Drew Miller, Matthew Jones,

Phil Mosley
Dr. Peetz
SAM 6270.02
December 9, 2014
Executive Summary
This report was commissioned to look at why ticket sales and attendance for the
Nashville Predators College Night promotion is down 29% year over year through the first six
college nights and how to improve this number by enhancing awareness and generating
excitement among the local college communities in Nashville, TN. We believe that with an
improved marketing strategy, the Predators can capitalize on the vast market of college students
in the area (roughly 73,000) to improve their ticket sales and attendance during college night.
The problems that we uncovered with the current College Night promotion involve a few
different factors. First, we believe the college night promotion is not geared enough towards
college students who do attend. After, attending a few college night games this season we found
that it is hard to tell that the promotion is even occurring, meaning that college students who
attend may not feel valued. We also believe that college night is occurring too often (every
Thursday night home game), meaning there is not enough incentive for students to attend
because they have so many opportunities throughout the season to do so. Another problem we
uncovered is that there is not enough awareness in the Nashville college community that this
event even occurs. After asking many local college students about college night, we found that
the vast majority were unaware that it even existed.
Our objectives include very specific and measurable goals that we believe the Predators
can obtain through an enhanced marketing strategy. Our first objective states that we will see a

30% increase in college tickets purchased over the next two months with more interactive
activities and promotions geared towards college students at the game. Our second objective
stated that we are expecting a 30% increase in college night ticket sales over the next two months
after making an effort to reach out and get involved with the area universities through campus
visits and on-site promotional activities. Our third objective is to make college night more scarce
and thus more desirable by only picking out a few games a month to have college night, rather
than every Thursday night home game during the season. Finally, our last objective is to create a
sort of competition amongst the area schools to see which school can have the most attendance
and awarding prizes to the school that wins.
We hope to accomplish our objectives through a comprehensive marketing strategy aimed
at improving sales and revenue of the College Night promotion. Our strategy includes gearing
the in game promotions to college students. This includes having a season long competition
amongst college students who can take a full court shot and possibly win money towards their
tuition. At the end of the season, the winning student gets 1 credit hour of school tuition paid for
by the Predators. Our strategy also includes ramping up the promotional efforts for College
Night by having the Predators marketing representatives travel to local college campuses. If the
schools wont allow on campus visits, we will have special promotional events at local areas
where college students frequent (i.e. the bars in Midtown or on Demonbreun). These trips will
be aimed at generating excitement for the team while also collecting valuable information from
college students such as email addresses. Another one of strategies is to make the College Night
promotion scarcer by only picking 1 or 2 games a month to have the promotion rather than every
Thursday night home game. In doing so, the event will become scarcer and as result, more
desirable for students to attend. Our final strategy involves creating a reward system for students
who attend College Night more frequently. The more often fans attend, the more prizes they will

be eligible for. We believe this will make students feel more valued by the organization and also
give them more incentive to come to College Night. It is our belief that through these
recommendations, the Predators can definitely improve their college night ticket sales and make
the event into something special amongst area college students.
In order for our marketing strategy to be accomplished, it is necessary to look at the cost
of our new efforts. It is projected that the season long college tuition competition will cost
$1,500. The promotional trips to different schools will roughly cost $300 per trip (giveaways,
travel expenses, materials for set-up). Finally, the reward system and prize giveaways for
students who attend games more often will cost roughly $1,000 for the season. All in all, our
expenses for our new strategy will range between $5,000-$6,000. It is projected that the
Predators can make a significant financial gain in their revenue with our proposed marketing
plan. Currently, tickets in the lower level are being offered for $30 per game and $15 per game
in the upper level. If we are able to sell roughly 150 tickets to college students every
promotional game (a number we think is very achievable with a revamped marketing strategy),
the revenue generated could potentially reach $4,500 per game just from ticket sales. This does
not include the potential merchandise, food, and beverage that students will purchase once they
are in Bridgestone arena.
Introduction
The Nashville Predators hockey team was founded in 1997 in Nashville, TN. The
Predators were part of a National Hockey League (NHL) expansion process that included the
addition of four teams to Nashville, Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta, Georgia, and Minneapolis,
Minnesota. The franchises ownership and expansion effort was headed by Wisconsin
businessman Craig Leipold. After visiting Nashville and seeing the arena the city was already

