The Use of Promotions in College Baseball

Abstract

College athletic programs are continually working to enhance revenue production. One approach being used more commonly is to find ways for the traditional nonrevenue sports to generate some of their own funding. Baseball is one sport that is viewed as having revenue potential in many athletic programs. College baseball attendance and exposure have grown dramatically in recent years, and finding ways to attract people to the park has become a higher priority. One method that baseball at all levels has used to increase attendance is promotions, usually in the form of sales promotions (i.e., those promotional activities not defined as advertising, publicity, or personal selling). This study addresses (a) the extent to which game promotions are employed in the most competitively successful Division I baseball programs, (b) the types of promotions that are used, and (c) the difference in attendance between programs using promotions and those programs not using promotions.