POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The NCAA announced that Marist College has been chosen as the overall winner in the 2010-11 NCAA Division I "Pack the House" Challenge. Marist beat out 177 participating institutions which included schools from 32 conferences and sellout crowds by Army, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville, Michigan State, Navy, Oregon and Pacific.
"Pack the House" is national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. NCAA Division I women's basketball marketing staffs selected a home game and designated that date as a "Pack the House" game with the goal of setting an attendance record. One winner from each of the 32 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution's choice.
More than half of the Division I membership - 178 institutions - participated in the effort that attracted more than 554,000 fans. Sixty-nine programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year. Marist hosted a sell-out crowd of 3,200 fans at its game on Feb. 4 vs. Niagara. Marist is the only school in the country to sellout its "Pack the House" game four years in a row. In addition to being named the overall winner for the first time, Marist was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference winner for the third time in four years.
"We believe this initiative has served as a catalyst to increase attendance, create excitement and enhance exposure for our women's basketball programs," said NCAA Vice President of Division I Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe. "Institution personnel committed a great deal of time, effort and resources to this program and the results were extremely positive. This program provides great `best practices' and examples of success for institutions that are seeking to `grow' women's basketball and these success stories will continue to strengthen efforts in the future."
The Marist Athletics Department used a wide range marketing strategies to ensure its fourth straight "Pack the House" sellout including a super heroes and villains themed student promotion and youth basketball game by the LaGrange girls basketball recreation program at halftime. In addition to marketing the event through social media and traditional outlets, Marist has used the "Pack the House" Challenge as an educational component for its students. Over the past four years, the Athletics Department has partnered with the School of Communication and its Sports Public Relations class to use the event as a practical learning tool for the students.
Assistant Athletics Director for External Affairs Frank Lombardy is honored that the NCAA has recognized Marist on the national level for its "Pack the House" marketing efforts.
"It's a tremendous honor to be chosen by the NCAA as the national Pack the House Challenge winner," Lombardy said. "We are limited with our arena capacity and try each year to raise the bar with unique marketing efforts." "I'm very grateful that the NCAA took into account our entire body of work and did not solely focus on the attendance number."
Winners of the 2010-11 NCAA "Pack the House" Challenge are:
CONFERENCE WINNERS
America East - Binghamton University; Atlantic Coast - Duke; Atlantic Sun - Florida Gulf Coast; Atlantic 10 - Rhode Island; Big East - Louisville; Big Sky -Sacramento State; Big South - Gardner-Webb; Big Ten - Michigan State; Big 12 - Kansas State; Big West - Pacific; Colonial - Old Dominion; Conference USA - Houston; Great West - Utah Valley; Horizon - Green Bay; Ivy - Pennsylvania; Metro Atlantic - Marist; Mid-American - Central Michigan; Mid-Eastern - South Carolina State; Missouri Valley - Wichita State; Mountain West - Air Force; Northeast - Central Connecticut State; Ohio Valley - Eastern Illinois; Pacific-10 - Oregon; Patriot - Army; Southeastern - Auburn; Southern - Samford; Southland - Texas State; SWAC - Jackson State; Summit - Oral Roberts; Sun Belt - Western Kentucky; West Coast - San Francisco; WAC - Louisiana Tech; Independents - Longwood
OVERALL WINNER
Marist - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference