Groupon Offers Poinsettia Bowl Discount; Oregon, West Virginia On Board With Email Discounts
By Kyle Kensing
September 1, 2012; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks fans pose for a photo as they tailgate before the game against the Arkansas State Red Wovles at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE
Discount aggregator Groupon emailed an offer for 60 percent off tickets to December’s San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday, proving its never too early to start thinking about the bowl season. It’s also an example of a growing movement in college football that has benefited not just the lowly, but big time programs like Oregon and West Virginia as well.
Attendance is a common critique bowl system opposition cites in its argument, and last year’s Poinsettia Bowl was an offender. An outstanding match-up between WAC champion Louisiana Tech and Mountain West champion TCU drew less than 25,000, a particularly paltry figure when seen spread among Qualcomm Stadium’s almost 70,000 seats.
Dec 21, 2011; San Diego, CA, USA; A fan wearing a cowboy hat watches as TCU Horned Frogs and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs warm up prior to a game at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE
The Poinsettia Bowl has typically been wise about its tie-ins, in the past hosting Navy to capitalize on San Diego’s high population of midshipmen and local San Diego State. This year, BYU is guaranteed a spot should it reach bowl eligibility (it will). Last season, the chips fell in such a fashion that both participants were far removed and not well known for traveling fan bases. The game’s organizers are making a smart decision by appealing to locals with low prices. Combined with the likely BYU presence, and the Poinsettia Bowl should not suffer the same empty feeling it conveyed on national television last season.
Poinsettia Bowl organizers are hardly the first to use social discount sites to move tickets. Programs suffering through lackluster seasons or lacking traditionally motivated fan bases have employed services like Groupon in recent years. Of course, when a Boston College program not known for a rabid fan base and spiraling to a bowl-less campaign offers highly discounted prices, the college football blogosphere collectively points and laughs.
Television offering virtually every game on a given Saturday (and the internet handling the rest) has made staying home an increasingly attractive proposition. University and bowl game marketing departments are forced to get creative and offer incentive to attend — and that includes the programs with rabid fan bases.
But before kickoff of the 2012 season, powerhouse Oregon took to Groupon to pack Autzen Stadium for its match-up with Arkansas State. The Ducks have been among college football’s most elite programs the last five seasons, and Autzen is known for its raucous atmosphere. There’s a lot less snickering when its a top five program emailing these campaigns. West Virginia also tapped Groupon to fill the stadium for a non-conference meet-up with James Madison.