Ron Goch
The Telios Group
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Daddy-Daughter Events

March 5th 2006

Q. I’ve noticed more and more father and daughter events, and that may be because of Valentine’s Day being celebrated three weeks ago.  Does this kind of event transfer over well to college athletics and could it help increase women’s sports attendance?
 

A. I was one of the thousands of dads around the country who attended a father-daughter Valentine’s Day event last February.  It was a terrific event and my daughter and I had a lot of fun.
 

The event we attended was hosted by our local community center, and it offered dinner, a craft project (creating a frame for the photo we took together), dancing and dance lessons.
 

I was surprised to learn that similar daddy-daughter events are annual traditions all over the country and date back over 40 or more years.  Best of all, each of them are consistently pre-event sellouts ranging from 150 to over 600 dads and daughters for one community event.
 

The WNBA and its teams in particular have done a great job of tapping into this tradition and I believe college athletics could find a great deal of success with implementing an annual daddy-daughter event.
 

I would caution you to research what events are presently being held by your community centers, recreation departments, schools and churches before selecting a date for your event.  If one or more do exist, and if the event date works well with one or more of your women’s home sporting events, why not see if you could host the event at your facility and tie in your athletic event ticket?
 

Other options to consider could include expanding to include grand fathers and granddaughters; as well as step-dads and step-daughters in an attempt to be all inclusive.  You can also accommodate multiple daughters who would also like to attend.
 

You could host around or on Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, or any time during the year.
 

Ticket packages could be two tickets, two hot dogs, two soft drinks and a picture, or you could host a pre-game dance, a pre-game free throw shooting opportunity or contest, as well as consider a father-daughter clinic, chalk talk, Q&A with a player and/or coach.
 

You could also tie the dads and daughter’s theme into your event by having your dance team’s dads do an on-court dance routine with their daughters.  I’ve watched a few of these over the years and they’re pretty entertaining. 

You could also do an essay contest tied to being a fan – my first sporting event with dad – or why I have the world’s best dad, or why my dad should be the (your school here) MVP Dad.  Tie in media partners and promote the essay contest and event, and the winner could receive an ultimate father-daughter night courtesy of your school and the sponsors.
 

You may want to look into partnering with an existing organization like the Girl Scouts, YWCA, churches, a school district or the PTA, and you could even turn it into a ticket fund-raising program for any organization involved.
 

Bottom line, I believe this is a great event opportunity for all involved – the dads, daughters, women’s athletics, sponsors…whoever would like to be involved should enjoy the experience while also increasing ticket sales for your event!
 

Your turn to take a swing…
 

What ideas do you have for a great daddy-daughter event that can generate ticket sales for sporting events?
 

All the best,
 

Ron Goch
The Telios Group

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