Table of Contents

2. Table of Contents Executive Summary……………………………………………….3 Situation Analysis………………………………………………….4 Industry Information…………………………………………………………4 Client Background……………………………………………………….....10 Problem………………………………………………………………………11 Target Market………………………………………………………………..12 Competition…………………………………………………………………..16 Objectives…………………………………………………………..20 Strategies…………………………………………………………...21 Creative…………………………………………………………………….....21 Media………………………………………………………………………….22 Tactics………………………………………………………………24 Flighting Schedule…………………………………………………………...42 Budget……………………………………………………………….43 Control and Implementation Conclusion Bibliography

3. Executive Summary This report addresses a problem with attendance and awareness that exists with FGCU Baseball. Through our research we have decided to target students, residents, and alumni in order to address this issue. To focus on our efforts, we plan on using different types of flyers in local restaurants, magazines, newspapers, and websites that are popular with this target. We will also host an event which will bring a larger audience to the games. With a budget of $25,000 and 10% on production, we will allocate it efficiently among our creative media and strategies. “Slide in to home base with FGCU athletics” is the tagline that we developed to capture the attention of our target market. It brings to mind the idea of fun, and excitement involved with a baseball game. Our objective by the start of the 2011 season is to increase the current level of awareness by 15%. Also overall engage a high level of interest in athletics at FGCU.

4. Situation AnalysisIndustry Information • Florida Gulf Coast University Baseball is a participant of the Intercollegiate Athletics Industry. Florida Gulf Coast University has been awarded division one status by the NCAA (Nation Collegiate Athletics Association) and belongs to the Atlantic Sun Conference. For purposes of simplicity and clarity rather than touch on all collegiate athletic associations, this analysis will focus on the NCAA.

5. Situation AnalysisIndustry Information cont. • NCAA The NCAA is the largest collegiate athletic association in America. There are currently one thousand and ninety schools participating within the three divisions established by the association. The NCAA is responsible for many things within intercollegiate athletics however, their core responsibility is to regulate collegiate athletics. The NCAA is in essence the governing body of most all collegiate sports within the United States. They regulate playing rules as well as eligibility rules for the association’s participants. Besides regulating and enforcing rules the NCAA is responsible for organizing and running championships and other intercollegiate sporting events. It is important to note that the NCAA is not responsible for making rules but rather enforcing them. Rules are proposed by committees, which are composed of members of participating schools and conferences. Other committees then vote on the proposed rules and those, which are agreed upon and passed, become the responsibility of the NCAA to enforce. Beyond enforcing rules and running championships, the NCAA is responsible for interactions between collegiate athletics and the media. This includes television media, like the contracts the NCAA has with both CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) and ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). The NCAA is also responsible for enforcing the protection and regulation of trademarks that belong to schools within its membership. Yet another responsibility of the NCAA is to provide financial assistance to Division One members.

6. Situation AnalysisIndustry Information cont. • NCAA- Revenue- Media Contracts The NCAA generates a substantial amount of revenue each year. Media contracts are responsible for the majority of this revenue. The NCAA is currently in a contract with both CBS and ESPN. The contract with CBS gives CBS exclusive rights to cover any NCAA sporting event for an eleven-year period starting in 2002. CBS agreed to pay the NCAA six billion dollars over this eleven-year period for these rights. The NCAA receives an average of five hundred and forty-five million dollars a year from this contract alone. Besides the CBS contract is a smaller yet rather substantial contract with ESPN. This contract establishes that ESPN will get exclusive rights to specified NCAA sporting events for eleven years. In return, ESPN pays a portion of this total each year, which brings the average yearly revenue generated by the media contracts from five-hundred and forty-five million dollars a year to five-hundred and sixty three million dollars a year (as of the 2008-09 season). In the 2008-09 season revenue generated by these two contracts was equal to 84.7% of the total revenue.

