Ball State University failed to sell 80 percent of its allotted International Bowl tickets. The university community failed to show up for the game on multiple levels. Ball State didn't rally around the cause. The athletics department, the alumni association, Student Government Association and Ball State in general didn't push the game well enough. These organizations seemed underprepared to inspire the student, faculty, staff and alumni bases.
A few more than 2,000 tickets were sold - and 500 were donated back to the university by people who didn't go to the game.
Instead of being inundated with mailers, phone calls, e-mails, advertisements and other announcements, students slid by with a mere two e-mails about the game. The university community needed to be reminded. The way to be successful is to continually tell people the bowl was happening. Ball State failed to do so, and the ticket-sale results show it.
The trip could have been marketed to all types of people connected to Ball State. Students could have been encouraged to grab a few friends and catch up on what they did on Winter Break. Faculty, staff and alumni could have been urged to take a family trip up to Toronto.
Ball State's newly redesigned Web site could have also been put to use - a quick and relatively easy way to get information out to students, as well as prospectives.
The university has to learn from this mistake. All the offense's starters will return next season - making it very likely that Ball State will get another bowl bid. Start preparing a strategy now, administrators and marketing communications. If the approach doesn't change, the results won't either.
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