equipped with, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman decided to bring the team to Nashville,
marking the second professional sports team to come to the city along with the NFLs Tennessee
Titans. The franchise has enjoyed moderate success on the ice since coming into the league,
making several playoff appearances and also winning a playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks
4-2 in the 2010-11 season. ("Nashville Predators Team - Nashville Predators History," n.d.)
The Predators purpose has always been to be a contender in the NHL while also
providing a second to none experience for the fans of Nashville. Hockey, which has a tough time
competing with the pride of the south, football, has grown in the city of Nashville and competes
fairly well for fans with the neighboring NFL team the Titans. The Predators are in the business
of winning hockey games, providing excellent customer service, and providing entertainment to
thousands of fans nightly. While the organization or the National Hockey League does not have
a formal mission statement it would be fair to say that it would be similar to that of the
Worchester Sharks, a minor league team in the American Hockey league. The Sharks mission
statement says: The Worcester Sharks are devoted to providing, in the most fiscally responsible
manner, the highest quality sports and entertainment events to the New England community and
beyond, through commitment to customer service, community involvement and dedication to
excellence. We are dedicated to building a premier team in the American Hockey League that
will perennially contend for the Calder Cup championship (Sharks AHL, n.d.).
With that being said, the purpose of this marketing plan is to address the current College
Night promotion that the Nashville Predators currently have. The promotion runs during the
season and includes every home game, regardless of opponent, on Thursday nights. The plan
currently offers lower level seats to college students for $30 and includes a t-shirt, upper level
seats for $15, and off drinks through the first intermission. The tickets are currently offered to

students who present their college i.d. at the box office or who purchase the tickets through their
respective schools online link. The college night promotion has seen significant decrease in
ticket sales and is currently down 29% year over year through the first six college nights. With
several local college campuses in the greater Nashville area, including Belmont University
(Nashville), Vanderbilt University (Nashville), Tennessee State University (Nashville), Tennessee
Tech University (Cookeville), Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro), Trevecca
Nazarene (Nashville), Lipscomb University (Nashville), and Austin Peay (Clarkesville), the
potential number of consumers for the College Night promotion is roughly 73,000 students
(Search for Colleges and Schools, n.d.)! With an improved marketing plan in place, this
solution can increase ticket sales significantly beginning next season and exponentially going
forward, especially with the number of potential targets that marketing segmentation could
produce.
Value Proposition
The Nashville Predators hockey organization has been around since 1998. In their time
in Nashville they have been able to establish a pretty solid fan base for a smaller market team.
They were always going to have difficulty selling tickets to people in this area just because
hockey is not the primary sport, football is and always will be. That does not mean hockey will
not grow in popularity, because it already is with more and more youth hockey leagues starting
up in the middle Tennessee area. The Predators organization has done a fantastic job of finding
ways to reach out to the Nashville community and get people in the stands, however as of late
the team has seen a decline in their attendance. They have fallen to 20th in overall attendance in
the National Hockey League. This decline is mostly because of the teams lack of success over
the past two years, where they failed to reach the playoffs. Another reason could be the in-game

experience over the past two years has been less effective and fans do not see a benefit of coming
to the games. The Predators started a college night a few years ago, where they offer discounted
tickets to college students with a college ID. This was a great idea with there being so many
colleges in the middle Tennessee area, and also a way to get the younger generation more
involved with the game of hockey. The goal of this marketing plan is to grow the fan base by
reaching out to younger fans, hoping they will become long time Predators fans. College night
experience tremendous success over the first couple of years, attracting students from all over the
state of Tennessee. Over the last couple years the organization has seen a drop off in attendance
for their Thursday college nights. There could be several factors contributing to this, but I
believe the main reason is when they get students to attend there is not enough interactive
activities for them to get involved with. Sure the students receive a t-shirt and a breakfast burrito
from Jack-in-the-box, but that is not enough to keep them coming back and become true Predator
fans. Our plan will be to implement more hands-on activities for students when they arrive to the
games. Having that direct interaction with the students will result in them feeling actually
wanted at the games, instead of just offering them the very discounted tickets and a breakfast
burrito.
The Predators need to have different activities set up throughout the arena on college
nights that gets the students actually learning about hockey, instead of just coming to the games.
Hockey games are a very entertaining, but if you could actually get them to understand the game
and become committed and loyal hockey fans. This will create a long term fan base, which the
organization desperately needs in order to improve attendance.
Marketing Segmentation

