Takedown Report

Want more fans? Change things up!

Editor’s Notes; Some great ideas in this article about how to promote and make progress in the growth of wrestling opportunities for fans and wrestlers. Be creative, be daring and be successful in increasing interest and participation. Read this one over.
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“That’s the way we’ve always done things.”
You hear that refrain all the time, especially in wrestling. We get comfortable with a situation because it’s familiar. But sometimes it helps to change things up a bit. Try something new. You never know what good things can come from changing things up. Even when it comes to the oldest and greatest sport. Making changes to the typical wrestling dual meet — a change in location, or trying new promotions — can help grow the sport. It can help energize athletes and coaches … put more fans in the seats … and build a bigger, stronger fan base.
As the prospect of a new wrestling season looms on the horizon — and programs reveal their schedules for 2018-19 — it seems like a great time to look at how some college mat programs have employed a “change of venue” — or changed things up in other ways — to generate more excitement … greater attendance … and more positive media coverage.
Go big
The genesis for this feature came from a “year in review” story from Duke University wrestling about how the Blue Devils had moved some of their home dual meets during the 2017-18 season from Card Gymnasium to the larger, flashier, arguably more famous Cameron Indoor Stadium, one of the most iconic sports venues in all of college athletics. Jacob Kasper, who completed his collegiate career this past season by earning All-American honors in the heavyweight bracket at the 2018 NCAAs (and is now investigating the possibility of a career in WWE or MMA), weighed in with his thoughts on the venue. “Cameron Indoor is one of the most iconic and historic arenas in college athletics. So many of Duke’s finest athletes have competed and continue to compete within the building’s confines, both on the basketball and volleyball courts,” Kasper told InterMat. “To have the opportunity to compete within a stadium of such significance is certainly exciting. To be able to etch your name alongside other legends and leave a lasting legacy is forever motivational … ”
As the article on the Blue Devils wrestling program’s change of venue stated, “Though Cameron Indoor Stadium will always be a treasured gem on Duke’s campus because of Blue Devil basketball, its ambiance seems to have a magical power to transform any sporting event into an unforgettable one.”
In addition to greater seating capacity, Cameron Indoor Stadium has other “bells and whistles” that make a Blue Devil dual meet more engaging for fans and athletes, such as the overhead scoreboard that shows highlight videos, and the LED boards installed on press row, displaying each wrestler’s name and photo before he competed. As Duke head coach Glen Lanham put it, “it was a better vibe” to have the team wrestle in Cameron.
Other schools have experimented with conducting some of their dual meets in a larger arena. One example is Penn State. The NCAA team champions for seven of the past eight seasons normally conduct their home events at Rec Hall, an iconic wrestling facility built 90 years ago for nearly 7,000 frenetic fans. However, the Nittany Lions have, from time to time, have brought their championship mat form to the much larger — and newer — Bryce Jordan Center, a basketball arena opened in 1996 which seats over 16,000 for concerts and, um, pro wrestling events.
Rest of the story at http://matbossapp.hs-sites.com/blog/want-more-fans-change-things-up

September 12, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized