Photo at Right: University of Delaware President Pat Harker (right) presents a check to Special Olympics Delaware Board of Trustee member John Miller (Courtesy of Saquan Stimpson)

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- The University of Delaware athletics marketing department, led by Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing Curt Krouse and assistant director Kristy Fletcher, have been honored by the NCAA for their “Pack the House” promotion at a Blue Hen women’s basketball game this past season.

Delaware was one of 32 NCAA Division I schools nationally recognized for their innovative way of drawing fans to a women’s college basketball event. The NCAA challenged schools to select a home game between January 1 and February 17 and urge fans to “Pack the House.” A total of 198 institutions participated with seventy programs surpassing their single game attendance high for the year. Overall, the event attracted more than 592,000 fans.

“Pack the House” is a first-year national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. The 32 winners (one from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions) were announced with selections based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA awarded prizes and donated $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution’s choice. UD Athletics selected the Special Olympics of Delaware.

Delaware’s “Pack the House” game was against the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs on January 27, and the contest drew a season-high 1,500 fans to the Bob Carpenter Center. Many of the promotions focused on groups, including children from local area elementary and middle schools and girl scouts from surrounding communities.

“We believe the effort motivated schools to attract new fans to our game,” said NCAA Vice President for Women’s Basketball Sue Donohoe. “Campuses devoted additional time and resources to the competition. We are already being asked for information about next year. New alliances were formed among conference offices, member institutions and (NCAA) national office staff that will only strengthen efforts in the future.”

CONFERENCE WINNERS

America East - Hartford
Atlantic 10 – Rhode Island
ACC – Virginia
Atlantic Sun – Lipscomb
Big 12 – Oklahoma State
Big East – Louisville
Big Sky – Sacramento State
Big South – Winthrop
Big Ten – Michigan
Big West – UC Davis
CAA – Delaware
Conference USA – East Carolina
Horizon – Youngstown State
Ivy League – Columbia
MAAC – Marist
MAC – Miami (Ohio)
MEAC – North Carolina A&T
Missouri Valley – Evansville
Mountain West – Brigham Young
NEC – Wagner
Ohio Valley – Eastern Illinois
Pac-10 – UCLA
Patriot – Lehigh
SEC – South Carolina
SoCon – Georgia Southern
Southland – Texas State
SWAC – Jackson State
Sun Belt – Middle Tennessee
Summit – IUPUI
West Coast – Portland
WAC – Louisiana Tech
Independent – Longwood

GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Louisville