When St. Thomas was allowed to jump from Division III to Division I by the NCAA in July of 2020, it had to catch up to other teams in more ways than one.
The athletics department wants to nip one of these problems in the bud: student turnout at sports games. A team is only as lively as its fans, and Purple Perks, a new section of the Tommie Sports app, aims to “encourage students to come in and stay for the full game and cheer loud,” according to St. Thomas’ Assistant Director of Marketing Jenn Fabian.
Designed as a fan reward system, Purple Perks is found within the Tommie Sports app by pressing the three lines at the top left and looking at the bottom of the list that pops up. It allows students to earn points by attending games, with additional points awarded for arriving early and staying late. These points can then be redeemed for various prizes ranging from exclusive merchandise to Kwik Trip gas cards and sweepstakes for subscription services such as Midco Sports Plus.
“We’ve been trying to grow the student fan experience and increase student attendance at games. One thing we heard repeatedly from students is that they wanted a way to be rewarded for showing up,” Fabian said.
The initiative is still in its infancy and, having launched only a month ago, the athletics department doesn’t have much data as to the correlation between its use and student attendance, according to Fabian. The department hopes that as students begin to see the rewards and excitement surrounding St. Thomas athletics, attendance will grow organically, Fabian said.
However, the team behind Purple Perks is also looking to ensure students stay for the entire game rather than leaving early after collecting their points.
“(The athletics department) will be adding a Paciolan integration to the fan maker app so students will get points when they scan their ticket…so we’re really trying to encourage students to come in and stay,” Fabian said.
Paciolan is a ticketing company that helps track venue seating real-time for the performing arts and sports, according to the company’s website.
Fabian also said that the app is modeled after fan engagement systems used by professional and collegiate sports teams, including NHL teams such as the Minnesota Wild and other schools such as the University of Alabama.
Despite the university’s efforts, some students are unaware of the new program. First-year Felix Pelowski said he had no idea what Purple Perks was, but as his knowledge about it increased, he was all for it.
“I think this is a great idea to spark community involvement, and I think I will be using it in the future,” Pelowski said.
Fabian acknowledged the challenge of reaching students but stressed that the program is primarily geared toward students who are already attending events.
“We’ve pushed it at every single Tommie athletic event, and we’re always working on reaching more students through social media and other platforms like Tommie Link,” Fabian said.
The Purple Perks program is part of a broader effort to elevate the athletic culture at St. Thomas. For Fabian, the athletic events at her school were more than just some event.
“The experience that I had at games was what made me realize that I wanted that kind of jump-started me into this career, that made me realize that this is what I want to do,” Fabian said.
Fabian said that she remains optimistic about the potential of Purple Perks to increase student turnout at games. St. Thomas students are urged to stand together and cheer their team on, as Fabian said, “from puck drop to the final buzzer.”
“The most important thing is supporting their fellow students, who are putting in long hours both on the field and in the classroom,” Fabian said, “We want them to feel like they are part of something bigger.”
The Purple Perks portion of the Tommie Athletics app is available for use now. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Giovanni Mariani can be reached at mari6061@stthomas.edu.