The Nashville Predators are the only NHL Hockey team within 300 miles. This creates a
need for brand awareness and marketing to get mid-south hockey fans in the arena. The
Predators can take advantage of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky as
states who do not have a professional team, let alone a professional hockey team (Miller, 2014).
The must in promoting southern hockey is keeping the novelty relevant. Numerous teams like
the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning have had success. But they cant sustain
success year in and year out, having trouble filling seats and making the playoffs.
Market Growth
From 1998 through 2010 the Nashville Predators experienced 264.6% growth of fans.
There are very few opportunities for hockey across the state of Tennessee except for the
Predators. Alabama Huntsville (NCAA) could also be a potential boost to the growth of hockey
throughout the mid south. Since the 2010 campaign hockey has been very null across Nashville
as the positive momentum has come to a stop. This could be due to the lack of success the
Predators have had in the previous 4 seasons.
Market Needs
The Nashville Predators first must start with outstanding customer service inside and
outside of Bridgestone Arena. This includes all marketing events, community service, games,
promotions and recruiting to Metro Nashville college students. The specific marketing events
would include potential visits to campuses or areas surrounding campuses where students could
learn about and interact with the Predators organization.
The Predators need to capitalize on 8 Division 1 Universities in the Metro Nashville area
that boost strong athletic programs. Nashville is fortunate to have enough college students to
sustain a College Night promotion, they just need to be reached and feel welcome.

Finally, once the Predators get college students in the door, they need to keep them
coming back for more! Ideas revolve around different T-Shirt designs, areas for college students
can have fun...outside of sitting in their seat watching hockey. Some fan involvement ideas
include fresher music choices, after game open rink and the open hand to come back for more.

Since 1998, Hockey participation has grown 145%. The Nashville Predators were valued at over
$205 million during the 2013 season which was up 23% after the NHL Lockout. Their revenue is
a little over $70 million. Nashville itself ranks as one of the fastest growing economical climates.
Nashvilles GMP ranks as high as the whole state of Nebraska.
Vanderbilt ONLY Statistics
South

35%

Midwest

19% Over 500 students from Illinois and

traditional power Chicago Blackhawks

Plains

17%

Southwest

9%

West

8%

New England

6% Over 800 students combined from

Philadelphia, NYC and Boston

International

6%

Nashville Predators ranked 20th out of 30 teams in total attendance in the 2013-2014 season.
680,600 came to see the Predators play last year, on Average that is 16,000 fans per game. This
seems good but compared to rivals Chicago and Detroit they had 6-8k fans less per game
(23,000)
Social Media Among NHL
The Nashville Predators can look to social media to broadcast and update information as it has
become the leading news source for young adults and college students.
NHL Fans

Facebook

% Hockey
followers

Twitter

% Hockey
followers

61,775,00

13,716,00

27.8%

6,432,000

38.4%

SWOT Analysis
StrengthsThe strengths of the Predators go hand in hand with the strengths of the city of Nashville. It is
one of the fastest growing cities in the US with a very high population of college students and

young professionals. The Predators have a great home venue in Bridgestone arena that is
equipped with state of the art sound and lighting. Music City is also a destination for college
students not from Davidson county such as MTSU, Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech. They also
have the ability to reach out to colleges in Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama.
-Young team with vibrant resources including Bridgestone Arena
-Music City is a place of growth among college students
-Nashville is a destination for college students at MTSU, Austin Peay, TTU etc.
-The ability to pull fans and college students from different areas of Tennessee, Kentucky and
Georgia
Weaknesses
-

Very little promotion of event. We as a group do not hear much about College Night
Understanding target weakness extends beyond college nights
Old music, irrelevant promotions, little fan experience and engagement
The Predators seem to struggle with the lack of promotion of college night. Very few students we
spoke with knew of the College Night deal. They also need to understand their target weakness
extends far beyond college nights. This includes old music, irrelevant promotions, and very little
fan engagement during games.
Opportunities
As you can see Vanderbilt alone enrolls thousands of students from traditional hockey engraved
states (MA, NY, NJ, IL, MI etc) There are many resources across Nashville including former
college students in Sport Administration who understand the need for revenue and attendance
increase. But one of the biggest opportunities arises from the new Antioch 86,000 sq feet indoor
center available to recruit, teach younger adults about game.
Threats/Competition

Threats of the Nashville Predators include the Tennessee Titans of the NFL, the Nashville sounds
(MILB) and Vanderbilt Commodores (NCAA). The music industry also plays an enormous
impact of the turnout at Predator games. There is always a show going on whether it is at the
Grand Ole Opry, Ryman, Station Inn or others. There is always the risk of a new expansion
hockey team in the South that could be a threat to business.
-

