Letter from the AD
The 2003-04 season was a tremendous success for the newly formed Husky Athletics Club. The Husky Athletics Club, which was founded in June 2003, serves as the umbrella organization for the following five areas: corporate sponsorship, annual fundraising, special event planning, marketing of tickets & attendance and merchandising. In this letter I would like to summarize some of the initiatives and successes the Husky Athletics Club has experienced in its first year.
Corporate Sponsorship
This past season, the Northeastern Corporate Sponsorship Program saw an increase of 16 new corporate partners and advertisers. Corporate sponsorship revenue increased 44 percent, from $167,027 to $240,818. New partners in 2003-04 included companies such as DELL, Dunkin’ Donuts, Aeropostale and Marriott Hotels. Northeastern Athletics continues to focus on selling ads and strategic marketing partnerships with local and national corporations. A sample of the advertising NU Athletics offers companies include: program ads, television & radio commercial messages, signage, game day sponsorships, hospitality, promotional giveaways and tickets (game, season and Beanpot).
Annual Fund
Annual fundraising has been steadily improving over the past decade. The number of donors, expendable monies, cash received and pledges booked have seen increases across the board. Jim Madigan, Director of Athletic Development, has done an excellent job of growing our Annual Fund from $73,000 in 1993-94 to approximately $400,000 for the 2003-04 Fiscal Year.
Special Events
The Husky Athletics Club is responsible for the planning & organization of all athletic alumni, parent, team and departmental special events. The Husky Athletics Club has targeted two marquee special events: the Husky Athletics Club Golf Classic (spring) and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Dinner (fall).
I’m proud to announce that the Golf Classic was a tremendous success with 58 foursomes and 232 golfers participating on both courses at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass., on May 19th. The Husky Athletics Club was able to raise over $33,000 from this event to benefit all nineteen sports programs.
The date of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be announced in the near future, please look for a save the date invite or story on www.GoNU.com for more information.
Marketing – Attendance / Ticket Sales
Northeastern Athletics experienced an increase in the overall number of season-ticket holders this season due in part to the Husky MVP Pass. The MVP Pass is a multi-sport season ticket that provides admission to all home men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games for a discounted price of $200! Our hope is to increase fan attendance at all Northeastern home games and reward our devoted following with discounted tickets.
The largest increase in attendance came from the men’s basketball program. Coach Everhart led the Huskies to a 19-11 record (13-5 America East). Total ticket sales improved 71 percent and attendance 49 percent leading to the first recorded sellout (February 8, 2004 vs. Vermont) of a men’s basketball home game since 1995. Another attendance highlight involved the men’s and women’s basketball programs drawing over 2,800 fans at Matthews Arena for the annual home match-up against cross-town rival Boston University.
The Husky Athletics Club negotiated a television deal with Comcast (CN8) that featured six broadcasts of Northeastern sports and provided teams with additional exposure outside the conference television packages. Northeastern men’s ice hockey, football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball were featured on the full CN8 network reaching 6.3 million households from Boston to Baltimore, Md. Currently, NU Athletics is in discussions to expand on the number of televised broadcasts for the 2004-05 season.
The Husky Athletics Club staff has worked with local companies and the campus community to provide fan friendly promotions at home games. Each game you will find opportunities for fans to sign up to win T-shirts, gift certificates, sample free products and receive giveaways such as computers, airline tickets, money, and other prizes. Additionally, a new mascot was unveiled during Homecoming Weekend. “Paws” has provided our fans with an energetic and exciting mascot for fans to cheer for at games and university events. Our goal is to create a fun environment at our home games that attracts Northeastern students, alumni and families.
Merchandising
In an effort to create a consistent look for our teams and athletics department, a new set of athletic logos was released in August. The results have been positive and feature two primary identifiers: a two-color red & black “N” and the Boston Skyline Husky. The new logos are catching on and have helped improve our merchandising efforts at events and online with the launch of www.HuskyStore.com.
Our staff is aggressively targeting new strategies to work with local retailers to carry Northeastern apparel and merchandise. Hopefully this time next year, we will see more official Northeastern apparel carried throughout the Boston and New England area!
The Husky Athletics Club needs your support. If you have any suggestions for improvement in any of the five areas of Husky Athletics Club oversight or would like to contribute and join the Husky Athletics Club, please contact Assistant Athletics Director – External Affairs, Brett Burchette, at 617-373-2037 or Director of Athletics Development, Jim Madigan, at 617-373-8872. Thanks again for your continued support of Northeastern Athletics!
Go Huskies!
Dave O’Brien
Previous letters
Spring 2004
Dear Husky Fans:
Director of Athletics
• March 2004
• February 2004
• January 2004
• December 2003
• November 2003
• Summer 2003
• June 2003
• May 2003
• April 2003
• March 2003
• February 2003
• Q & A with Dave O'Brien
