The time has come for a great marketing idea — actual spring football games
It’s a topic that’s been brought up for years.
College football spring games.
Not the intrasquad kind we’re used to seeing. And yawning to.
Real college football games between two different teams.
Recently Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze brought the idea up again and The Athletic followed with a story.
“Allow us to scrimmage somebody, another team,” Freeze said. “Everybody would get out of it exactly what they want… Let’s adopt a charity to give all the proceeds to. Take foster care in the state of Alabama or orphan care in the state of Alabama. Let Alabama play Troy and we play UAB or vice versa. Or Alabama State, whoever.
“People will come see that.”
They will indeed. And what a great opportunity to market not only the sport, but a program. Showcase your team. Tie ticket sales to the game. Have athletes from other sports there for meet and greets. Most Power 5 schools could use the boost.
I know regular seasons are getting too long, especially with expanded playoffs in view, but I can’t help but think the coaches, players and fans alike would be jazzed for a matchup.
Consider if WVU would scrimmage Marshall. Or Ohio U. Bring in different area schools.
“And you’re decreasing your injury possibilities 50 percent,” Freeze said, which I don’t understand, but…
“Coaches are smart enough to control it. We’re not going to hit each other’s quarterbacks. We practice that way. If you want to put a blue jersey or different jersey that [signifies] don’t take to the ground, we can do that.
“I just think it would be great for the sport. I think it would be awesome. The NFL gets to scrimmage against each other. High schools get to scrimmage against each other. For the life of me I don’t understand why we haven’t gotten to that point where we haven’t pulled that off.”
Indeed, with bindings being loosened within all of NCAA sports, this time has come.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.
