduced prices to the Donor’s club.
u Prices increase in subsequent years until they reach the price that
the regular prices are.
u Donors would be invited to the “Torero Alumni Tailgate” before
select home games at the Jenny Craig Plaza featuring food,
beverages, the pep band, and the spirit squad, up to 10 minutes
before tip-off.
u 75% of Season ticket holders have been attendees for 6 years or
more.
u The loyalty program for recent USD graduates is used to spark
interest in recent grads looking to stay close with the program.
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
24

25. Loyalty
405 full-time faculty members and 505 part-time faculty members can
come to games and bring friends and family.
Either by checking in with the Rewards App or checking in with their
ticket, they earn a rewards point for coming to the game. At the end of
the season the faculty member with the highest point total wins a prize.
The prize could be anything from a signed basketball, to a polo, or
additional tickets, etc.
Faculty Rewards
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
25

26. Conclusion
Intro Recommendations Conclusion
The challenge that the University of San Diego Men’s Basketball
Program faces with attracting season ticket holders and general
fans to attend games can be enhanced to create an experience
unlike any basketball venue in the area. After analyzing the survey
data we collected, atmosphere is the second most important
aspect of the basketball games behind the competiveness of the
teams. Our recommendations will increase the atmosphere of the
games, which will ultimately drive more season ticket holders and
fans to join in the unparalleled experience that is Torero basketball.
With the integration of pre-game and post-game activities,
enticing promotions, seat rearrangements and much more, USD
basketball will become an experience that will keep families and
fans coming and stay loyal to the program.
26

27. Appendix
Login Info for Survey Monkey Surveys
Username: Pjhollis
Password: cougars13
27