GSU football in the hunt for advertisers, sponsorships
Every day Kosha Irby sprints through the streets of Atlanta like a running back toward a goal post, though he's no football player.
Irby is a senior associate in the athletic department at Georgia State University and what's got him on the move is the need to drum up advertising for the school's inaugural football season this September at the Georgia Dome.
Irby is hoping to convince Atlanta businesses, from big multi-nationals to local, homegrown restaurants, to sponsor in-game promotions, buy ad space on the banners and signs that ring the Dome and run commercials during televised games.
The Dome's digital signage includes a video board located in each end zone, two ribbon boards on the club fascia of the north and south sidelines and eight message boards in the corners of the upper fascia, a Dome spokesman said.
The payoff: GSU, with enrollment just over 30,000 students, is the state's second largest school -- the University of Georgia is the biggest -- and has the potential to produce big dividends for an advertiser, boosters of the program argue.
"Things are going very well," Irby says, though he declines to talk about specific advertising goals. "It's amazing how well the corporate community has been to Georgia State. The reception has been overwhelming."
Turning that support for the program into advertising dollars will be a bit tougher, marketing experts said.
Businesses are more reluctant to spend scarce funds on advertising in this prolonged downturn. Others have already committed dollars to bigger, established teams on rivals Georgia and Georgia Tech, they said.
Still others may want to wait to see whether GSU's team, which will be led by coach Bill Curry, is ready for primetime.
"They have to create their own following, create their own fans," said Bob Hope, a partner in public relations agency Hope-Beckham and former public relations head for the Atlanta Braves. He said some advertisers could say yes to this inaugural year to show support, but if the season doesn't bring out crowds, they many not be back next year.
"There's a huge gap between good will and excitement," he said.
Irby understands the challenges, but thinks the pros outweigh the cons. After all, how many teams get to play at the Dome and have access to its assets -- from scoreboards that are bigger than school buses to a ready-made TV operation.
The school, however, is realistic about a start-up program. Allison George, a spokeswoman for the athletic department, said the team hopes to get about 10,000 fans per game. So far about 2,000 season tickets have been sold. The team's deal with the Dome is to use the lower portion of the 72,000-seat facility of about 28,000 chairs.
Paul Juliano, president of J.R. Crickets, is bullish on GSU football. The 15-store buffalo wings chain plans to advertise with the program to push its delivery service around the metro area.
"We'll be introduced to a lot of students and alumni," Juliano said. "We're excited to be on the ground floor with them and we can grow with them."
Jeff Davis, general manager and vice president of Newstalk 1160 AM-WCFO, thinks advertising with GSU football is a no brainer. Davis, who is working with the program to grow advertising, puts this way.
"For the first 100 years, there was only two now programs (Georgia and Georgia Tech), now there are three," he said. Saying that resonates with people."
