Marketing the UCM Bowing Team

FALL 2016

Special Projects in MarketingCarly Thomas

The University of Central Missouri | Warrensburg, MO

Table of Contents

I. Overview…………………………………………………………………………………..1

II. Background………………………………………………………………………………..2

III. The Divisions of the NCAA…………………………………………………………….2-4

IV. Current Marketing Strategies……………………………………………………………4-5

V. Other UCM Sports………………………………………………………………………5-7

VI. Other NCAA Bowling Programs………………………………………………………..7-8

VII. Recommendations………………………………………………………………………8-9

VIII. References………………………………………………………………………………..10

1

Overview

This report discusses the recommendations that should be made to the University of

Central Missouri Athletic Department and Bowling team regarding their marketing strategies.

These recommendations are based on multiple analyses consisting of the differences of the

NCAA divisions, the current marketing strategies of the bowling team, and the marketing

strategies of other UCM sports and other NCAA bowling programs. Social media and print

mediums will be two of the main topics discussed.

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Background

The University of Central Missouri has had a women’s bowling team since 1971. The

team was only considered a club sport at UCM until 2001 when it became a varsity sport. At this

time, Ron Holmes, the current coach of the Jennies, became the first official head coach of

women’s bowling at the University. The NCAA started recognizing women’s bowling as a sport

in the 2003-2004 season. UCM Jennie’s Bowling has had a very successful history since the

inception of NCAA Bowling. The team has received post season births to every NCAA

Championship. Only one other team has accomplished this; the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

At the 2004, 2005, and 2009 championships, UCM finished second. UCM has produced

numerous All-Americans and Academic All-Americans, multiple rookie and player of the year

honors, coach of the year awards, and an Elite 89 award. This program is one of the most

decorated and prestigious ones in the country.

Since NCAA Bowling is only offered at the Division I level, UCM competes against

schools of all divisions even though UCM is only considered DII. Being placed in Division II is

a reason the UCM Bowling program is so different than other NCAA bowling programs.

The MIAA conference, the home conference of UCM, is now recognizing women’s

bowling as a conference sport. The inaugural season is 2015-2016, and the championship will be

hosted in Kansas City, Kansas. This new conference will play a significant role in the future

marketing strategies of UCM Bowling.

The Divisions of the NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, known as the NCAA, splits colleges and

universities in the United States into three different divisions. The divisions are known as

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Division I, Division II, and Division III. Division I schools are viewed as larger schools while

Division III schools are typically very small. The divisions differ in areas such as the minimum

number of sports offered, attendance, scheduling criteria, and financial aid.

Division I schools must offer a minimum of seven sports for both genders. There are also

minimum participation requirements for every sport. Each sport has scheduling criteria that must

be followed. According to the NCAA, “for sports other than football and basketball, Division I

schools must play 100 percent of the minimum number of contests against Division I opponents”

(Divisions Differences). An example of the attendance criteria of DI schools is that Football

Bowl Subdivision schools must “average 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home

game, which must be met once in a rolling two-year period” (Divisional Differences). There are

also minimum and maximum financial aid awards for each sport that schools must meet when

giving out scholarships.

Division II schools must have at least five sports for males and females. These sports can

also be broken up into six for females and four for males. Just like Division I programs, Division

II schools have minimum participation requirements. Unlike Division I, the only sports that have

scheduling criteria are football and basketball, and there are no attendance requirements for

games. There is also only a maximum amount of financial aid that each sport is not allowed to

exceed. Division II schools have some characteristics that make them unique. According to the

NCAA, “Division II teams usually feature a number of local or in-state student-athletes”

(Divisional Differences). Also, the University is what finances the athletic department’s budget,

which is not the case at Division I schools.

Division III schools are very different from the first two discussed. Just like Division II,

Division III requires there to be five sports for each gender, and there is a minimum participation

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requirement. The biggest difference that is seen in Division III programs is that they “feature

student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic

departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university” (Divisional

Differences). Therefore, there is very little funding for the athletic teams at Division III

institutions.

As the NCAA discusses, there is more money in an athletic department budget at a

Division I school than a Division II or Division III school. For example, the University of

Central Missouri Bowling program receives less money than the bowling team at the University

of Nebraska-Lincoln because of the different characteristics of the NCAA divisions.

Current Marketing Strategies

The UCM Bowling team has a Facebook and Twitter account. The team has 81 followers

on Twitter and 63 likes on Facebook. There is currently no Instagram account for the team.

The team has also eliminated some marketing tools. For

example, there used to be a media guide that was

produced every year for the team, but this ended with the

2012-2013 season. To the left, is the cover of the 2011-

2012 media guide which features All-American Kim

Wallace.

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The bowling team also uses a live stream system called “The Cube” to broadcast each

tournament. The link to The Cube is posted on Facebook and Twitter for fans to follow along for

each event.

Other than the few social media accounts that are used, the bowling team does not use

any other forms of marketing, especially print sources.