Tennessee Titans
Vanderbilt Commodores
Tennessee Volunteers
Nashville Sounds
Economy
Possible expansion team in South
Analysis of Target Markets
Nashville is fortunate enough to have a vast number of colleges and universities that are
marketable. Metro Nashville within Davidson County has almost 35,000 college students. This
encompasses a 10-15 mile radius from downtown Nashville. Expanding even further to a 25-50
mile radius would allow the Predators to reach Middle Tennessee State and Austin Peay. The 50+
mile radius would give the opportunity to schools outside of Tennessee and the typical Nashville
scene with schools such as Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, UT and even Alabama Huntsville
which holds the only NCAA Division 1 hockey program below the Mason-Dixon line.
Belmont is known for their influence on the arts, music and business majors while
Vanderbilt Specifically caters mostly to pre-professional degrees. Out of the 11 schools listed
only one has a NCAA sanctioned hockey team. Vanderbilt carries a club hockey team, although
the NCAA does not recognize it.

5 mi radius
School
Vanderbilt
Lipscomb

Miles from Bridgestone

1.6mi
4.2mi

Enrollment
12,757
4,018

Belmont
Trevecca
Tennessee State

2.3mi
1.7
.5

7,000
2,500
8,775

50mi
35mi

10,873
22,000

178
67.2
78.8
109

27,171
21,100
10,150
7,500

50mi radius
Austin Peay
MTSU

50+ mi radius
UT
WKU
TTU
Alabama Huntsville

TOTAL: 133,844 college students. (Search for Colleges and Schools, n.d.)

Possible:
Allison Knight is a 19-year-old female college student, hailing from New York. She is in
the music industry business major and carries a 3.5GPA. In high school she participated in the
Cross Country team and was apart of a female ensemble in her choir. She is the oldest of 2
siblings and works part time on campus to help pay for her tuition (approx $1,500 a year). On
weekends she likes to stay active and jogs in her free time. She occasionally attends sporting
events but prefers the music scene. After graduation she hopes to work for a record label or
possibly become a country music/pop artist. Students communicate through social media (twitter,
facebook and instagram) and a study conducted on college student consumer behavior states 66%
of college age students dont know about exclusive college discounts.
Ideal:
Robert Wiseman is a 21 year old, current senior college student. He is single and is supported by
his parents though he has a seasonal job at Belle Meade Country Club. He is a varsity athlete
(baseball) and enjoys sports of all kinds. On weekends he likes to relax, watch sports and go out

on the town with friends. He is the oldest of 3 boys and his parents are schoolteachers. He hopes
to graduate with a degree in business and go onto obtain his MBA.
To gain intrigue throughout metro Nashvilles college students, we need to bridge the gap
between the sport and music industry. Sporting events are more than just sports; they are a
spectacle that can be meshed together.
Marketing Objectives
The Nashville Predators are lucky enough to be in the center of multiple Universities that
range from northern Alabama to Kentucky. Being that the Predators are the only NHL team in
that region, there is an opportunity to tap in to all of these markets and the results could
potentially be astounding. We all know hockey is not very popular in the south, so obviously it
is going to be tougher to sell tickets for a sport that is in a football market. So this leads us into
our first objective.
Objective 1: Instead of just giving college students a discount on tickets, a free tshirt, and a
coupon to jack in the box for a breakfast burrito, we are going to focus our in game promotions
and activities towards the college students. The goal is to get the students actually interested in
the game of hockey, because the only way to really create a life-long fan of the sport is to engage
their interest and increase their knowledge of the sport. Many students in this area are not
familiar with the game of hockey, and they just go to the college nights every now and then
because of the discounted ticket, which is still a little pricy, for the half priced beer and the social
scene. I have been working with the organization for about two months now, and have worked
two Thursday night games, which are college nights, and there has been little effort in making the
students feel special and actually wanted at the games. If we can come up with more interactive

activities and promotions that are getting students more involved in the games then we should see
a 30% increase in college tickets purchased over the next two months.

