March 23, 2010

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) was one of 33 winners in the NCAA Division I 'Pack the House' Challenge. 'Pack the House' is national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. NCAA Division I women's basketball marketing staffs selected a home game and designated that date as a 'Pack the House' game with the goal of setting an attendance record. One winner from each of the 32 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution's choice.

And pack the house, they did. More than half of the Division I membership - 181 institutions - participated in the effort that attracted more than 511,000 fans.

UMES hosted 4236 fans at its women's basketball game vs. Coppin State University on February 20, 2010.

Events at Army, Central Michigan, Duke, Houston Baptist, Jacksonville, Long Beach State, Marist, Middle Tennessee State, Niagara, Prairie View A&M and Xavier produced sell-out crowds. Sixty programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year.

"We believe this initiative has served as a catalyst to increase attendance, create excitement and enhance exposure for our women's basketball programs," said NCAA Vice President of Division I Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe. "Institution personnel committed a great deal of time, effort and resources to this program and the results were extremely positive. This program provides great `best practices' and examples of success for institutions that are seeking to `grow' women's basketball and these success stories will continue to strengthen efforts in the future."

The ideas to market the games were as diverse as the membership itself. At UMES, for example, Athletics teamed with Institutional Advancement to produce Homecoming activities, had a live hawk on display, opened the UMES Fan Zone where alumni could buy merchandise, and introduce the newest Hall of Fame class.

"This is a great, honor. We really tried something different this year in conjunction with the University's Homecoming. Many alumni returned, they supported our women's program and helped us to our first season sweep of Coppin State since the 96-97 season. We had a lot of positive feedback about the whole environment surrounding the game," said G. Stan Bradley, Assistant Director of Athletics.

OVERALL WINNER
Virginia - Atlantic Coast Conference