7. Situation AnalysisIndustry Information cont. • NCAA- Other Revenue-Championship Ticket Sales Though revenue generated by the media contracts represents the most substantial portion of the NCAA’s annual revenue, the next largest channel of revenue comes from ticket sales. It is important to note that the NCAA does not generate revenue during regular season games, but rather during championship games and other events run by the NCAA. Revenue generated by regular season ticket sales ordinarily goes back into the athletic department of the home team. The NCAA generates revenue from the events it runs and organizes. In the 2008-09 season revenue generated by championship game ticket sales equaled 15.3% of total revenue.

8. Situation Analysis Industry Information Cont. • NCAA- 2008-09 Season – Revenue Breakdown

9. Situation AnalysisIndustry Information cont. • NCAA Revenue Distribution Each year the NCAA uses ninety six percent of total revenue to benefit its members. Sixty percent of total revenue is distributed amongst Division 1 members. In the 2008-09 season this totaled three hundred and ninety million dollars. Some of these funds are “earmarked” for particular programs at each member school. These programs may include student academics or special student athletic programs. “Most of the money, however, is distributed through funds that recognize long-term competitive success and that support the Division 1 tenets of athletically related financial aid and broad sports sponsorship.” Forty percent of NCAA expenditures sustain championships, programs and services. The NCAA Executive Committee determines where and how the funds will be allocated. Presidential leaders in Division I, II and III athletics determine where the funds will be allocated in their particular division. There is a constitutional obligation

10. Situation AnalysisClient Background FGCU Baseball had it’s debut season in 2003. The eagles are lead by head coach Dave Tollett, associate head coach Rusty McKee and assistant coach Forrest Martin. FGCU baseball is a part of the NCAA Division 1-AAA, a part of the Atlantic Sun Conference. FGCU joined the D1 conference only two years ago, and won the Atlantic Sun regular season title for both years (2008 and 2009). In 2006, the eagles reached their peak of 41 wins in a season. This 2010 season is greatly anticipated by many since the eagles were ranked 25th in Ping! Baseball rankings. They received 5 votes in USA Today/ ESPN Coaches’ Poll, which ties them with Boston College and James Madison University. This is great news to FGCU since it was the only school in the Atlantic Sun Conference who received votes in any 2010 preseason poll.

11. Situation AnalysisProblem Research has shown that our target market is unaware of athletic events. We need to find a way to bring more awareness to FGCU athletics in general, but especially for baseball. There is a lack of communication to the students because most do not know when there are games or even where the baseball field is located. There is a lack of incentives to get fans to attend the games. A current problem that exists is the promotion of giving away free food. Using this method is not effective because most of the students will only come in the beginning and then leave.

12. Situation AnalysisTarget Market The target market for Florida Gulf Coast University baseball consists of current students, surrounding residents in Lee and Collier county, and donors/sponsors. These members of the community are the most involved group who have the greatest interest for college athletics. Based on our surveys we found that our target market attending the games are typically FGCU students.

13. Situation AnalysisTarget MarketStudents The current FGCU student body for Fall 2010 is 11,119. There are 2,747 students that live on campus. 75% of students are Female compared to 25% that are Male. There are 75% of male faculty members opposed to 25% that are female. Psychographics: The characteristics of the student population include young, carefree, well educated, competitive, and enjoy social gatherings.

14. Situation Analysis Target Market Residents of Lee and Collier Counties We consider the residents of both Lee and Collier Counties to be likely participants in FGCU Baseball events. As of 2008 there are 583,136 residents living in Lee County. Of this population, 22.9% are sixty-five years old or older, where the median age of Lee County is 61.7. The population of Collier County as of 2008 was 315,258 people. Of this population, 26.5 percent are of the age of 65 or older, and the median age is 44 years old. Psychographics: The characteristics of these residents are retired, wealthy, family/community oriented, have active social lives, enjoy outdoor activities, proper, non Florida native – not year round residents.

15. Situation AnalysisTarget Market Donors/Alumni The FGCU alumni association currently has 10,199 members. The total number of graduates from FGCU is 10,689. FGCU Alumni connect through special events, programs, and services. They use social networking sites such as Facebook which helps to increase involvement.

