Freshmen receive free entry to 1st football game

In its latest marketing strategy to draw more fans to Memorial Stadium to see the football team play, the IU Athletics Department is giving all freshmen free tickets to this weekend’s IU vs. Indiana State football game.\nSeveral thousand freshmen first learned of the announcement at the annual Traditions and Spirit of IU event Friday, when IU coach Bill Lynch addressed the crowd alongside fellow Hoosier coaches Kelvin Sampson and Felisha Legette-Jack.\n“I expect all of you to be right here as you are right now,” Lynch said to the crowd. “So I’ve got a deal for you. We need you here next Saturday – I want to see you in the parking lot to greet our team and then in the stadium to support us. So the first game’s on me. As you leave today, there will be a free ticket at the gate waiting for you.”\nFreshmen who didn’t attend the event can still get their tickets prior to the game by presenting a valid student ID at Assembly Hall.\nThe idea to give all freshmen free tickets for the game came about from conversations between members of the athletics department, said Director of Marketing Jeff Cieply.\nWith a new head coach, the department thought it would be best to try to make a connection between Lynch and the incoming freshman class. The goal of the tactic is not only to increase season ticket sales, but to develop a rapport and create a strong home field advantage.\n“All of those things that make college football special, and make it a great weekend, if you will,” Cieply said. “We want to get kids exposed to that right away, so that they will make that part of their four-year plan, so they will be a part of Memorial Stadium every Saturday in the fall.” \nIn order to get into the stadium Saturday, students must present a ticket at the gate, Cieply said. \nThough there are risks of losing money in the short term, Cieply said the athletics department would only be in trouble if they expected to sell out the game. In a strategy like this, he said, there will be more revenue in the long term if the freshmen enjoy watching the team and keep coming back.\nFreshman Robbie Bunn said he can see how the marketing strategy might work. \n“I know our football team is getting better, so if I go with my friends and I have fun, then it will definitely encourage me to buy season tickets based on this first game,” Bunn said.\nBut while there is a hope of positive results in giving tickets out for free, sophomore Jamie Enright speculated that the tactic could both help and hurt the athletics department. \n“I think, that for the most part, they might be losing money doing that,” Enright said. “But hopefully, it will do the reverse and help them make money so freshmen will buy tickets.”