Marketing Purdue/IU/Indiana HS Wrestling

[corncar]

Just thinking out loud here, but if Purdue/IU really had to schedule their intra-state rivalry dual meet for the Friday night of our State Finals tournament, then it seems like both Purdue and IU, as well as Indiana HS wrestling, really missed an opportunity to co-promote both Indiana HS and college wrestling by holding it on campus in W Lafayette.  First, it denies interested HS fans who will be in Indy for the weekend the opportunity to watch the meet, and second, it likely pulls away a lot of folks who would otherwise help pack the gym at Purdue for a very large crowd that night. 

 

I'm a Purdue MBA, and as a sales and marketing guy I gotta say - it could've been turned into a huge marketing success if they'd of held this dual here in Indy on that Sunday afternoon somewhere around town (maybe IUPUI, since both schools have affiliation, or perhaps even at U Indy, or even one of the local large HS gyms).  If there were more time during the tournament break on Saturday afternoon it could even be cool to see the dual held at Conseco with a very large crowd.

 

Since out of town HS fans likely stay overnight in Indy for a second night to watch the finals already, I'm sure many would be interested in staying a few more hours to catch this in-state B1G college action.  They could even collaborate with the IHSAA (willingly or not...) and recognize the individual and team winners at the break, etc.  Lots of co-marketing opportunities lost there in my opinion. Maybe something to think about for the future to really begin promoting the sport in our state and to better link our two in-state B1G schools to our best talent?

 

 

[Y2CJ41]

The big hurdle you are missing is this, the NCAA has very strict rules for events that are off campus. For instance, Wabash held a dual at Carroll High School this year. CHS could not keep the gate fee or concessions from the dual, all the money had to go to Wabash. We were allowed to charge them a facility usage fee, but that was it.  With what you are proposing, it would probably be quite a lot of red tape and such to hold the events even at a place like IUPUI.

[WCWC Coach]

I too was disappointed to see the dual scheduled on the Friday night of our State tournament. 

 

Just doesn't make sense

[oldandbroke]

I was told that The BIG 10 makes that schedule and the schools have little to no say.   Definitely not the optimum date for wrestling fans from all over the state.