It made very little sense when the announcement was made a week ago. College Gameday, the best pregame show in America, the beating heart of college football fandom, was going to Pullman, Washington? Oregon and Washington State was a top 25 matchup, but this was a week that also included better top 25 matchups in college football meccas like Baton Rouge and Clemson. Why go to the banks of the Paloose?
If you love college football and make College Gameday appointment television every Saturday, you already know the answer. For the last 15 years, a group of Washington State alumni and fans have made sure a handmade flag bearing the Wazzu logo was in the crowd for every episode of College Gameday. The flag is called Ol’ Crimson, and its presence is every bit as important a Gameday tradition as Lee Corso’s headgear pick.
The live broadcast was something every station and network across the country, regardless of format, should do from time to time. ESPN was saying thank you to the most devoted fans of College Gameday with the grandest gesture it could make.
College Gameday live from Pullman was a smashing success too. ESPN made it all about Washington State and its fans. There was a video montage of everyone that had ever taken Ol’ Crimson to a Gameday location. They all discussed what being a part of that fraternity meant to them. Tom Rinaldi put together a story about Tom Pounds, the Wazzu fan that started the Ol’ Crimson tradition. Cougars legend Drew Bledsoe was the celebrity guest picker. Lee Corso picked Washington State to beat Oregon, and made Butch T. Cougar’s the 57th different mascot head he has ever worn.
And boy oh boy, did Washington State pay ESPN back ten fold!
The crowd was the loudest I can ever remember for College Gameday! They broke out into rousing sing-along’s of Andy Grammer’s “Back Home,” which apparently is a part of Pullman’s own game day tradition. ESPN highlighted multiple fans that came from across the country to be there just for them, including one recently discharged Marine that began plotting the cross-country drive from Virginia Beach to Pullman moments after College Gameday’s visit was announced.
Kirk Herbstreit, who has been the face of the show for nearly 23 years, called Pullman “one of the best environments we’ve ever seen.” Reece Davis, who has hosted College Gameday since 2015, called this past weekend’s show “the best I’ve been a part of.”
The lesson here is to take care of the people that made your show and station what it has become. Maybe you will never be able to do something as grand as Gameday did on Saturday, and that’s okay. Responding to questions and comments on social media goes a long way. Shaking hands and posing for photos at remotes can be more than listeners anticipate sometimes. We may not feel like celebrities, but that is how our listeners think of us sometimes, and when it comes to each other, the fact that they share a common interest in our stations and shows makes them feel like a community.
Treating your audience with respect and letting them know just how important they are to your success is community outreach. That is what ESPN was doing on Saturday. You should do it too as often as possible. And when the opportunity presents itself, make it as big of an event as you can.
That is what Carl Dukes and Mike Bell did when Oconee Brewing Company told the Atlanta sports radio hosts that they wanted to brew and sell the show’s official beer. The duo took to the airwaves on 92.9 the Game and told their listeners that this wasn’t just about Dukes & Bell getting an official show beer. It wasn’t for them. It was for us!
Dukes & Bell asked listeners what the beer should be named. They asked what should be on the can. They updated listeners on what the beer would taste like. The result, Dukes & Bell’s Hey Man Blonde Ale, flies off store shelves in Atlanta.
When the show is on location, sharing a Hey Man with the hosts is a must-do for loyal listeners. It’s not just a good beer, it is also a membership card in their not-so-exclusive club. That’s because the hosts and the station took this cool idea that could have been all about themselves and made it about their listeners.
Talking about sports is the best job in the world. The fact we get paid to do it is downright amazing, and that is only possible when we create a passionate following.
It’s why when Gameday ended with Bledsoe thanking the entire cast and crew for making the trip to Pullman, the very next thing ESPN showed were cheerleaders at Ole Miss waving a smaller version of Ol’ Crimson. Adam Amin, who was calling the Rebels’ game against Auburn, started that broadcast by welcoming Pullman to the club of college towns that had hosted College Gameday. He and ESPN understood that no matter how thankful Pullman and Washington State fans were to finally host their own edition of College Gameday, the broadcast itself was only a success because of the passion those fans displayed not just that day, but for the many years prior.
If you’re a host or producer, be available on social media. If you’re a PD, plan big events. If you’re an AE or GSM, look for those major branding opportunities and partnerships that will turn heads and make listeners feel like they are part of a cool, exclusive club.
Say thank you as often as you can, however you can. When you get the chance, say it in the biggest and loudest way possible. The audience tells us everyday how much we mean to them. You have to make it clear that they will never know how much they mean to us.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