Objective 2: This objective focuses on increasing the awareness of college night. Like we
mentioned earlier I have been working there a couple months, and during that time we have
talked with several college students are completely unaware that we even have college nights
every Thursday. In our opinion this is because of several factors, one of course is the fact that
people in the south really just do not care that much about the game of hockey. The second
reason I believe they are unaware is because we do not promote it as well as we should. We are
going to take one day to go out to all 11 of the schools we listed and set up a table in the student
center of each university to promote the organization and college night. If we cannot get space on
campus due to university restrictions, we will make an effort to have marketing events at local
areas that college students tend to frequent (i.e. bars in Midtown or Demonbreun). This kind of
effort could really increase interest and awareness, which would result in more students making
the trip to see a Predators game. We are expecting a 30% increase in college night ticket sales in
the next two months after making the effort to get out to each university.

Objective 3: The last two objectives lead us into the third one. Right now college night is every
Thursday night home game. We strongly believe that this is way to frequent, thus creating no
excitement for the average student. We are going to pick one or two Thursday games each month
depending on how many we have that month, and really market those individual games as college
nights. If we are able to really promote the fact that we will focus on selling to college students
on specific nights then I truly believe there would be more interest and students would make

plans to come out to the game. They would be more willing to do so if we accomplished
objectives one and two. By being more interactive with them at the game, making the effort to
reach out to them, and then assigning specific games as college night would create more buzz
amongst them, thus resulting in increased attendance. By having it every Thursday night we
believe it diminishes the urgency of the student, because they know they have multiple
opportunities to take advantage of the offer.

Objective 4: After reducing the amount of college nights, our next step in creating awareness is
to create competitions amongst colleges to see which school can have the largest attendance. We
would create a frequent fan type of rewards system in which the more often they come to the
game they get rewarded with different prizes, such as free skates at the Ford Ice Center or getting
to meet the coach and some players.
Marketing Strategy
In the previous two sections of our plan, we have detailed our target market as well as our
marketing objectives as they relate to the Nashville Predators college night promotion. Our
target market primarily consists of college students in the greater Nashville area whose interests
include music and sports as well as healthy lifestyles. Our objectives include engaging students
who do attend the games more, creating more awareness about the Preds college night, picking
and choosing what Thursday nights to have college night, and creating a reward system for fans
and schools who attend more games. We plan to accomplish these objectives through a
comprehensive marketing strategy that we believe can truly put a boost into the attendance and
popularity of college night.

One of the most important aspects of any sporting event is the quality of experience
offered to the fans in attendance. A successful sport franchise that generates solid attendance and
ticket sales usually does a number of things well but most importantly they offer the fan a quality
experience that makes them want to come back. When we went to a recent Preds game we
noticed that perhaps the experience for the college student could be better. Part of our strategy is
to make the in-game promotions and activities more geared towards college students. In doing
so, it is important to identify what type of promotional giveaway a college student would be
interested in participating in. So what exactly does a college student in Nashville need that the
Preds could provide in a promotion? Free tuition.
There are many current colleges who offer a free tuition type of promotional giveaway
at their sporting events and we believe that this type of promotion would work well for the Preds.
However, instead of giving away an entire semester of tuition (which could be extremely
expensive), we will pay for 1 credit hour of tuition. It would provide incentive for more students
to come to the games and also make the students truly feel like part of the experience being that
this promotion is totally catered to them. The promotion would involve a full court hockey shot.
The student chosen would be from a random draw based on ticket and section. The promotion
would occur between the 2nd and 3rd periods of the hockey game (giving more incentive for the
students to remain at the game longer) and would run every college night for the season. If the
student makes the shot, they become eligible for the grand prize, which will be a full court shoot
off between all the students who made the shot during the season at the final college night of the
season. The student who wins on the final night would receive a free credit hour of tuition at
their respective college, up to $1,500. If there is a tie on the final night, the money will be split
amongst the students. We strongly believe this type of promotion will show that the Preds are

invested in college students in the middle Tennessee area and will provide more incentive for
students to come as well as a greater sense of involvement at the games.
Our second objective is aimed at creating more awareness about college night amongst
college students in the Middle Tennessee area. We believe that awareness about the current
college night the Preds hold every Thursday night is pretty low amongst college students in the
Middle Tennessee area. Several students we spoke to were completely unaware that a college
night even existed. We believe this is due to lack in one of the 4 Ps of marketing, promotion.
Part of our marketing strategy is to ramp up the promotional efforts of college night to heights
never before seen. We will do this by taking several marketing representatives to college
campuses in the middle Tennessee area, including Vanderbilt University, Belmont University,
Lipscomb University, Austin Peay University, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee
State University, and Trevecca. Our marketing representatives will set up tables at these
campuses in popular areas of campus where students frequent the most. We will giveaway
Predators t-shirts and other promotional items. We will also have interactive activities where
students can take pictures dressed as one of the Predators players or the Predators mascot.
Finally, we will also ask students to fill out a brief questionnaire asking about their interest in
college night, their awareness of the event, and things we could do better to improve their
experience. The survey will also have a place for the students email address, which will be
plugged into our database. Students who fill out the survey will also be eligible for a Enter to
Win prize giveaway that will occur at one of the Thursday night college nights. Students will
have to attend the game in order to collect their prize. We believe that this type of effort will do a
tremendous job at getting the word out about college night and also create a positive image of the
Predators for college students who could one day turn into lifelong fans.

