The SIU women’s basketball team hopes more money will mean less empty seats.
SIU is one of 12 Division I schools selected by the NCAA to receive a grant to grow its women’s college basketball program. SIU, the first to receive money from NCAA’s grant program in the Missouri Valley Conference, intends to use the $45,200 on marketing and advertising in order to increase attendance, said Saluki head coach Missy Tiber.
She said the grant gives the program many opportunities to help the NCAA with its commitment to involve communities with women’s college basketball.
“The grant will help us further involve ourselves with the Southern Illinois community and help us do whatever we can do to get more fans to games,” Tiber said. “This will get us up and running; it’s a jump start.”
In order to obtain the extra funding, SIU had to submit a proposal to the NCAA. Mark Gazdik, assistant athletic director of marketing; Brad Taylor, assistant athletic director of operations; and Nicole Williams, marketing graduate assistant, were involved in producing the grant-winning proposal.
Gazdik and Taylor said their proposal listed what SIU intended to use the money for in attempts to bring awareness to the women’s basketball program. Gazdik also said the entire athletic department has been great in increasing its marketing and promotions to draw more people to the games.
“We knew we had a strong proposal but we also knew 75 to 100 other schools would be submitting proposals,” Gazdik said. “You will see different marketing venues such as billboards throughout the region, give-away items and some (money) will be used for Brown Dawg’s Playland.”
Gazdik said the playland will be full of games and inflatables for kids to play with so they have an enjoyable experience at the games. He said SIU wants to do all it can to make women’s basketball a fun event for the entire family.
Taylor said the Salukis already work within the community in the Boys and Girls Club. They also visit middle school students for lunch, in a program called Dining with Dawgs. He said they designed the proposal around what the coaches and team have already done.
“We piggy backed on what they already do,” Taylor said.
“They’re getting out in the public so people can get to know them and will want to come see them play.”
The grant will also help SIU receive more local coverage. Funding has been set a side for more local TV and radio time compared to previous years.
SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia said the grant would also help the local economy.
“A lot of money we are receiving from the NCAA will be spent on radio, television and billboards in the local area,” Moccia said. “The region will get an investment as well.”
Moccia also said the women’s basketball program would have an opportunity to get season-long financial support with extra money.
“In the past, if we had money to allocate, we would throw it to the Pink Out game or a specialty event, now we feel we can comprehensively market almost each and every game and season tickets,” Moccia said.
The staff will work on the plan to see where the money should be spent first. Taylor said SIU has eligibility for the NCAA grant for two more years, but is not guaranteed to receive it again. If the Salukis meet their goals of ticket sales and the money is spent in the areas targeted in the proposal, SIU can reapply next season.