July 23, 2015 Dear Wolf Pack Fans:
My messages here generally relate to issues that apply to the interests of all Wolf Pack fans - usually news of our academic progress, graduation and other topics impacting all teams. Today I want to address a topic which directly impacts one team and one group of Pack fans, but has an indirect and important impact on all teams. The topic is football game times and the related issue of ticket revenue to support operations of all Wolf Pack teams.
In a news release yesterday, the Mountain West Conference and Wolf Pack athletics
announced game times for the entire football season and the reaction from fans is expected to range from sighs of relief to shouts of joy for the highly requested afternoon game times. Five of our six home football games will start in the afternoon - either 4 p.m. or 1 p.m. The one evening game will be the first home game on Sept. 3, a Thursday night contest against backyard rival UC Davis, which will begin at 7 p.m., providing a wonderful late summer cool evening under the lights at Mackay Stadium.
I want to remind our fans that game times are determined by our conference television partners when games are selected for national television distribution. If home games are not selected by our television partners that leaves the game time to be determined by us. In these situations our top priority is the best start time for the team and fans. Luckily, Coach Polian's preferred start time is the same as our fans - afternoons!
I can't promise you, or Coach Polian, for that matter, that we will have so many afternoon games next year or any future year, so let's make sure we enjoy the 2015 season and fill Mackay Stadium for all six games. I'm hopeful this news makes you run out right now and call (775) 348-PACK right now to
order your season tickets (if you haven't done so already) because that gets me to the second topic.
How does this impact all Wolf Pack teams? The impact is through ticket sales for Wolf Pack football. If attendance increases, this revenue supports all teams and gives the Pack an opportunity to enhance the recruiting and operating budgets for every team.
Five of our six home games are going to be played in the afternoon this year. Five of our six home games are going to be played in the great-weather months of September and October this year. With these fan-friendly and family-friendly afternoon game times in 2015, we need our ticket sales to continue to grow. When you buy a season ticket, it helps every sport on campus, not just the football team.
It's time to get off the bench, and get in the game - call us today to lock-in your season tickets for a fun 2015 home football season.
Even if you can attend only a few of the home games, please buy your season tickets and give the extra tickets to someone important to you. Everyone has a neighbor, a friend, a kid down the street who walks your dog, a great customer, co-worker or a valued employee. You can make someone feel great by giving them the experience of a Wolf Pack football game.
Your support of Wolf Pack football provides the resources to help us grow the entire athletics program - all teams. Thank you for your incredible support of the Pack. We expect another fun and challenging year for all teams and appreciate your support very much.
Go Pack!
Doug
P.S. Do you have a question about Wolf Pack athletics? Send it to me at
WolfPack@unr.edu and we'll do our best to get you an answer.
