By Matthew Paulding

The winter sports season is over at Buffalo State College, and judging by attendance figures, that is news to most people.

Promoting sporting events is difficult at a school like Buffalo State where most students commute.  Many students drive to school, attend classes, and leave, ignoring   campus events.

“It’s a tough area to promote.  We have professional teams and a lot of other things to do,” said Jeffrey Ventura, Buffalo State sports information director.  “UB is Division I, and other than men’s basketball, they don’t draw for anything either.”

Buffalo State does not heavily promote home games in the community because it is a Division III school in a market with professional sports teams.  Some games are promoted more because prizes are given out, such as video game systems, restaurant gift certificates and movie tickets.

 However, these solutions fail to appeal to most casual students.  What else can be done?

“We could put up more signs, but would students read them?” said Matt D. Clark, sophomore psychology major and member of the Buffalo State swim team.  “If the athletes want more attention, they need to talk to other students and promote their own games.”

Teachers could also help get the message across.  Ventura makes announcements about campus events, sports or not, before class starts.

“I don’t really know what is going on at this school,” said Jason Fassl, junior health and wellness major.  “If the teachers told us what’s happening, I may be more interested.”           

Scheduling games for men and women consecutively is one method to draw more attention.  Each team draws unique fans, and bringing in men’s and women’s fans on the same night will give both teams more exposure.

Men’s hockey and basketball drew similar attendance, but women’s basketball drew almost 100 more students per game than women’s hockey.  Women’s hockey could benefit from playing more games before the men.

Contact Matthew Paulding at Paulms75@mail.buffalostate.edu