16. Situation AnalysisCompetition MLB Spring Training The Red Sox and the FGCU baseball team have overlapping games starting from 3/3-4/3. (Springtrainingonline.com, 2/17/2010) The problem is that even if the Red Sox are not playing at home, most of the away games are in Florida, and not a very long drive at all. The Minnesota Twins, who actually play closer than the Red Sox do, play in Florida all Spring training long, and will also draw a big crowd (minnesota.twins.mlb.com, 2/17/2010). These two teams will have huge draws, especially the Red Sox, who are powerhouses in the MLB. The Red Sox have sold out a consecutive 456 straight regular season games in Boston, and that should carry over to Ft Myers. (FenwayFanatics.com, 2/17/10)

17. Situation AnalysisCompetitionHigh School Baseball Fans of baseball will also have another team to follow as the Estero Wildcats (from Estero High School) who will also have overlapping games this season. This will make it even more difficult to choose between whether to go to an FGCU baseball game, or another important game. (Maxpreps.com, 2/17/10) One of the main problems, is that if parents have kids playing on the high school team, they will definitely watch them instead of the FGCU Men's Baseball team.

18. Situation AnalysisCompetitionFort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Miracles, the single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, season starts on April 8th and continues along until September 5th (Miraclebaseball.com/schedule). This poses another threat to FGCU baseball because the Miracle are apart of a professional MLB team. The Miracle players are halfway to the MLB, since the team plays in the High-A Advanced league, which is higher than single-A but lower than double-A. (miraclebaseball.com/fanzone)

19. Situation AnalysisCompetition Student Interests Another setback for FGCU baseball is the needs of most of the students. If there is a Baseball game the night before a student has a test, that student is more likely to study for the test than go to a baseball game. (Survey) Homework is a huge competitor because your studies are important and no one wants to get a bad grade in school. The jobs that students have are also huge competitors of FGCU baseball, because college students need money to live and go to school here. If you miss work for a baseball game, there is a possibility of getting fired. (survey)

20. Objectives • Bring more awareness to FGCU athletics with an emphasis on Baseball • By the start of the 2011 season, we will raise awareness from the current level by 15%. • Using our resources we want to increase the attendance of the local community, alumni, and students • Persuade our targeted prospects to attend athletic events through various uses of media • Engage a high level of interest in athletics at FGCU overall; by increasing attendance to baseball games

21. StrategiesCreative The focus of this campaign is based on our tagline: “Slide in to Home Base with FGCU Athletics” The specific design features that will show our IMC focus involve certain layouts, colors, and fonts. We will show various photos from baseball events that are centered within the flyers. The color scheme of clover green and midnight blue will showcase FGCU. When seeing the coordination of the colors, the target market will relate it to the university in general. In relating it with the tagline and photos, the focus of athletics and baseball will come to mind within an overall consistency.

22. StrategiesMedia The types of media that will be used in this campaign include flyers, magazines, newspapers, events, local restaurant participation, and social networking websites. We will use these types of media because they showcase how we can implement awareness in the best way. We will not be using TV or radio because based on our budget we do not think it would be the most effective method since they are too broad.

23. StrategiesMedia Flyers We will use flyers because it gives a visual representation of what is occurring which catches the viewers’ attention. It will also keep everyone up-to-date on what is happening in the area. We can use the flyers to advertise the events and every home baseball game. This method will be useful for students, residents and alumni because they often have hectic schedules and can frequently be reminded of specific events with these flyers. Magazines Using magazines will allow us to reach a high amount of diverse readers among Lee and Collier county. Newspapers There is a high circulation of newspapers in Southwest Florida which will keep the community up to date on what athletic events or games are going on.

24. StrategiesMedia Continued Events Based on our research and current target market of college students; we found that marketing FGCU baseball through events at the games would be effective. College students like to take breaks from their school work to socialize. By having an event to attend would allow them to have a way to relieve some stress from schoolwork to enjoy their time at a game. Some students do not like sports so by using an event would increase the incentive to get them to attend. Local Restaurants We will use surrounding restaurants at the Gulf Coast Town Center and Coconut Point to promote the Baseball games. By putting flyers in the window or given to customers at the door it can be a routine for them to go to the game after the eat. Websites Social networking with sites such as Facebook is very important to effectively communicate with students, faculty, and alumni about upcoming games or events. We can also post ads or flyers on the site.

