WVU football marketing sees uptick, from ticket sales numbers to interest in jerseys

As Matt Wells, WVU’s deputy AD for external affairs, drove to Morgantown from Indianapolis on Tuesday, he did so through the rain.
Yet it was after he and Nikki Goodenow, WVU’s brand and trademark licensing director, had been showered with praise at a Collegiate Licensing Company seminar Tuesday morning.
The presentation was about WVU’s successful marketing of the coal-themed black alternate jerseys that wowed the Mountaineer fanbase last week. Wells and Goodenow were on stage for approximately 30 minutes.
Apparently, though, WVU’s marketing success of late has extended to more than just the the black jerseys (no decision has been made on when to use them; Penn State?).
On the (Tar?) heels of a 30-10 Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina and 9-4 2023 season, WVU’s football ticket sales have ticked higher.
“We’re approaching about 22,000 season tickets paid for so far,” Wells said on Tuesday. “We’re definitely tracking ahead of last year’s pace to date. Overall, we’re tracking to be somewhere around 25,000 to 26,000 in August, up from about 24,350 last year. I feel confident we’ll get to 25,000 and how much above that is yet to be determined.”
Better retention of top players has helped provide juice as well as commitments like that on Tuesday of Gregory Genross, rated as the nation’s No. 1 junior college tight end.
“There’s absolutely been a lot of excitement,” Wells said. “I think fans were pleased with how last year played out. Anytime you win a bowl game it seems to catapult your program into the next season regarding excitement and hype. It leaves a good taste in the mouth. And the job Coach (Neal) Brown and his staff have done with the rosters, the ones returning and the newcomers, has elevated the excitement level.”
Of course, one can’t overlook that Aug. 31 home game against Penn State. That will always goose ticket sales.
“It’s another variable that’s added to the excitement,” Wells said. “So, a lot of positive momentum around Mountaineer football program now.”
He even pointed to a successful spring game.
“We had great weather, a lot of fan-friendly activities and entertainment. We unveiled the new uniforms. We had a lot of great feedback and positive feelings from that,” Wells said.
Oh, yeah. The uniforms.
“Obviously, there are the traditional uniforms,” Wells said. “They turned out great. We wanted to make them recognizable with gold and blue and in all the different traditional combinations. Then certainly there was a ton of great feedback and excitement with the coal uniforms, the black uniforms. That was very, very well received overall.”
Indeed, I posted a poll on X, the former Twitter. Usually, I’ll get a couple hundred poll responses. But when I asked Mountaineer fans if they liked the black alternate uniform, 1,418 people voted over a couple days. A whopping 87.9 percent like the look.
“There will be replica jerseys of all four colors available in retail,” Wells said. “The gold, blue and white will be available in the back-to-school shopping period for fall. The black will be retail for the holiday shopping season, later in the fall, for the Christmas shopping season.
“We’re also releasing a Built on Bravery collection that will be other licensed merchandise that’s coal-themed black to support the coal uniforms. It’s another cool initiative, which will be available in fall.”
Yet back to ticket sales. While WVU continues hawking its season ticket packages, mini-packages and single season tickets will be sold in a couple months. Note, though, that Penn State tickets will only be included in the season and mini packages. Single game tickets for the Mountaineer-Nittany Lions will not be offered.
So, you might want to get them now, rather than when they’re red-hot.
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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.