Brian Broussard

4/14/19

Conclusion and Recommendations

In working closely with Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF) over the last 6 weeks, and after being

employed there for nearly a full year, it has become clear the organization usually runs as a well-oiled

machine. Although TAF has been successful in its attempts to support LSU and its athletics program,

there are always areas to improve when an organization is charged with helping support 19 school

sponsored sports teams (8 men’s and 11 women’s teams).

The National Club L Spring Game is the LSU football team’s premiere annual spring event; it is

nationally televised by ESPN and, among spring games across the country, is one of a minority that is

able to generate an attendance higher than 20,000 fans consistently. While that sounds great, TAF/LSU’s

average reported attendance in recent years (28,500) has been blown away by power houses Alabama

and Georgia and even some schools that have finished recent football seasons with worse records than

LSU – specifically SEC foe Kentucky and Nebraska, which has sold out tickets to its spring game each of

the last two seasons despite losing records. Given this is true, LSU/TAF could certainly find a way to

increase attendance/engagement for the National Club L Spring Game – which can benefit the football

team directly in recruiting with a positive spring game environment.

As part of researching how TAF/LSU might achieve this, I spoke with Alicia Vidrine (CFO of TAF)

and was able to get an insider’s perspective on the event, as well as opinions on potential solutions. I

learned that TAF currently spends $0 dollars in marketing for the event, and it only charges admission
fees to cover food costs. After this conversation with Alicia and intense research on the topic, my three

recommendations for TAF/LSU to increase attendance/engagement for the spring game are as follows:

1) Partner with Your Call Inc. (YC) to utilize patented technology for Live Fan Play-Calling

a. This is the most intriguing recommendation and the one I feel would be most successful if

implemented. I can’t tell you how often LSU fans talk about how much better they can run

the offense than the coaches. Well, if LSU/TAF could partner with YC, the live fan play-calling

technology patented by YC for its Your Call Football League would allow LSU fans the chance

to show their play calling aptitude and potentially compete for prizes. Costs would have to

work out, but it wouldn’t give away the team’s playbook secrets since coaches often use

“watered down” or “vanilla” playbooks in these glorified scrimmages. I reached out to YC

about potentially partnering with TAF/LSU for the 2020 edition of the spring game, but the

emails have yet to receive a response.

2) Collaborate with regional rivals to play home-and-home series for spring games

a. Even though generally playbooks are filtered and starting players don’t play for long, fans

want to be interested in spring football. Regional rivalries are more compelling for fans, and

in turn would generate greater interest and engagement for the National Club L Spring

Game. Coaches don’t have to worry about giving out playbook secrets with filtered

playbooks and fans might get to see starters compete against a team that the school may

face in a postseason bowl game.

3) Increase promotions and variety of promotions

a. Offer fans paid ticket options (for general admission tickets and premium seating) that

would allow fans special privileges or opportunities – potentially including shaded seats,

footballs signed by the coaching staff, behind the scenes facilities access, on field

opportunities for promotional engagement or fan recognition, etc. Also, I recommend

offering season ticket holders early chance to purchase large quantities of tickets to

encourage attendance.