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UNM Women's Basketball: $1 hot dogs lure fans to rivalry at The Pit
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Like moths to a camp fire, New Mexico officials hope fans will be attracted to their latest Pit promotion: $1 hot dog night.
The University of New Mexico marketing department is adding a little more mustard to what they consider an already delicious package, giving the women's basketball team its first $1 hot dog night Saturday during its showdown with rival New Mexico State.
It's one of several new promotions being used this season to market the women's basketball team, which has ranked fourth nationally in attendance the past four years but has seen its numbers drop slightly the past few years.
"We know the way to people's hearts is through their stomach," said Joe Weiss, UNM's associate athletics director of sales and marketing. ". . . The goal is to take something that is already big, like a women's basketball rivalry game against New Mexico State, and find ways to make it even bigger."
The approach seems to be paying off so far.
UNM has already sold 10,200 tickets for the game by Wednesday afternoon.
The team has averaged 9,003 fans per game in three home games so far this season, with a peak of 10,085 against then-No. 25 Texas.
Last year's game against New Mexico State drew 9,418 fans, which was lower than the season average of 10,354.
The school also is seeing greater interest in the new student section for women's basketball.
Student tickets for women's games already were free, but students now can pick up tickets for a month at a time and sit in section 23 in the northwest corner of The Pit.
UNM is giving away a Southwest Airlines ticket to one person sitting in the section Saturday, giving students more incentive to show up.
"Coach (Don) Flanagan really wanted to see a designated section for students this year to see if we could boost the number of students who attend women's games," Weiss said. "We've really reached out to student organizations on campus to let them know there is a special place for them to sit and cheer on this great team."
The women's basketball student section hasn't quite reached the fevered pitch of the men's games, but UNM has given out 700 student tickets for this game. They handed 400 student tickets for the Texas game.
"You can definitely tell the interest in the student section is growing," said Mark Koson, UNM ticketing director.
UNM athletics director Paul Krebs said the school will keep up the unprecedented marketing push throughout the season.
"We're aggressively trying to promote every flagship sport, including women's basketball," he said.
Weiss said it will take a lot of behind-the-scenes work to pull off a successful $1 hot dog night, with concession workers spending all day cooking hot dogs.
"It's crazy, but it's good chaos," he said. "We aren't going to make money off concessions, but we're hoping people decide to get nachos and a drink while they're there. And more than anything else, we hope they come out to support the women's team. We think the fans who have never been to a game will love the team, and the fans who already go to games deserve a reward."
