SeatGeek College Football Bowl Game Email – “Go See a Bowl Game Live”

I received this email the other day with the subject line “Bowl Games: Better In Person” reminding me to buy tickets for my college football team’s bowl game (and that bowl games are better in person). As I’ve mentioned before, I am subscribed to more email newsletters than I can count, so it takes something unique to stand out – SeatGeek made a good point in this email by mentioning that this is the last year to witness a college football game under the non-playoff type system we call the BCS (I hadn’t thought of it like that – good one!). That combined with the fact that this is also the time of year we are reminded of the fact that we won’t see our teams compete again until next August – unless your school makes a big deal out of their spring practices.

SeatGeek doesn’t know what my favorite team is, but based on the preferences I set in my account they know I like American college football. They also know that there are plenty of tickets to go around for all 35 post-season bowl games because they are compiling all of that data and have an excellent idea of how many tickets are available and for how much. If you’ve never heard of them, “SeatGeek is a ticket search engine that makes finding tickets to live entertainment at cinch,” (seatgeek.com). I’ll talk about them and what they do in tomorrow’s post.

So why else should we go to a college football bowl game live and in person? I wrote about why live sports are better than on tv in a previous blog post and wanted to share another perspective on that same thought. Live entertainment is better than watching on tv, including college football bowl games. There’s really nothing like the sensory experience you get when you attend a live event. Maybe one day you won’t need to leave the comfort of your own home in order to experience the same thing (ever heard of oculus rift? Check out this multi-directional treadmill I saw on Shark Tank last week).

Once someone figures out how to incorporate the olfactory element of virtual realtiy, you probably won’t want to leave home for anything, but for now though, you’ve got to get out of the house and into a real life stadium. Even if your favorite college football team isn’t playing in a bowl game or if your team is playing too far away from home to reasonably travel, considering getting over to the bowl game nearest you, whichever one that happens to be. Other than the fact that this is your last chance to watch a football game for another 9 months, most post season bowl games put on a great fan experience that incorporates much more than the game itself.

Many bowl games do a great job at involving the local communities by engaging fans in some sort of community service or food drive or some other worthy cause or initiative. In this case it is nice to know that you are supporting a non-profit if the bowl game you attend supports such a cause. As an aside, the level to which they are they are really trying to help people and not just generate a profit in the name of doing the right thing should be questioned. Corporate responsibility is important, but I suppose that your political views will affect how strongly you feel on that issue. In addition to the community ties, many bowl games are played in destination locations that make it attractive to visit that area anyway. Finally, the teams participating must have reached some level of success by winning at least 6 games which speaks to the quality of the product on the field (hopefully) and assuming non-traditional opponents, the game experience is great all around.

Now if that wasn’t enough, and especially for those of us that work in sports, it’s great to just get out to see someone else’s game presentation different than your own. It’s also great to see how different companies are activating their sponsorship agreements – to see the giveaways, the hands-on, live interaction showcases, the signage, and the energy they put out to try to develop their own product on top of what the bowl itself is doing. Because all 35 bowl games are heavily sponsored, activation elements play a large part of the experience – which is great for your players and fans who are looking for a way to try out new products, a win-win.

So head over to a bowl game near you, get out of town if you can, and support your favorite team while enjoying yourself at a post-season college football bowl game. Sports should be fun and that’s what bowl games are all about – celebrating your team’s great work over the last year in honor of coming together as one to achieve something wonderful.

GO FORTH!