Matt Weir / The Collegian
It’s Thursday afternoon, miraculously your teachers cancelled tomorrow’s class, eliminating the homework you probably weren’t going to do anyway and you just happen to know there’s a volleyball match at 7 p.m.
Would you go to that volleyball game?
The common answer is probably not, but Bulldog Sports Properties (BSP) is doing its best to draw Fresno State student interest into all athletic events on campus. The Fresno State Dog Pound is a new program on campus designed to directly reward students who frequently attend Bulldog games and matches starting this fall.
Hank Charles, a 23-year-old Fresno State alum and intern at BSP, is the originator of the program. After last year’s dismal average home attendance for such sports as soccer, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse, to name a few, Charles sought a way to fill seats as well as give students an extra incentive to come support the ‘Dogs.
Although the Red Zone, Fresno State’s largest student group on campus that is directed toward student-fan involvement, already exists, Charles insists his program is seeking a different angle to garner interest.
“The idea kind of came to me through one of our sales executives because they weren’t happy with the job that Red Zone was doing,” Charles said. “But my program is not replacing the Red Zone.
That’s where the idea started but my program is a student rewards program. Basically we’re rewarding students for coming to games.”
The model of rewarding student involvement at all athletic events came through Charles’ research of other institutions around the country that have had success implementing such affairs.
“I based it on programs that have been successful at bigger schools such as University of Michigan and University of Tennessee who have similar student rewards programs,” Charles said.
Only registered Fresno State students can become members, and can do so through www.gobulldogs.com. From the home page, students can find the “Dog Pound” icon at the bottom of the page. On the Dog Pound page, a “Sign-Up” icon will direct students to apply for memberships.
Memberships will be programmed to Fresno State student identification cards, which will be scanned at upcoming home events. Certain events earn different levels of points (see graphic).
Prizes range anywhere from LCD televisions to Visa Gift Cards to T-shirts and In-N-Out gift cards, depending on the month. At the end of each month, student points reset to zero, allowing participation throughout the year. Students can also track his or her point totals online to see where they stack up against the competition.
The first event students can begin collecting points is this weekend’s Fresno State Classic volleyball tournament. Charles, however, is anticipating the football home opener against Cincinnati will put the new program on everyone’s map.
“Our first big push will be the football game, where we are going to give away 600 free T-shirts to the first 600 students that come to the game signed up,” Charles said. “Hopefully that will create some buzz for people to know what it is.”
Although Charles remains uncertain for the program’s long-term goals, he has a clear idea on his target audience and is confident in its potential.
“My main key is the freshman, Greek and clubs just because it’s the biggest source of students all in one area and it’s easier to hit all the freshman who live in the dorms, the Greek that live in the houses and the clubs that have their presidents at meetings here on campus,” Charles said.
Charles began marketing the Dog Pound via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. He is looking into a possible awards system online as well through Facebook trivia questions and posted pictures.
Student involvement is critical for the program’s success, but for now, at least, Charles is simply trying to bring some school spirit back to the Valley.
“I really want an increase in student attendance and also, hopefully, a more student-friendly atmosphere,” Charles said.