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RSM 392: Field Experiences Rec and Sport

Coastal Carolina University Marketing and Gameday Experience

Addison McComb
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AGENCY DESCRIPTION

Introductory Statement

The Coastal Carolina Athletics Marketing and Gameday Promotions department is responsible

for promotions operations that take place before, during, and after games. The responsibilities of

this department include promotional and prize tables that hand out posters and prizes during

games, on-field promotions during timeouts, and game operations such as music and video

board. The main service of this department is providing marketing for Coastal Carolina

Athletics.

History and Development

Recently, the department lost its director of gameday promotions. This has led to interns

basically running the agency. This happened in the last 3 months. The department is growing, as

it has taken on more interns this year than ever. In the future, the department expects to be bigger

and take on more responsibilities. The office for the agency is in the Norman field house.

Purpose and Philosophy

The purpose of this department is to make games more exciting for people of all ages and to

encourage people to attend sporting events. The department provides an experience to fans that is

more than just sitting and watching a game.

Services

The services and activities offered through the department are available at every home game.

These include free promotional items, prizes, and t-shirts. Almost every timeout or half-inning is

followed by an activity or prize giveaway. These services are marketed by the announcer at each

game. The marketing and promotions team works very closely with the announcer at every
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game. The prizes and equipment used for in-game activities is stored in the in-game operations

room.

Clientele

The agency served all Coastal fans, both young and old. For young fans, there are games

during timeouts and posters. For students, there is a student of the game. For older fans, there is

trivia for prizes and rosters. One restriction with the clientele is that you cannot pick student-

athletes or prospective student-athletes to win prizes or participate in activities.

Funding

The agency is funded through the sponsorships that happen during games. This is why it

is so important to make sure that each sponsor gets their advertisement played when they are

supposed to ad how they are supposed to. With some sponsorships, companies provide prizes,

like Pepsi provides t-shirts to be thrown. Major areas of expenditure include buying prizes for

activities and games, although most are provided by companies.

Problem Areas

A current area of concern for the agency is staffing. In February, the supervisor accepted

another job elsewhere, so since then the agency has been run by full-time interns and the

graduate assistant. The hiring process is currently ongoing to address this issue.

SUMMARY OF JOB RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Responsibilities

A typical day includes arriving at sporting events an hour and a half early. During this

time, you meet with the full-time interns to discuss roles for the day. Then, help set up the

promotions table, and then wait in the press box for the pre-game to start. During the game, I

would do whatever task is assigned and then help clean up at the conclusion of the game.
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Currently, there is no official supervisor, so the grad assistant, Megan Hopton, and full-

time interns are running the department. At this time, they are overseen by Dwayne Beam, who

signed all my paperwork.

Previous work in the athletic field was encouraged, but not required. I had previously

worked with the Coastal Carolina Athletics facilities agency, so I think that helped me get a spot

as an intern. As a result of the internship, I gained skills in decision making, in-game awareness,

and situational awareness. I also saw concepts from previous classes in action, like leadership

skills and marketing in sports. Learning about these concepts before doing the internship helped

guide me through my tasks at sporting events.

Opportunities

The department offers both 60-hour and 480-hour internships that cover RSM 392 or

RSM 496 requirements. The internship is not paid, but they also hire student workers for South

Carolina minimum wage.

Job responsibilities include being friendly and welcoming to all spectators, handing out

posters at promotions tables, coordinating in-game activities and promotions, controlling the

video board, and playing music.

Since the internship is campus-affiliated, there are many options in terms of housing.

Interns can live in campus housing, or easily find apartments within reasonable distance. All

sporting events are on campus, so there is no need to travel. The dress code for games is a

Coastal shirt with khakis, black jeans, or dress pants.

Fall interns assist with football, soccer, volleyball, and basketball. Spring interns assist

with basketball, lacrosse, softball, beach volleyball, and baseball. RSM 392 interns assist at the

actual sporting events while RSM 496 interns help with behind-the-scenes jobs as well to prepare
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for the sporting events. This internship receives a lot of interest from RSM students, so it is

important to apply early to earn all hours needed. The more interest from potential interns, the

harder it is to sign up for hours.