Other UCM Sports

The University of Central Missouri Athletics Department currently has Facebook,

Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Most teams have all three accounts as well, except for a few.

Most the teams have at least two forms of social media. The athletic department uses social

media to promote the different teams to their fans. The department staff creates posts about

schedules, game updates, player updates, and any news articles that are relevant. Even though the

athletic department does an adequate job of covering all sports, some of the “smaller” sports do

not get as much coverage as others. According to Mike Knipper, the Assistant Athletic Director

for Media Relations at UCM, it is sometimes very hard to keep track of all the sports teams. He

says that “with only two full-time staff members in media relations with one GA trying to cover

17 sports, we sometimes will miss things with some of the sports that don’t get as much

attention, like a bowling team or wrestling” (Knipper).

The athletic department tweets out links to all the live coverage of games and events.

Since most of UCM’s athletic events cannot be viewed on television, live coverage online is a

way for fans to watch from home and cheer on their favorite teams.

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UCM also has a weekly radio show on KOKO radio called “Central Sports Talk.” It is

hosted by Greg Hassler and Bill Turnage and focuses on what is happening that week in UCM

athletics.

The athletic department also uses multiple print items that can be seen around campus

and in the Warrensburg community. One of the prime examples are the player cards. A player

card features a head or action shot of a player with the schedule of that respective player’s sport

on the back of the card. Featured on some of these cards are volleyball, soccer, basketball, and

football. Local Warrensburg businesses such as Pita Pit, Dairy Queen, and Country Kitchen

display these cards for fans to pick up. Unfortunately, UCM Bowling is not featured on any

player cards. Below are two examples of UCM player cards from the soccer and football teams.

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There are also full sized posters that are used to promote different athletic teams. Some of

these are similar to the player cards but most focus on more than just an individual player. Just

like the player cards, the bowling team does not have a poster.

Even though Mike Knipper feels that social media has significantly benefited the athletic

department, it can overshadow other marketing mediums that are still important and relevant. He

stated that “sometimes we get too focused on the new media like social media and get away from

the old-school media (newspaper, radio) that so many of our older fans still use” (Knipper). By

not always including articles or updates in the local newspaper, the athletic department does not

reach a fan base that is crucial.

Other NCAA Bowling Programs

Some of the elite bowling programs in the country have unique social media and

marketing strategies.

According to the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, which is

found in a recent article posted by UCM, 20

out of the top 25 ranked teams in the country

are DI schools. Therefore, UCM is going to

have a smaller budget than most of its main

competitors and cannot spend as much money

on their marketing strategies.

Long Island University-Brooklyn is a good

example of a team that has a unique Instagram

account. Every Tuesday this team posts a

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video using the hashtag “trick shot Tuesday.” These types of posts allow fans of LIU-Brooklyn’s

team to see what the players are doing at practice. It is a fun, interactive way for the team to gain

more attention from followers.

Some teams also do shout-outs to their players for birthdays, graduations, and post what

is being done by their players in their free time. Fans and followers of the social media account

can get a more in-depth look at their favorite players, and it makes the marketing experience

more personal for the follower. UCM bowling should use similar tactics as other NCAA bowling

teams.

Recommendations

A proposal should be made to both the athletic department and the bowling team to

change some aspects of their marketing strategies. With bowling being a sport that does not have

as large of a fan base as others, extra attention should be focused on the team to gain more fans

and attention from the school and community.

The bowling team should establish Instagram and Snapchat accounts. By having more

social media accounts, this will allow for a larger fan base to be created. Also, more posts on

different social media sites will garner the attention because fans and followers will see more

content from the bowling team.

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Player cards should be created by the athletic department that features players from the

bowling teams and the season schedule. The bowling team already has action shots taken at the

beginning of each season, so these same pictures would suffice for the cards. These cards can be

placed in different stores and restaurants around the community to promote the team. By doing

this, the fans and community members who do not use social media will be able to have a copy

of the team’s schedule along with being able to place names with faces of individual players.

Introducing these new social media strategies will be very beneficial for both the athletic

department and bowling team. It will also be very cost efficient since Instagram and Snapchat are

free to use. The player cards are the only item that will cost money to make. With UCM being a

DII school, this will benefit them because their budget is smaller than most other NCAA schools

with elite-level bowling programs.

References

“Divisional Differences and the History of Multidivision Classification.” NCAA,

http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are/membership/divisional-differences-and-history-

multidivision-classification. Accessed 2 September 2016.

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“Jennies Bowling ranked eighth in latest NTCA Poll.” UCM Athletics,

http://www.ucmathletics.com/news/2016/11/28/womens-bowling-jennies-bowling-ranked-

eighth-in-latest-ntca-poll.aspx. Accessed 28 November 2016.

Knipper, Mike. “Re: Marketing Project.” Received by Carly Thomas, 1 Dec. 2016.

Liubowling. “When you forget cones for target practice…..” Instagram, 30 November 2016,

Instagram.com/p/BNad7Rugtnu/.