Chemical engineering sophomore Hailey Kosutic wouldn’t think twice about attending an LSU football game, but she never thought about attending an LSU beach volleyball match.
She didn’t even know LSU had a team.
“I had no idea,” Kosutic said. “I don’t know if it’s like an official team or whatever but they could get the word out [by email] because I feel like more people would be interested in those kinds of things, because they’re fun.”
LSU coach Russell Brock said the team’s fanbase is loyal but the program is always looking for ways to reach out to others, especially the student body. The Tigers’ fans include family members and fans of the sport itself, Brock said.
“I take that as our responsibility,” Brock said. “To continue to become more successful because when a team is successful on campus, people tend to find out about it. Our job as a program is to keep getting better and better and make sure that that becomes less and less of an occurrence just because it’s going to become harder and harder not to know who we are.”
This season marks the fourth year LSU’s beach volleyball program has been in existence.
The Tigers ended the 2016 season with an overall record of 20-9 and a Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Conference record of 7-6 and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the AVCA preseason poll.
Assistant marketing director Kyle Huber said the department promotes the sport the same way the promote any other on campus. He said since there are only two home tournaments this season, compared to the program’s usual three, the marketing team is able to promote over a four-day span.
Huber also said location is key.
“We look at it as we have to put in some really good items to get people out there,” Huber said. “We kind of have to pull a little more strings than usual because of the fact that Mango’s is so much farther than any other venue we have for any other sport.”
Mango’s Outdoor Volleyball hosts the Tigers, for both practice and tournaments. Mango’s is located on Bricksome Avenue, about 30 minutes away from campus.
“All our other venues are within a mile radius,” Huber said. “Mango’s is not too far away but certainly not on campus. Our biggest task and biggest struggle is getting people a, to know where Mango’s is, and b, how to get there.”
Some promotional campaigns the marketing team is trying this season are giveaways, incorporating trivia and hosting its first crawfish give away.