Rice University Offering Free Beer During Big Football Game to Boost Attendance
“we wanted to be as creative as possible to incentivize the students to stick around and come out to the game”
This would have worked on me. How can you go wrong with free beer?
NBC News reports:
This college wants more students at a big football game. It’s offering free beer.
Trying to boost student attendance at a key college football matchup, one school has landed on an unusual promotion.
Free beer, anyone?
Rice University in Houston is offering free 12-ounce beers for students 21 and older at a stand near Rice Stadium’s student section, the university announced Thursday — and beer isn’t the only enticement the university hopes will draw in more student fans for the Owls’ game against 22nd-ranked North Texas on Saturday.
Showing a student ID will also earn free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; a free T-shirt, for the first 500 students; and a $15 voucher that can be used at two food trucks. The residential college with the highest attendance can win a speaker and a $500 gift card to a local grocery, too.
“The weekend before Thanksgiving, a lot of students are already heading off campus, heading home for the holiday, things like that,” said Kevin Dwan, Rice’s deputy athletic director for external affairs and revenue generation. “So we wanted to be as creative as possible to incentivize the students to stick around and come out to the game. That’s kind of the genesis of it.”
Some promotions are planned weeks or months in advance. To entice fans to watch a home game on Halloween night, Rice gave away free barbecue to university faculty and staff members and students, as well as free samples of vodka and tequila for anyone 21 and older. Yet this week’s giveaway, including the free beer and ice cream, was spur-of-the-moment, Dwan said, after Rice’s win last week improved the Owls to 5-5, one win away from becoming eligible for a bowl game. Then the game against North Texas was selected for a national broadcast on ESPN, offering more exposure for Rice.
“When it got picked up for national TV, you know, it kind of picked up steam to say, hey, we’ve really got to do everything we can to make sure we have a good crowd and good student support,” Dwan said.
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Comments
But it’s “free,” as in free speech, not “free,” as in… never mind.
I’m old enough to remember when universities banned beer sales at games to reduce fights and DUI. Which caused pre-game tailgate parties to explode in stadium parking lots. Sounds like that’s all ancient history.
But they’re so much smarter than their ancestors.
They’ll “get it right” this time for sure.
My son at 6 years old, “grand-pa why do you smell like the student section at the Georgia Bulldog game?”
Football? Yaaawwwwwwwwnnnn…
Heh. I would have participated for that. (class of 1970)
My wife and I [Class of ’61] were laughing today about me wearing a coat and tie to ball games and she said she remembers wearing a hat! Univ of South Carolina.