The presence of stars like Seimone Augustus and Aiysha Smith, a current No. 6 ranking and a coach with record-high career wins are not the only things drawing huge numbers of fans to Lady Tiger basketball games this year.
With the help of corporate sponsors, promotions, such as game themes, line dances and car giveaways have helped to draw huge crowds to these games.
“When you have a product, such as women’s basketball, that has not been as popular over time, and you’re trying to make it fan-friendly, you want it to be fun,” said olympic sports promotions manager Jenni Peters. “It’s already fun on the court; the Lady Tigers have helped that.”
Peters is in charge of all promotional activities for olympic sports, which include all LSU sports except football, baseball and men’s basketball.
Peters and the rest of the Athletic Promotions Department appointed each game a theme, such as Blues Christmas, Skip’s Dance Party and Mardi Gras Mania.
Corporate sponsors made most of these promotional alterations possible.
Community Coffee, the company that owns CC’s Coffee House and the radio station Jammin’ 107.3 both aimed their sponsorship and promotions specifically toward olympic sports.
Their financing and promotional encouragement have helped draw larger crowds, Peters said.
Many of the major promotional changes take place during game timeouts.
Peters and the promotional team decided to take advantage of the four automatic timeouts in each half by turning them into opportunities to promote both the team and its sponsors.
Timeouts now feature the “Tiger Troopers” drop, where fans who catch a falling toy can claim a prize, and the CC’s Java Man, who gives away Community Coffee T-shirts and other prizes.
The last official timeout before halftime is designated as “band T-time.” During this minute and a half, the Bengal Brass Band comes on the court, throws CC’s T-shirts and bandannas and plays “Pregame.”     
Halftime shows also have changed this season.
Instead of the Tiger Girls, the men’s basketball dancers, the Athletic Department hired a team of dancers called the Geaux Geaux Gang through the local Missy Zeno’s Dance Academy.
The dancers vary from game to game. Some dancers are preteen girls, while others are break- dancing young men.
Other halftime entertainment includes sumo-wrestling matches, Jammin’ 107.3 money giveaways and line dances.
The Lady Tiger Line Dance has become popular among the team’s younger audience.
During halftime of many games, the Geaux Geaux Gang invites fans to join them in a lively line dance to energetic music.
On Jan. 12, the Lady Tigers hosted Skip’s Dance Party, where Athletics Director Skip Bertman joined in the halftime activities.
“The thing about promotions is you have to be willing,” Bertman said. “People will hopefully see the athletics director is involved and get excited themselves.”
This is the first year for most of the promotions, but women’s basketball has sponsored “Pack the PMAC” for several years.
Although this was not the event’s first year, it drew a crowd of 11,252, the biggest women’s basketball crowd in LSU history.
While the Lady Tigers team may be concentrating on winning the game, they have noticed some of the new promotions.
Women’s basketball head coach Sue Gunter said she is impressed with the new activities at the games.
“It’s had a wonderful effect, but unfortunately, we don’t get to see a lot of it,” Gunter said.
Gunter said the Athletic Department measures the success by the huge leap in attendance numbers.
“I’ve got to give Jenni [Peters] and her staff credit,” Gunter said. “There’s not a second that there’s not something going on.”
Despite the praise from Bertman and Gunter, Peters refused to take all the credit for the record attendance numbers.
“Just like I tell Coach Gunter, I’m doing my part to make things fun, but a winning team is a marketer’s dream,” Peters said.
A successful team and equally successful promotions have brought new fans to the Lady Tigers, and the Athletic Department is confident the flocks of fans will continue to come.
“The No. 1 promotion is winning,” Bertman said. “These Lady Tigers are doing that. We’re trying to get fans addicted to women’s basketball.”
Athletic Promotions Department plans to continue its efforts at softball games and gymnastic meets later this semester.