Our third marketing strategy, which is tied to our third marketing objective, revolves
around the principle of scarcity. Robert Cialdini, in his book Influence: The Psychology of
Persuasion, discusses 6 principles that marketers use to create business and sales. One of these
6 principles is the principle of scarcity. The principle of scarcity is essentially that if a product
seems to be scarcer to consumers, the more likely they are to purchase that product. Currently,
college night is every Thursday night home game for the Predators. We believe that the fact the
promotion occurs so often results in the incentive being less for students to attend. On any given
Thursday night, college students have the option to go to a bar in midtown, attend a movie, or
relax in the comfort of their dorm room. All of these are options they may chose over going to a
Predators home game if they know it will be happening once again the next Thursday night. If
we make the college night promotion only once of twice a month, and market its scarcity, we
believe that college students will be much more inclined to come. This fact, coupled with the
newly added tuition giveaway promotion, will provide a sense of I cant miss this attitude
amongst the college students who are a part of our target market.
Our fourth marketing strategy involves the use of a reward system for students who
attend college nights more frequently. Frequent fan cards are a marketing idea currently used
by many other sport organizations to entice fans to attend more regularly with prize giveaways.
The more that fans attend, the more prizes they become eligible for. Our strategy will be to
present students with a valid student i.d. with a frequent fan card at college night. These cards
can be picked up at various marketing tables that will be set up in Bridgestone Arena during
college night. With 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period of the games, students can come to the
marketing tables and have their card punched marking they were in attendance. Prizes will be
given away after fans accumulate benchmarks in attendance beginning with the 3rd game, 6th

game and 9th game. Prizes will range from player bobble heads, predators carabineers, and a
predators key chain. Students who attend all college night games and have their card punched at
each game will be entered into a grand prize giveaway. This giveaway will be the opportunity to
meet the head coach of the Predators, Peter Laviolette, as well as star goalie, Pekka Rinne. We
believe that by creating this type of frequent fan card, students who attend will feel more valued
by the Predators organization and be rewarded for their attendance and devotion to the
organization. This will only enhance the opportunity to create lifelong fans and move the student
fan up the escalator.
Implementation and Control
We plan on reaching out to College Night students by collecting a database of emails to
keep them updated and secure potential new students. These could be collected by sending out an
email blast gauging the interest of College Night and by reaching out to the schools. Every time a
student wants to attend a game they have to use their email address to purchase tickets. These
personal email addresses are gathered through a group sales or online sales component. Software
will be able to record and track who and how often students come to college night. The data
needed to judge the success of our marketing plan include the total number of college student
reached and what months of the year have the most turnouts. This will help to strategically plan
and coordinate which Thursdays will be the most beneficial to the Predators. To evaluate fan
engagement we plan to have sit down meetings with members of different schools. These include
Greek life coordinators, intramural staff, athletic staff sport marketing and general counsel
meetings at the schools. This will take place 2-3 times during the season in case there are areas of
interest that need to be addressed.

The marketing and sales staff will collect most data. They have a Ticketmaster database,
which has special functions to track, record and make notes on particular students/accounts. Our
checkpoints will be centered around the all-star break and after the completion of the season. The
playoffs will not count, as there are no College Nights during the playoffs.

References
Miller, Andrew. Southern Fried Hockey. The rise, fall and rise again of minor league hockey in
the South. Post and Courier.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140302/PC20/140309940

Nashville.gov - Mayor Announces New Hockey Center.

http://www.nashville.gov/News-Media/News-Article/ID/1701/Mayor-Announces-NewHockey-Center-in-Southeast-Davidson-County.aspx
Nashville Predators Team - Nashville Predators History. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://predators.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=36844
Search For Schools and Colleges. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/
Sharks AHL. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sharksahl.com/team/MissionStatement.asp
DuBois, Shelley. Is Nashville the Next 100 Billions Dollar City? The Tennessean.