Next Level Sports Marketing

NCAA basketball tournament pool sheets were sent down the shredder throughout Chattanooga last March as Gonzaga lost, then Georgetown and finally Wisconsin.

Little-known Davidson College wrecked the sheets belonging to those who picked against the Wildcats.

Davidson beat those high-profile teams, and shooting guard Stephen Curry became a household name. Anytime he took a shot, everybody — whether they were watching live in the arena or on television or on the Web via online video-stream — expected the shot to sail through the net.

Mr. Curry and the Cats will play against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in McKenzie Arena. More than 7,000 seats have been already sold, according to UTC athletics director Rick Hart, who expects walk-up sales to be plentiful.

“This is one of those events that promotes itself,” Mr. Hart said. “People seem to be more aware of these marquee matchups.”

Marketing a single event, such as the Davidson vs. UTC game, in Chattanooga can be a difficult task, some say.

“You center your promotion around the star,” said Merrill Eckstein, president of the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee. “Audiences in most communities — and Chattanooga is no exception — can be very fickle in that no matter how much advertising you do, they’re either going to show up or they’re not.

“To draw people to an event, it has to be interesting, exciting and worth whatever dollars people spend to see it.”

This game has the buzz of the community because of the Curry factor. He made a name for himself during the NCAA tournament in 2008 by averaging 32 points during four games and bringing the Wildcats to within 2 points of eventual national champion Kansas.

Mr. Curry was selected as one of five preseason All-Americans, and he is the leading scorer in the nation at 29.3 points per game. Mr. Curry, a junior from Charlotte and son of former NBA player Dell Curry, is a contender for several NCAA player of the year awards.

“We put a lot of resources toward this game because it was one where we knew we had an opportunity to attract a large crowd,” Mr. Hart said. “We’ve done it in venue, radio, TV, print. We tried to be smart in managing our resources.”

Mr. Hart and Chip Baker, tournament director of the Chattanooga Classic and executive director of Friends of the Festival that operates Riverbend, have similar sports marketing philosophies.

“It’s about hype, building the crescendo which is the game or event like when (Steve) McNair came through here and you know he’s destined for greatness,” Mr. Baker said of the former record-setting Alcorn State quarterback who played in Chattanooga against UTC before a long NFL career. “Why not take advantage?

“You get a chance to say later, ‘I saw him when … I was there when … He did such-and-such and I saw it all.’”