25. Tactics We will be raising awareness with the use of specific flyers, local magazines and newspapers, event marketing, local restaurant promotions and social networking sites. The local magazines that will be the most effective are Fort Myers & SWFL magazine, and Gulfshore Life magazine. The local newspapers that we will be using to advertise include news-press, Naples news, and Bonita news (The Banner). Our event marketing will be at various baseball games throughout the season with games and prizes. The local restaurants we will be affiliated with is Beef O’Bradys, Miller Ale House, MOE’s Southwest Grill, Bar Louie, and Firepit

26. TacticsFlyers We will use various flyers for creative media in order to gain awareness for baseball season, special events, playoff games, and showcasing the FGCU athletics website.

32. SLIDE IN TO HOME BASE WITH FGCU ATHLETICS! www.fgcuathletics.com/baseball

33. TacticsMagazines • Fort Myers Magazine It allocates 20,000 free copies to over 250 places around Southwest Florida. It reaches over 50,000 readers in Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, Estero, Bonita Springs and Naples. It targets a variety of residents in Southwest Florida that live active lifestyles. Their readers are intelligent, successful, and creative individuals. They also target the travelers staying at the luxury resorts and hotels in Lee County.

34. TacticsMagazines • Gulfshore Life has won the “best overall magazine” two years in a row by the Florida magazine association. This magazine covers both Lee and Collier counties. We will be able to reach the target market with the high circulation.

35. News-press.com Since 1884, the News Press Media Group has been the number one source for news and information in Lee County. They reach over 72,000 adults that are over age 18. We will be advertising in the community weeklies that include local news and information about the surrounding neighborhoods. TacticsNewspapers

36. TacticsNewspapers • Naples News Media freestyle advertising The banner publication serves North Naples and South Lee County including Estero and Bonita Springs. Since this covers local areas it would be easier to bring awareness.

37. TacticsEvents • Wind Demon t-shirt shooter

39. TacticsLocal Restaurants • Prizes • T-Shirts • Restaurant gift cards • Red Robin, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Outback Steakhouse, Blu Sushi • FGCU Parking Lot • ’10 3700 Trek Mountain Bike • A12T sit on top kayak • iPad

40. TacticsLocal Restaurants • Coconut Point • Fridays • Gulf Coast Town Center • Firepit • Bar Louie • Vapianos • MOE’s Southwest Grill • Miller’s Ale House • Beef O’ Brady’s

41. TacticsWebsites • Facebook – cost effective (Alumni)

42. TacticsWebsites • Twitter

43. TacticsWebsites • YouTube

44. TacticsWebsites • Fgcuathletics.com/baseball

45. Flighting Schedule

46. Budget

47. Control and Implementation • Awareness will be measured before our campaigns begin • The current state of awareness will be measured and recorded. We will accomplish this by tallying the results of surveys and ---------- • Pre campaign information such as average attendance will be recorded • Current attendance is 347 people per game • Once our campaign is underway, we will measure attendance to determine the effectiveness of our efforts.

48. Control and Implementation • Flyers – We will be able to tell how many people are now aware of FGCU baseball by counting the number of flyers that are missing after a particular period of time • Banner Ads - On Facebook, the people that are on the FGCU network will see banner ads on the right, or top of the screen promoting FGCU baseball. Throughout the running of these ads, we will measure the number of hits in relation to particular promotions or events involved in our campaign.

49. Control and Implementation • Magazines and Newspapers – Maintain that our ads stay in magazines/newspapers that have the same popularity today as they did when we started running our ads. • Radio – Insure that people still tune into the radio stations that we run our ads on.

50. Conclusion With proper implementation, we are confident that our advertising strategy will bring awareness to FGCU Baseball.