One of the major undertakings by athletic directors and athletic departments nationwide is finding creative ways to improve the fan experience on game days.
That is especially true for the experience for fans on Saturday's in the fall. After a slight uptick of attendance in 2016, NCAA attendance at college football games was down across the board in 2017. In order to get fans out of the comfort of their living rooms and into stadiums, athletic departments are charged with finding ways to improve the game day experience for fans, and improved attendance should follow.
At Texas, new athletic director Chris Del Conte has a vision for making game days in Austin more like a Disney experience, as he shared with ESPN's Freddie and Fitzsimmons (via Texas Diehards)
“If you look at Disney, the experience of your children going to Disney starts when they receive that ticket, and they fly to Orlando. You get in the hotel and [you get] all that [Disney] experience until you get to the gate. Then you wait in line for three hours to get on the Matterhorn. Right? Three hours. And then you get on the ride for 40 seconds, and you’re going, ‘Oh my God.’ Then we do it again."
“But what happens when you get back to the hotel? Your kids [say], ‘Dad, that was awesome! Can we do it again?’ We’ve got to create that same experience all the way around our venues.”
Improving cell signal strength and wireless access for fans at the stadium is also a priority Del Conte shares, so that fans are able to participate on social media during games as well.