ASU sports play a large role in marketing the University on a national level, appealing to potential students, donors and athletes, according to those inside and outside the University.
Recent athletic successes have helped generate buzz and boost football season-ticket sales to their highest level in about 20 years, said Steven Hank, assistant athletic director for revenue and marketing.
Some contributing factors to the increased ticket sales include the women's softball team’s recent national championship, Sports Illustrated’s No. 1 national ranking of ASU for college sports, and successful football and basketball seasons last year, Hank said.
“It does nothing but benefit the university when we perform at a high level,” Hank said.
Debra Plunkett, a media relations professional at Phoenix-based HMA Public Relations, said in an e-mail successful sports teams add to the ASU’s ability to secure donors and advertisers.
“Anything that boosts the awareness and positive reputation of a school is going to equate to an increase in applications for enrollment, attendance at sporting events, etc.,” she said.
Both Hank and Plunkett said putting a dollar estimate on coverage of an ASU sports team would be extremely difficult.
“Certainly all this positive national exposure, if it were to be compared to an equal amount of advertising coverage, would cost an exorbitant amount,” said Plunkett, an ASU alumna.
“But the real value of this type of exposure actually exceeds what would be spent to advertise on the same level,” Plunkett said. “It has a much greater impact in regards to solidifying the reputation of the school than any paid advertisement could [possibly] achieve.”
Hank said the national exposure of ASU athletics is still only a part of the University’s appeal from a marketing perspective. The University also gets large exposure from its science programs, internationally renowned faculty and other positive aspects, he said. But sports can sometimes be a more frequent type of exposure for ASU, he said.
“We do have the benefit of being on TV, and college athletics is very popular,” he said.
Matt Regan, a business communications freshman, said ASU football played a role in his decision to come to the University.
“It was definitely [one of] the top reasons I came to this school,” he said.
Regan, who is from La Verne, Calif., said he was also attracted to ASU because of the top rankings of W. P. Carey School of Business and the large size of the University.
But he added going to the games of successful collegiate teams was important to him for his college experience.
“It’s a really good community of people brought together,” he said of ASU sporting events.
Plunkett said a winning sports season would generate a lot of positive publicity for a university and entice students with the social benefits behind sports events.
“It goes without saying that a successful sports season will yield a more prominent, positive image of any school and help to put them top of mind for prospective students and parents of prospective students,” she said.
Reach the reporter at matt.culbertson@asu.edu.
